Melissa Reinhardt Weis

I am a part-time pediatrician, a full-time wife, and a full-time mom to three energetic boys. We love to laugh and make memories, but we have often struggled with the day-to-day details. We believe the Lord has made each one of us just as we are, and we trust that He has a plan for our family and the blessings and trials He’s given us. Words you may hear often in our stories include ADHD, autism, anxiety, anger, and overactive appetite…we call them the A’s! Oh, and sometimes we can throw in asthma and allergies too… As you can imagine, with the combination of all of these things, parenting has not been an easy journey. Within our family, we have had a lot of struggles, anger, many tears, frustrations, hurt feelings, and even feelings of hopelessness. A friend told us about Connected Families several years ago, and my husband and I dove into all of their resources we could get our hands on! Everything Connected Families has to offer is filled with hope. As we learned more and more about the framework–especially that our boys needed to feel safe and loved first, before we could teach them or correct them in anything–our family began to turn around. We are by no means perfect, and even though our boys are older–tweens and teens now, we are still in the thick of it and continue to need the framework to guide us every day. In the end, our hope is that we would always come back to our foundation–resting in Him–Jesus, our Rock, and our Refuge!

As a pediatrician with 25 years of experience, I seem to have also collected many patients and families who struggle with the same things we have–ADHD, autism, anxiety, and the heartache and challenges that come along with them. This has not been intentional, but I know that I am able to relate to families both as a doctor and as a Mom who “gets it.” It was also in this light that I was very excited to watch and hear about the development of Connected Families’ Sensitive & Intense online course a few years ago. In my pediatric work, I have never been able to find anything like it. All of Connected Families, but especially the Sensitive & Intense course, is a beautiful blend of brain science, decades of experience, and a faith-based foundation. It has been my joy to begin sharing parts of what I have learned from this course within my pediatric practice and to watch parents also begin to see the glimmer of hope.

Through coaching with me, either in general parenting, or specifically with sensitive & intense kids, this would be my vision as well–not to be your doctor, but to be your coach and still be that Mom who “gets it,” who now has been equipped with resources and tools to encourage you and guide you in a way that offers more hope to your parenting! During our sessions, my intention would be for you to feel comforted in knowing you are not alone and strengthened with a renewed vision for the days ahead in your family.

“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” Matthew 7:25