Dr. Deborah MacNamara is the author of the best selling book Rest, Play, Grow: Making Sense of Preschoolers (or anyone who acts like one), is on Faculty at the Neufeld Institute, and is the Director of Kid’s Best Bet, a Counselling and Family Resource Center. Her book Rest, Play, Grow has been translated into the Russian language with Italian, and German versions to follow.

Deborah is a dynamic teacher and experienced counsellor who makes developmental science come to life in the everyday context of home and classroom. She also provides counselling services to parents and professionals to make sense of learning, behavioural, and developmental issues in kids – from babies to teens.

Deborah travels nationally and internationally, speaking to child and adolescent development issues to groups including the United Nations and the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education. She regularly speaks to parents, educators, child care professionals, social workers, foster and adopt community, and health care professionals, sharing her insight and passion for making sense of kids. She is a developmentalist at heart who is continually fascinated by the mysteries and beauty inherent in human maturation.

Deborah completed a two-year post doctoral internship with Dr. Gordon Neufeld, is an award winning researcher, and has over 20 years experience as a teacher and counsellor working with leading institutions such as the University of British Columbia, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and the Vancouver School Board. Deborah regularly appears on radio and TV, her articles appear in parenting magazines, websites, and newsletters across Canada and internationally including Australia’s “Nurture-Natural Parenting Magazine” where she is a regular contributor. She resides in Vancouver British Columbia with her family and consciously works at creating an attachment village for her children to grow up in.