Lynn Gore
Certified Infant Massage Teacher, Triple P Parent Practitioner
BSc. in Developmental Disabilities
I credit my Mom for some amazing things that have happened in my life. She was and still is a fantastic teacher. She taught me that it is ok to be a strong independent woman, how to be resilient in times of adversity and to think for myself. Not to mention, my inherent love for animals and family came as a result of her leadership!
During my young teen years, my family made a mutual decision to become a Foster Family for children whose parents needed extra support and were unfortunately facing some challenges. Probably at the time, one of the worst things we could have done and now reflecting back, one of the best things we did as a family. When you’re young, it’s hard to learn how to share your parents, your home and let me tell you, we had a steep learning curve to re-balance family life with all of the changes. I had a large hand in raising my two little brothers and if my family could know back then what I have learned since, we would have been a force to be reckoned with! Would I do anything differently if I could? The answer is a simple no. Now, in my adult life, I see clearly how this has impacted my career, my vision and my present and future goals. The experiences of being a Foster Sister clearly guided my career path and I am ever so thankful!
I thought all along that I wanted to be a Special Education Teacher so off I went to Minot State University in Minot, North Dakota to do exactly that and suddenly realized I did not desire to be in the classroom working with the children. If I really wanted to make a difference, then increasing the parents feeling of competence and confidence would make a huge difference in the life of some of these children. It is then that I decided to switch to the field of Developmental Disabilities, with emphasis in Social Work and Psychology. I obtained my Bachelors of Science and life has flown by since.
As a Certified Infant Massage Teacher, I can truly do my part in the community to influence making a positive difference in the day to day lives of families. We teach self-regulation, autonomy and most importantly, strengthening a parent’s bond and building on healthy attachment when our babies are as little as 3 weeks old! The ability to keep their babies healthy, happy and strong through massage only helps to build a parent’s tool box, helps to combat postnatal depression and lower any potential stress hormones in mom and baby. The power of touch and touch therapy is most definitely amazing. I am truly humbled to be able to bring Infant Massage classes for Parents to the Regina Speech Centre.
I laugh now as I reflect on how many times I have heard my Mom say, “If I had a manual, this parenting thing would be easier” as I may not have been her easiest child to raise. She’s so right, parenting isn’t easy, the bad days can be really hard. The Triple P Parenting Program is the closest I can get to being able to provide parents with a “Parenting Manual”. The bonus part of Triple P is that it comes with a Guide, me the person who helps you formulate a parenting plan that works for your family, chosen by you! I was very lucky four years ago to be able to move back home to Regina and become instrumental as the Regina Coordinator in the provincial rollout & launch of Triple P in Saskatchewan with the Ministry of Social Services. I am looking forward to assisting Cynthia and Nichole in launching the program at The Regina Speech Centre.