Our Caring Staff
Meet Our Teachers
Bethany Griffin-Porter, BCCI
bethany@amazingparents.org
Bethany, mother of three children, is the founder of Amazing Parents. Her oldest child was adopted at the age of 18 months. Shortly after his arrival into her home, Bethany's life was propelled into a new direction. Her son's behaviors became very severe and included hoarding food, stealing, lying, incessant crying, extreme defiance and opposition.....and sadly, no punishments or rewards seemed to help. On the contrary, these methods only increased his negative behaviors. The negative energy level in the home began rising and rising. After several years of extremely high-stress conditions, their family was at their absolute breaking point. Bethany began seeking placement for her son into a permanent residential facility and became very depressed. It was then that Bethany stumbled across the Post Institute and the theory of the Family Stress Model. She read Beyond Consequences, Logic, and Control and realized right away that it was different than everything else she'd tried. After only a few weeks of implementing these new principles, her son was no longer hoarding food, crying everyday, or tantruming. She knew right away that this was "it". Today, her son is a healthy, happy, helpful member of the family and community where he lives. Her son's life is truly a testimony to the power of unconditional love. Bethany brings her personal experience as a mother, as well as her professional training, to her classes, support groups, and coaching at Amazing Parents. She has truly "been there". She has made her way through the maze to the other side, where there is healing and hope.
Relevant Training/experience:
- Mother of 3, one adopted, diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder
- Advocate of extended breastfeeding
- Homeschooling/Unschooling experience
- Professional nanny for special needs children
- Experience with children with bi-polar, ADD, ADHD, ODD
- Community advocate for traumatized children
- Participant of BCI courses from the Consciously Parenting Project (both teaching and completing)
- Moderator of the Consciously Parenting Project forums
- Attachment education writer
- BCI local support group leader
- BCI Mom's Retreat Spring 2008
- Consciously Parenting Project Family Retreat October 2008
- BCI Certified Instructor
Sandra Lucas, MAMFT
lifestrategiesinfo@gmail.com
Life Strategies 410 E. Third Street, Suite 8 McMinnville, OR 97128
503-435-4840
Sandra is a native Oregonian who prefers rain rather than hot sunshine. Her travels have taken her many places, but she has settled down with her husband in McMinnville, Oregon to raise their two children. She also has a dog, Maxwell Snicker Pickle, who may very well have a diagnosable mental health disorder.
Sandra received her bachelor’s degree from Northwest Nazarene University in 1992 with a double major in both Sociology and International Studies. After graduating she worked as a Family Advocate for the Head Start program in Yamhill County. It was during her time working for Head Start that she began to realize the need for counseling that focused not just on the child’s symptoms but the entire family system. Many of the families in Head Start were struggling with children who had been traumatized from various life situations. She felt inadequate to address these needs that so many families were facing.
Sandra went back to school and received her Master’s degree from George Fox University in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2004. After graduation she began working at a community mental health agency, Lutheran Community Services Northwest. In her work at the agency she received experience in play therapy with children, couples counseling, individual counseling, parenting classes, domestic violence offender groups, anger management groups and depression groups.
One of the most significant therapeutic lessons was meeting Bethany shortly into 2005. Bethany was the mother of a six year old who had been in and out of counseling offices for years seeking help for her adopted son. At the time, Bethany was sent away with only a diagnosis of RAD to guide her in her search for a counselor who could treat her son. Bethany and Sandra kept in touch over the years and together realized that the counseling options for children with severe trauma is both limited and not producing results. Through Bethany’s “hands on” experience, Sandra began to discover hope for parents dealing with similar issues and became a certified BCI trainer. She has taught the BCI principles in parenting classes in her community and also in the country of Rwanda where she volunteers her time to an agency that is assisting 624 AIDS orphans. Her goal is to help other parents like Bethany, who experience the pain of trauma everyday, find peace in their homes.
Relevant Training/experience:
- Mother of two
- Foster parent for a severely traumatized child
- MA in Marriage and Family Therapy, George Fox University, 2004
- Four years of clinical counseling experience
- BCI Certified Instructor
- Play Therapy training
- Art Therapy training
- Trauma Response Team training
- Domestic Violence Offender treatment training
- Child Abuse Summit participant
- Bilingual in English and Spanish
Rates for family or individual therapy: $70-$100 per hour based on income.