Strengthening the Invisible Thread of connection
Empowering parents of children struggling with anxiety or aggression
I offer a transformative personalised coaching service empowering parents to overcome their parenting challenges, improve their children’s wellbeing and deepen the invisible thread of connection between them.
Jo Whitton
Parent Coach
Find out what coaching can do for you.
Coaching enables you to make profound shifts in your parenting and family relationships. Whatever challenges you are currently facing in your family life I can support you and work in partnership with you to find your way through and move forward in a way that feels right for you.
If your child has been displaying some specific behaviours, I can tailor our sessions to support with these, finding ways together to help you and your child. I provide coaching on everyday parenting dilemmas such as screen time issues, bedtime struggles, school refusal and sibling rivalry as well as challenging situations such as children who have experienced trauma or received a mental health diagnosis.
However, I specialise in helping parents to move their children forward from anxious or aggressive behaviours to help them become more resilient and build coping skills so that they can live a full life.
I offer a nurturing, attachment centred, trauma informed approach. I hold an ICF accredited coaching qualification and I am dedicated to upholding strong principles of ethical behaviour in my coaching.
I currently offer individual (also couple or group) sessions and blocks of coaching sessions at a reduced cost. Coaching sessions can be online or in person depending on your location. I am based in the UK, currently living in Newton Abbot, South Devon.
You can choose from completely personalised coaching sessions or to follow the Great Parenting Simplified 5 step coaching program which includes invaluable videos and reading materials.
What my clients say about me.
I met with Jo to help with my son’s severe anxiety, which was life limiting at the time.Jo was a quiet strength for me. She listened attentively and was able to draw on her own experiences and knowledge to help me at a dark time during my parenting journey. Jo worked at a pace that didn't overwhelm me and which I could then slowly implement the changes she suggested to ultimately help my son. Jo helped me understand what anxiety really was and the origins of it, which helped me to become closer to my son and help him to feel understood and not alone. My sons journey is not over and never will be but he is enjoying secondary school now and we are far better equipped thanks to Jo’s help.
Josephine
UK
Jo is a very strong, supportive and action-oriented parenting coach. She is naturally caring and empathetic, knowledgeable and good at helping parents get into action and become empowered to make the changes they want.
Her personal and professional experience helping parents who are in blended family situations allows her to inspire hope in the parents with whom she works.
In the approximately 5 years that she's been with Great Parenting Simplified, she has contributed in many ways. She’s a highly valued team member who I recommend to anyone who is looking at getting some invaluable parenting help.
Jacqueline Green
Founder of Great parenting Simplified Nonprofit Co-operative, CA
Jo was one of my main mentors in parent coaching, and I was lucky enough to have been able to benefit from a number of one on one sessions with her over the course of several months.Her truly caring presence was remarkable. Each time we met, I was deeply aware of the focus and attention she brought to our sessions. There was a beautiful balance between open space - listening to me and my concerns - and excellent feedback that showed her powers of listening and perception.
Working with Jo was a calming and grounding as well as an enlightening experience. I would certainly highly recommend Jo's coaching skills.
Nina
UK
I consulted with Joanne for 5 sessions, I always found her incredibly professional, sincere and kind.
She gave me some great tools and resources to be able to manage my own expectations of my children’s behaviour and my relationship with my children greatly improved with some of the tools that she gave me to help me cope with my own reactions and challenges which I was often transferring on to my children.
I really enjoyed working with Joanne and would definitely recommend her to anyone who is looking for that extra support to improve their relationship not just with their children but also their partner.
Siobhan
France
I asked for help at a very desperate time with my son who was experiencing significant anxiety and anger/frustration. I feel incredibly lucky it was Jo who myself, and my son’s father, worked with over several months, due to the learning and the consequential positive results. We finished our work together a few months ago and yet the learning is still embedded in my mind and plays out daily in the way I interact with my son. Since the time we first spoke, and the time we finished, I have seen a significant reduction in my son’s anxiety and anger. My son has been on the waiting list for CAMHS for 2 years- however the work we have done with Jo has decreased the need for this service - significantly. Prior to meeting Jo, we felt that our only option was statutory services and the long waiting lists would mean we would experience continued frustration for all of the family - but she was so brilliant at coaching us to support my son to help him with his daily struggles. I can honestly say the techniques and strategies helped my son, and us, so much. Jo is incredibly empathetic, driven with her experience and learning. I find myself thinking now- months after we’ve finished- “what would Jo say” to help direct my thinking. I am very grateful for her help, knowledge, and support, and couldn’t recommend her more.
Zoe and William
UK
Jo has been supporting me for a few months with challenges I have been having with my 10 year old who has complex needs including Autism, ADHD, Trauma and Social Anxiety. She has given me new knowledge and helped guide me to find solutions that work for us. I believe Jo has been more helpful than any other services we have engaged including CAMHS and Early Help.
Suzy
UK
I met with Jo to help with my son’s severe anxiety, which was life limiting at the time. Jo was a quiet strength for me. She listened attentively and was able to draw on her own experiences and knowledge to help me at a dark time during my parenting journey.
Jo worked at a pace that didn't overwhelm me and which I could then slowly implement the changes she suggested to ultimately help my son.Jo helped me understand what anxiety really was and the origins of it, which helped me to become closer to my son and help him to feel understood and not alone. My sons journey is not over but we are far better equipped now thanks to Jo's help. We still continue to meet regularly.
Mum of 4
Devon,UK
I am a Dad of 3 and I have a 13 year old autistic son. I was struggling with dealing with his behaviours, in particular his anger. The sessions with Jo helped me to understand what was happening for him and put some practices in place so I did not get so frustrated which meant things did not escalate as often. I have also been able to successfully put some of the techniques into practice with my other children. I found it great to talk to Jo about things, it was better to have someone knowledgeable to discuss the wins and the struggles, and also look at other ways to reduce his anger and calmly de-escalate situations that arose. It was also good to hear from her that no-one is perfect and you can't make the right decision every time. Jo was a great support and she helped me to think about what techniques I could use myself instead of telling me what she thought I should do, as not everything works the same way for everyone in every situation!
Darren,
Devon
Absolutely fabulous! Jo is a super amazing coach and we could not recommend her parenting support highly enough. We reached out to Jo when our 9 year old son’s aggression had become challenging. Jo is calm, focused, skilful, knowledgeable and experienced. Also, she was able to keep us on track and super generous with her time, materials and guidance. We learned massively on every session during our bespoke block of 6 even though we have followed 'hand-in-hand' parenting for many years. Our son’s aggression has reduced as a result of the changes we have made, and we have found we are less reactive also. We will continue with monthly coaching with Jo as it is too valuable to miss. Contact Jo now if you are considering parenting support.
Carolina and Dale, co-parents
Devon
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