About Us
Transformative Parenting was founded in 2003 by Todd Sarner, MA. From an early age, Todd wanted to become a Psychotherapist to work with children and help them overcome emotional difficulties and other challenges they face that could get in the way of them growing into their full potential in life.
With that end in mind, he starting taking Psychology courses in 1989 in his home town of San Jose, California. A little while later, he moved to Berkeley, CA and then San Francisco, CA to pursue his academic goals.
While in college and then Grad School, Todd started working with kids in a number of different settings- from family therapy to foster and adoptive programs and working in Group Homes with at-risk youth. He received his Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology in 2001.
It was around the time his son was born in 2003 that Todd was introduced to the work of Dr. Gordon Neufeld and his groundbreaking book, Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers. He felt the book helped tie together a lot of his trainings and experiences working with families and provided a comprehensive "big picture" view of why
parenting was getting to be so challenging in today's world and provided a road map for how to successfully parent despite these challenges. He was particularly inspired by Dr. Neufeld's focus on how helping our children develop deep and secure relationships was the main key to solving behavior issues and unlocking the child's potential. And he was most inspired by Neufeld's message that parents are the answer for their children and not parenting "experts". This was one of the main reasons he decided to focus on working with parents, not kids. This was the inspiration behind the founding of Transformative Parenting in late 2003.
Todd was honored to be chosen by Dr. Neufeld as one of the first Interns in his professional training program, which lasted 2.5 years. He was then invited to become a Faculty Member of the Neufeld Institute, which also lasted 2.5 years.
In the years since, Todd has personally worked with over 1400 families around the world in one-on-one Parent Consulting and Education work in-person and on Skype. He has delivered hundreds of Parent Education talks and webinars around the US and Internationally, from the smallest Mothers Club to major conferences.
Todd has also taught versions of his Transformative Parenting Process Course both in-person and online since 2005. In addition to the "all ages" version of the Course, he also teaches versions that focus on Preschool & Kindergarten age children and one on Adolescents.
In addition to his Parent Consulting and Education work, Todd is also a Couples Counselor who works exclusively with parents in Marin and Sonoma Counties in California- part of his mission to help children by helping their parents. You can find out more about this work by visiting his website: Todd Sarner MFT Marriage and Couples Counseling for Marin and Sonoma Parents.
Todd enjoys reading, hiking and travel and spending time with good friends. More than anything, he loves being a father and spends as much time as he can with his son.