About Loving Parents

Loving Parents is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization focused on supporting Austin parents. Loving Parents envisions a community of connected, loving, and resourced families in Austin. We see a community where parents are cared for and have what they need to be healthy, and we see the beautiful impact that loving parenting has on multiple generations of children.

We seek to uplift families by meeting parents where they are, by supporting them in a way that is holistic, trauma-informed, and connected, and by creating communities where parents find real belonging.

Our Core Beliefs

• How parents are doing is how their kids are doing. Children experience positive outcomes when parents are supported and nurtured.

• Trauma is a part of being human. All of our practices include a trauma-informed approach, and our staff and volunteers are all prepared to show up in a compassionate way for other humans.

• We are holistic and body-centered. We believe our bodies hold the stories of our lives as well as the keys to healing.

• Parents need and deserve deep and compassionate support throughout the different ages and stages of their children. Raising a teenager can be just as challenging as the first days as a new parent. Parenting is not easy, but it can be the most rewarding job any of us get to do. True and deep support helps parents show up as their best selves. Support is vital!

• Building resilience is key to navigating our best lives as humans. All our programs are built around supporting our clients as they build up their resilience and emotional capacity.

• We offer loving, compassionate care to people –including our people. For those of us at Loving Parents to do this important work, we need to care for ourselves deeply. This is a daily practice.

• Connected community is vital to the health of humans. A Connected Community is one where we are showing up as authentic humans and expect others to do the same. A Connected Community is a group of people who feel they belong with each other.

Loving Parents Board of Directors

Past Members of the Board

Kareshma Pooran

Leigh Gatlin

Stephanie Bazan

Rachel Fratto

Claire Gloria

Heather McKenzie

Katie Schooner

Loving Parents Origin

Sarah Stasica and Peter Norris met in the Fall of 2021 as they were beginning their studies at the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work. Their shared experience in raising children, and their interest in changing the landscape of how parents are supported, resulted in the creation of Loving Parents. They focused their studies on the development of an organization that could reflect the values of the profession of social work and meet parents where they are in the long journey that is parenting. Along the way, they have found others who believe in the power of supporting parents and a special group of those amazing people are the Loving Parents board members. They all share in the desire to bring a trauma-informed approach and deep compassion to supporting parents, and they are excited about empowering parents in Austin, TX.

Loving Parents Team

Ann Gilbert, LCSW — Executive Director, Clinical Therapist

Hi, and welcome! I'm a therapist who helps parents in recovery reconnect with themselves during seasons of profound change. Whether you're rediscovering who you are after getting sober or navigating the emotional and identity shifts of pregnancy and postpartum, therapy can offer space to slow down, reflect, and grow. With experience as a birth doula, I understand the complexities of becoming a parent and the many ways our sense of self evolves. Together, we'll explore what matters most to you and build a life that feels authentic, meaningful, and aligned with who you're becoming.

My approach is warm, collaborative, and grounded in creating a space where you can be fully yourself. We'll explore your story with curiosity and compassion while weaving in tangible coping skills and mindfulness practices, using our work together as a foundation for meaningful, lasting change.

I use evidence-based approaches without losing sight of the human connection at the heart of therapy. Our first session is a collaborative conversation to understand what brings you in and explore what support would be most helpful. If this resonates with you, I'd love to connect.

I am honored and overjoyed to serve as a the Executive Director at Loving Parents and drive our next steps towards supporting families affected by addiction and recovery.

If you would like to schedule a free 15 minute consultation with Ann, please contact us here.

Texas LCSW License #105976

Kathryn Atkins, LMSW — Therapist

I’ve been married to my husband, David, for almost 15 years and while I do not have children of my own, I have functioned in the capacity of caregiver to children of all ages for nearly two decades. I am trauma-informed, person-centered, and I acknowledge the many systems that interact to have influence over our experiences. I see individual adults, adolescents, and children aged 6+. I have experience with anxiety issues, depression, trauma, mood disorders, and PTSD. 

I believe in the power of relationships and connection and see things in the context of a broader system – attachment. Our attachment stories inform our experiences of the world and our relationships with others. I incorporate coping skills for regulation of the nervous system into sessions and I aim to hold space while you gain ground in your relationship with yourself and others. I do not shy away from humor or vulnerability. I do not take for granted that you entrust me with your time and your growth. What a privilege it is for me to have that opportunity. 

Helping children and adolescents learn to identify and regulate their emotions as they grow into the people they will become is my passion. The complexities of the world coupled with the incredible rate at which the brain learns and develops during our earlier life intersect like spaghetti. It’s messy. It’s beautiful. I am here to help provide developmentally appropriate coping skills and strategies to foster smart, strong, brave future adults.

If you would like to schedule a free 15 minute consultation with Kathryn, please contact us here.

Texas LMSW License #113448

Supervised by Arlene Montgomery, LCSW-S