Helping parents learn simple, effective parenting skills is a passion Lisa Greene discovered after she became a mom and realized how much help she needed. It's not easy being a parent, especially of a special needs child!
When Lisa's first child Jacob was born unexpectedly with cystic fibrosis, she left her fifteen year career in real estate finance to focus on taking care of Jacob. Needing information about both special needs and general parenting challenges, she started digging in to the many different parenting resources and experienced "information overload." There is so much conflicting information out there!
Then, Lisa discovered Love and Logic and life changed for the whole family. As her knowledge of Love and Logic grew, she started teaching it first to friends and now, as a Love and Logic facilitator for six years, has taught the program professionally to hundreds of parents in the San Francisco Bay area and Seattle, WA.
In 2004, Lisa wrote a letter to the founders of Love and Logic, Jim Fay and Foster Cline, MD. She asked them to create a new program for Parenting Children with Health Issues and has been working with Dr. Cline on this important project ever since.
Lisa enjoys working with families so much that she decided to get additional training as a parent coach. In 2007, she completed the parent coach certification program at ACPI and specialized in Special Needs. She has also completed Love and Logic's facilitator training program. For formal education, Lisa earned a Bachelor's degree in Organizational Management and Marketing from Central Washington University.
Lisa recently moved from the San Francisco Bay area and now lives with her husband and two children near Seattle, WA. She loves the outdoors, photography, writing, travel and spending time with family and friends.
A Personal Note from Lisa
I’ve always dreamed of writing a book but never did I dream that this would be the one. And even though this book isn’t exactly the thrilling whodunnit of my dreams, it contains my heart and soul in a way that no other book ever will. It doesn’t matter that the subject of our book won’t lead it to the best-seller lists. What does matter is the opportunity to provide crucial and life-changing information for the many families who, like us, struggle with parenting children with serious medical issues. My deepest thanks go to Foster, Jim, Charles, and the Love and Logic Institute for making this program happen and for giving us all a place to go for answers and hope.
Having two beautiful children with a chronic, life-shortening illness has given me a perspective on life that I don’t think I would have otherwise grasped: Life is so precious, and every moment counts. Each new day we get to share with our children is a gift.
Since our son, Jacob’s, birth and immediate diagnosis with cystic fibrosis, I have also come to realize that, as a parent, the only thing I really have any control over is to be a great parent. This realization has been anything but easy.
The early days of Jacob’s diagnosis were a blur of disbelief, anger, and grief. Through the pain and tears, I decided it was my job to keep him healthy. I also wanted to be the best Mommy there ever was to this precious little boy, and to make the days he has be the best days possible. The problem was, I really didn’t know how to do it. Oh, but I thought I did! When things were going okay, I had it handled. It was only when things weren’t going “as planned” that I realized I needed help with my parenting skills.
One day, as I “recovered” from another close encounter with Jacob over taking his medication, which had ended in a doozey of a temper tantrum (his!), I reflected deeply on our challenges. I wanted so much more for our kids. I wanted the time we did have together to be spent loving each other and having fun, instead of filled with fighting and arguing over medical treatments. My heart said, “Just love them,” and my head said, “Just be a great parent.” But how? The difficulties that lie ahead seemed so huge. Where could I go for answers?
Enter Love and Logic. My husband and I took one of their parenting classes and haven’t looked back since. I sent a letter to Jim Fay and Dr. Foster Cline asking them to create a Love and Logic Program for parenting kids with medical conditions to help us with the special issues that are a part of life for so many of us. One evening, Dr. Cline called and said they wanted to do the program. It was like talking to Santa Claus! Foster was clearly eager and qualified to help our family and other families like us. So here we are- our book is finally done after much hard work.
As I’ve worked with Foster on this book, I’ve found it to be an experience filled with both joy and sorrow. It has forced me to look at some issues that I had neatly avoided but needed to face. And although the information we share within these pages may not always be comfortable to read, it is necessary, life-changing and, possibly, life saving. I have learned how to implement Love and Logic’s powerful parenting tools at a much deeper level and, just like you; I am still a work in progress. This book will end but our stories won't. Love and Logic will continue to give the training and support we need to successfully navigate around the obstacles we face as we strive to be great parents in difficult parenting circumstances.
If it’s possible for me to learn and use these tools, then it’s possible for every one of you, too, even on those tough days when we don’t exactly feel like great parents. The fact that you are reading these words indicates your desire to walk the path of learning, growing, questioning, and changing. That’s what it’s all about. We become aware of good parenting techniques; we toss away those that aren’t good, and take the necessary steps toward showing our love effectively. We are all on this journey together, showing our children a love that is logical and ensuring that all our logic is laced with love. This will empower us to be great parents to our very special children because every moment matters.
