BODY POSITIVE PARENTING
Sarah Thunell | Body Liberation-Oriented Parent Coach
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
"Answers are easy; it's asking the right questions that takes courage."
- Janet Lansbury
Welcome to my FAQ page! Here, I address common inquiries about my parent coaching services and other offerings. If you have a question that isn't covered here, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'm here to help!
Parent Coaching FAQ
CAN I BOOK AN INTAKE SESSION?
Yes! I offer a free initial consultation to determine if my services align with your needs and goals. During this 30-minute session, we'll have the opportunity to connect, discuss your parenting challenges and objectives, and explore how my coaching can support you. If we decide to move forward together, we'll schedule an intake session to dive deeper into your specific situation and create a plan tailored to your needs. Schedule here.
WHAT ARE YOUR FEES?
For the most up-to-date information on fees, please visit the Parent Coaching page. If you have any further questions or would like to discuss pricing in more detail, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly. Transparency is central to my approach. I strive to provide clear insights into my pricing decisions and remain responsive to the diverse needs of those I serve.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT FROM PARENT COACHING SESSIONS?
You can expect a supportive environment where your concerns are heard and respected. Together, we'll pinpoint your strengths as a parent and collaborate on strategies to foster positive changes within your family dynamics. This might involve identifying areas for personal growth, providing space for processing grief or challenges, utilizing techniques like body-doubling to get your tasks done, or facilitating mini-workshops tailored to your specific curiosities upon request.
IS COACHING THE SAME AS THERAPY?
No, my coaching focuses on providing support and guidance specifically related to parenting and caregiving. While we can discuss other areas of your life as they relate to role as a parent or caregiver, coaching is not designed to go beyond that scope. Even within the topic of raising children, there may be times when more in-depth psychological care is appropriate, such as to address mental health conditions or crisis situations.
I am eager to coordinate care with therapists and other clinicians you may be working with to ensure comprehensive support for your well-being.
DO YOU USE ZOOM?
Yes, coaching services are offered virtually over Zoom or a similar software.
DO YOU EVER CONDUCT SESSIONS IN PERSON?
I can occasionally offer in-person sessions in Seattle, either at your home or at a local park. Please note that transportation arrangements would need to be discussed and coordinated. For most clients, I provide virtual sessions to ensure flexibility and convenience.
WHAT IS BODY POSITIVITY?
Body positivity was started by mostly QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and radical fat activists in the 1960s, with roots going back even further. The movement's main objective was to challenge fatphobia, discrimination, and oppressive beauty standards, and to advocate for the rights of fat people to exist without prejudice in healthcare, employment, and society at large.
It has since been co-opted by corporations and thin white people to sell products under a false pretense of reform, often shifting the focus away from its radical roots. This version of body positivity promotes superficial self-love while maintaining harmful beauty standards and ignoring the systemic issues of fatphobia, racism, and ableism that the original movement sought to dismantle. That said, if you find liberation through conventional body image work, that's fantastic! It can be a meaningful stepping stone when examined thoughtfully.
I originally chose to call my business Body Positive Parenting because, in addition to coaching, I was also offering nanny services in Seattle. I needed a name that would be palatable to the elite class who* could afford nannies and those folks tend to subscribe to body hierarchal ideologies. Calling my business body positive allowed me to get hired and pay my bills in a way that terms like "fat positive" or "fat liberation" would not.
*This comment is not meant to represent any specific client I worked with—I was fortunate to find some very kind, inclusive employers. Additionally, not every family I worked with would be considered "elite," and not every elite person turns their nose up at fat liberation. Childcare is economically and culturally complicated, but that’s where my business name originated: from the need to feel safe while still promoting body liberation ideals professionally.
I've come to embrace the name, even though I'm no longer nannying and can now rely on the internet to help me find my people. I like the alliteration—Body Positive Parenting! I also believe that while acceptance or harm reduction can be ambitious and worthy goals for adults who've already experienced significant harm, it's essential to go further with children. Intentionally adding positive examples of fat people living happy, fulfilled lives is crucial for helping children see this as a real possibility for themselves or their friends of any body type or size.
Let me be clear—this is a fat-positive, fat-liberation-oriented space. All bodies are worthy bodies.
CAN WE FOCUS ON OTHER ASPECTS OF PARENTING DURING OUR SESSIONS? OR JUST BODY-RELATED TOPICS?
We don't have to talk about body stuff at all if you don't want to! My background is in care work, and I primarily assist with how to be an effective caregiver to your children. While body-related topics can be part of our work together if relevant, my primary goal is to support and affirm your strengths as a caregiver and to address the aspects of parenting that are juciest to you in real time.