I am a mother, parent educator, psychotherapist and fellow traveler on a lifelong journey of healing, growing, and learning how to show up fully for the people I love. There are two pieces to my work: the activism piece and the healing/thriving piece. Becoming a Nested World Ambassador has been the support and the vehicle for these pieces to integrate more beautifully than I could have imagined
For as long as I can remember, I have been on a mission to understand what helps human beings flourish. As a clinician, I have spent years studying attachment, trauma, neuroscience, suffering and relief from suffering. As a parent, I found myself wrestling with the same fears, doubts, and challenges that so many of us face. Again and again, I discovered that the answers were not found in a focus on behavior or striving for perfection, but in connection and presence—connection to ourselves, our children, each other, and the living world around us.
Finding Darcia Narvaez’s work, the Evolved Nest and Kindred World felt like coming home. It brought together all the threads I had been exploring for years and made them make sense in the most amazing tapestry I could imagine: attachment, nervous system regulation, Indigenous wisdom, community, play, nature connection, compassion, and the understanding that children develop best when they are surrounded by a village of caring relationships, and that all of us thrive when we are deeply embedded in a web of connection.
The Evolved Nest confirmed for me that how things are now is NOT how humans have always experienced life, and that deep within us is the memory of what we need to thrive. We are not separate and we never have been.
My work is rooted in the belief that children are not problems to be fixed but people to be understood. When we look beneath behavior and learn to see the needs, emotions, and nervous systems underneath, new possibilities emerge. We become more able to respond with curiosity instead of judgment, connection instead of control, and compassion instead of shame. This goes for all of us!
I am so passionate about helping parents create the conditions that allow both children and adults to grow and flourish. Through education, storytelling, somatic practices, self-compassion, expressive arts, nature connection, and community-building, I support parents in healing old patterns and cultivating relationships grounded in trust, presence, and belonging.
I believe that parenting is likely the most important work we will ever do—not because we are shaping children, but because relationships shape all of us. Every moment of attunement, every repair after disconnection, every act of compassion ripples outward into families, communities, and future generations. I believe this is the way I am meant to contribute to turning our cultures and our planet BACK into a place of thrive.
In addition to therapy and parent coaching, I am have created a program called (R)evolutionary Parenting-the name is a nod to our ancestral wisdom and the understanding that nurture and connection are revolutionary in our current times, but have been our baseline throughout evolution. (R)evolutionary Parenting is a combination of education, healing and support for parents so we can experience a deep sense of belonging to ourselves, each other and the earth, and to raise securely attached children who build a better future.
As a Nested World Ambassador, I am profoundly honored to be part of a growing movement that is remembering what humans have always known: that we thrive in connection, that children grow best in nests of love and support, and that by nurturing one another, we help create a more compassionate and life-centered world.
Instagram: @revolutionaryparenting
Facebook: Dara Schulbaum MSW, LCSW