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Adoption Attuned Certified Coaches and Professionals Directory

Each professional listed in this directory has completed the Adoption Attuned Coaching© Program developed by Growing Intentional Families Together. These coaches and professionals are prepared to walk alongside individuals and families with empathy, insight, and practical tools that honor the lifelong journey of adoption. Graduates are trained in trauma-informed, adoption-sensitive practices.

Our TriSpective Approach equips these coaches and other professionals with a deep understanding of adoption from all sides—adoptees, birth/first parents, and adoptive parents. Our concept of Tri-Relational Interconnectivity helps them recognize and reconcile the emotional, physical, and psychological ties that link adoptees, birth/ first parents, and adoptive parents. Their understanding of the TriSpective Approach and Tri-Relational Interconnectivity offer them insight and skills and understand that each individual has unique experiences, struggles, and emotional fallout caused by adoption which they all experience both as individuals and as part of a connected whole.

Graduates of our Adoption Attuned Coaching© Program certification demonstrate a commitment to ethical, attuned care that is grounded in current best practices. Many of the professionals listed also possess lived experience as part of the adoption constellation.

 

 

This symbol next to photos indicates professionals who are members of the triad

Coaches

Sally Ankerfelt

Sally Ankerfelt

Growing Intentional Families Together

(800) 653-9445   |  Email

Sharon Butler-Obazee

Sharon Butler-Obazee

Growing Intentional Families Together

(925) 577-3102   |     Email

Yvonne Howard

Yvonne Howard

Unmasked Coaching

 

(309) 648-0551   |     Email

Petra Earnshaw

Petra Earnshaw

Petra Earnshaw Coaching

AACC Performance Coach
COACH BIO
Sally accompanies families or individuals within the triad who may feel tired, stuck in chaos, and ready to throw in the towel. Those in the adoption constellation may face challenges that require a supportive professional who has personal and skilled knowledge of attachment adaptations, trauma responses, anxiety, and grief. As an adoptive parent of three, Sally has faced both the joy and struggle of parenting. When working with you, she will bring her personal and professional experience using a sensitive, non-judgmental approach as she helps you find renewed hope and joy for yourself and, by extension, for your loved ones.
 
During the coaching relationship, she holds you complete and capable as you seek support, understanding, and options. Building on your strengths, she helps you create strategies, develop unique skills, and establish clear goals so you can calm the chaos and reclaim yourself.
 
Often, it is difficult to schedule appointments during typical hours or travel to an office session. Therefore, Sally meets with clients at various times and places (homes, coffee shops, video call, etc.)
 
Sally also offers seminars and presentations at various adoption conferences and venues around the country. 
 
She holds a Certificate in Trauma Studies from the University of Minnesota which informs her work as a coach,  a Certificate in Adoption Attuned Coaching (AACC) and completed The National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative (NTI).
ICF ACC | AACC Coach
COACH BIO

Sharon motivates and inspires connection and communication among those living through the adoption process. As an adoptee, Sharon possesses a lifetime of lived expertise. She genuinely understands the trials, tribulations, and triumphs that families experience. With intense passion and knowledge, Sharon guides adoptive parents, birth mothers, and adopted people through a beautifully thoughtful and comprehensive cycle of training phases to develop essential skills to overcome obstacles, heal from loss and attachment, and build substantial relationships. Her dedication to supporting parents, her passionate experience with birth parents, and her fierce advocacy for adoptees have driven her coaching approach to an unfathomable level of success and families to extreme levels of happiness.

As adoption can be an exciting yet confusing time, Sharon delivers empathetic guidance that prepares parents for potential issues and supports them through complexities. Her dedication to bringing people together for a lifetime, utilizing innovative strategies to help all members of the triad assess and apply methods to structure relationships focused on the rewards of communication.

MA -Human Development Counseling, ICF-ACC, Adoption Attuned Certified Coach (AACC)
COACH BIO
Yvonne Howard is the owner and principal coach at Unmasked Coaching, with over 25 years of heart, experience, and expertise as a former licensed counselor, educator, and consultant.
As a biracial adoptee from a closed adoption, Yvonne understands the journey of finding where you belong in this world. Working with all adult members of the adoption triad, she specializes in mental fitness and authenticity, creating supportive environments where clients may explore their holistic selves, build resilience, and make choices aligned with their core values.
Yvonne combines deep compassion with radical honesty delivered with grace, genuine curiosity, and a belief that everyone already has the answers within themselves—they sometimes just need a safe process to access them.
Having lived across the country, she’s learned that belonging isn’t about geography; it’s about knowing and trusting who you are so you can show up authentically wherever you are.
Yvonne is a wife and mother of two human adults and one fur baby. She enjoys knitting and loves to explore new places, people, and food.
Her 3 Cs of Life: “Life is about how well you Cope with the Consequences of your Choices. Let’s start making better choices.” – Yvonne Howard

Advanced-Certified ADHD Life Coach ACC

COACH BIO

I am an Advanced-Certified ADHD Life Coach and Adoption Attuned Coach. As an adopted woman myself, I am passionate about supporting other adopted women who are living with ADHD. Many of the women I work with were diagnosed later in life, or are only just beginning to recognise ADHD traits, and I offer coaching that helps them feel understood and supported as they build strategies that work for them.
 
I also work with all members of the adoption triad: adoptees, adoptive parents and birth parents. My Adoption Attuned coaching training allows me to bring sensitivity and awareness to the lifelong impact of adoption, creating a space where clients can explore their experiences and move forward with greater confidence.
 
I offer complimentary Discovery Calls so you can see what it feels like to work with me and whether coaching is the right support for you.
Kim Noeth

Kim Noeth

Growing Intentional Families Together

(717) 517-2334  |  Email

Certified Coach, AACC
COACH BIO

Kim Noeth is a compassionate adoption consultant and coach with extensive experience supporting birth parents and adoptive families through their unique journeys. As the founder of Birth Moms Today and The Post Adoption Journey, she provides specialized guidance rooted in personal understanding and professional expertise.

Kim specializes in trauma-informed care and adoption-attuned guidance. She offers personalized coaching, resources, and community support while advocating for ethical adoption practices and open communication. Her grief coaching services extend to mothers who have experienced the loss of a child, providing compassionate support through profound bereavement.

Her services include pre and post-adoption counseling, birth parent support and guidance, adoptive family preparation and education, grief coaching for child loss, and navigating complex relationships in adoption triads.

Connect with Kim through her websites BirthMomsToday.com and ThePostAdoptionJourney.com, or via her professional profile on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/kimnoeth/.

Kim creates safe spaces for all clients, ensuring voices are heard and relationships are nurtured with respect, understanding and compassion.

Professionals

Tammy Murphy

Tammy Murphy

(765) 729-1850  |  Email

AAPC
BIO

Tammy K. Murphy is a same race adoptee. In 2011 she became passionate in helping other adoptees when she realized how being adopted had affected her more than she realized.  Utilizing what she learned from the G.I.F.T coaches, she is launching her own coaching business called “Life! Despite Adoption.” She will offer group coaching sessions using the Murphy Method: MADE (Motivation, Ambition, Determination and Execution). She seeks to help adoptees realize that there is life despite adoption, when you are ready to put the past behind you and start LIVING. Her coaching service will provide coaching for all those in the adoption triad. Her future goal is to work with teens in foster care.

She has an associate’s degree and technical certificate in Human Services and holds a bachelor’s degree in general studies with minors in psych development and creative writing.

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