Tamara Strijack is a mother, an educator, a counsellor, a consultant, a collaborator and a creative. On any given day, one might find her facilitating, matchmaking, equipping or creating. One of her greatest joys is coming alongside others on their journey — whether it be finding outlets for emotional expression, or finding one’s way as a parent, teacher or helping professional. Her own personal playgrounds are found in writing with fountain pens, giving voice to inner experience through collage and meandering through the woods. 

She is an advocate for playful gatherings and for connection in the natural world, as well as a collector of salts, a curator of pauses and a friend of Folklife magazine, where she takes their motto “slow the folk down” very seriously. 

Tamara is also the academic dean of the Neufeld Institute, where she develops and delivers courses and workshops supporting parents, teachers, and helping professionals around the world make sense of children through developmental science.

Tamara works as a registered clinical counsellor, parent consultant, and sessional instructor for several universities, where she lectures for both the faculties of education and counselling. She provides emotional health consulting for schools and advises on the development of new programs that foster the social and emotional growth of all students.

She is the co-author of Reclaiming our Students: Why children are more anxious, aggressive, and shut-down than ever and what we can do about it.

Tamara has two daughters and lives on the West Coast of Canada.