I encourage, inspire, and guide parents to change old patterns and to learn new practices that strengthen connection and heal family relationships.

– Noelle Wittliff / Mindful Parenting

Why Mindful Parenting?

My training, clinical work, and parenting experience informs the approach that I call Mindful Parenting. I do this work because it’s my passion and because I believe strongly that if one generation of children were parented consistently with empathy, respect, and kindness, we could create extraordinary healing in the world.

Working as a family therapist for over 20 years has allowed me to see similar patterns and themes that emerge within families. Giving parents a philosophy within which to understand their children’s needs and behaviors, along with strategies for meeting those needs, allows families to learn, grow, and heal.

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My Journey

My mindfulness practice began in my early twenties as a result of feeling pulled along by life circumstances, but not feeling as though I had a deep connection to a solid sense of agency. I began reading books on mindfulness, started a meditation practice, and began to notice an internal experience that I had mostly tuned out before. Up until that time, much of my thought process was future or past oriented. Making a conscious choice to stay present opened me up to my entire life.

When I apply mindfulness to parenting, I’m able to slow down and see what’s happening more clearly. When I’m not distracted by future projections or past ruminations, I’m better able to attend to my own needs as well as the needs of my family. Mindfulness allows me to stay grounded and to be a calmer, more patient parent.

A New Paradigm

When I became a mom, I sought out guidance to support my parenting journey. I felt discouraged by the information that I found online and in popular parenting books and magazines. The strategies suggested felt punitive and manipulative to me, and I wondered how I would foster a trusting connection with my son if I applied some of the “common sense” advice that many people seemed to be recommending.

In my search for compassionate parenting approaches, I discovered the Echo Center, a parenting center founded by Ruth Beaglehole. The classes I took there emphasized empathy and a deep respect for children. For several years around this time, I also attended Janet Lansbury’s weekly RIE classes with my son. Her philosophy, also rooted in respecting children, strengthened my foundation for parenting.

After my second child was born, I underwent a two-year training to become certified in the Echo Parenting curriculum. A few years after that, I became certified in the Trauma Resilience Model because I believe that effective parenting requires resolving our own stressful childhood experiences as well as learning how to regulate our nervous system. I took the best of what I learned from my trainings and from my experience working with families in my clinical practice to develop the Mindful Parenting course.

Leadership, Education, and Collaboration

In 2019, I founded Mindful Parenting in Los Angeles, and began offering mindfulness programs and parent coaching alongside my marriage and family therapist services. Since moving to Portland, Oregon in 2021 (and post pandemic), I now offer in-person mindfulness classes for kids and teens in Portland, parent education, and professional trainings grounded in whole-brain integration and gender-affirming care.

My work bridges mindfulness education, relational neuroscience, and identity development — supporting families, educators, and clinicians in cultivating resilience and belonging.

Mindfulness Courses, Workshops, and Youth Programs

I offer in-person and online experiential classes and workshops for children, teens, and adults, integrating mindfulness, movement, creativity, and reflection. Be sure to visit my Programs page to see what is currently being offered.

Mindful Parenting Courses / Creator & Instructor

Practical, heart-centered parenting classes (offered online and in person) that combine mindfulness and easy-to-understand brain science to help you feel more grounded and connected at home. Designed to help caregivers:

Pause and respond thoughtfully instead of reacting in the heat of the moment
Strengthen connection and build trust with their children
Make sense of big emotions — their child’s and their own
Understand behavior through a developmental lens instead of taking it personally
Navigate conflict with compassion and meaningful repair
Feel steadier, more confident, and more aligned in their parenting

Mindful PDX / Founder & Lead Teacher

Creator of Mindful Kids PDX, Mindful Tweens PDX, and Mindful Teens PDX — small-group, in-person mindfulness classes in Portland, Oregon designed to help young people build emotional awareness, resilience, self-compassion, and a felt sense of belonging.

Now in its fourth year, Mindful PDX has served dozens of families in the Portland community and continues to grow as a space where kids and teens can slow down, connect, and thrive.

My Voice Music / Summer Camp Mindfulness Workshops

Engaging, trauma-informed mindfulness workshops for tweens and teens in a creative arts setting.

https://myvoicemusic.org/

The People’s Yoga / Guest Teacher: Cultivating a Mindfulness Practice

Adult workshop on building a sustainable daily mindfulness practice.

https://thepeoplesyoga.org/

Portland Insight Meditation Center / Youth Dharma Program Director & Lead Teacher

Mindfulness programming for children and teens within a Buddhist community setting.

https://portlandinsight.org/

My Forthcoming Book

I am currently co-authoring a book for parents of gender-expansive youth, exploring whole-brain integration, identity development, and resilience. The manuscript is in its final stages and scheduled for publication in 2027.

Clinical Trainings & Professional Development

In addition to my mindfulness teaching, I design and lead professional development trainings for clinicians, educators, and leadership teams. These trainings are grounded in interpersonal neurobiology, whole-brain integration, and gender-affirming frameworks. The following are select trainings I’ve presented in partnership with these organizations.