“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."
— Louisa May Alcott
Finding Your Way
Post-traumatic growth & resilience coaching for women
Integrates trauma-informed mindfulness, heartfelt connection, and the science of healing- weaving together Interpersonal Neurobiology, Attachment theory, and Polyvagal Theory.
Rooted in how the brain and nervous system heal, each group coaching circle and individual coaching session is designed to support the body’s natural capacity for regulation and resilience— inviting awareness, safety, and connection to gently unfold over time.
Hello, and welcome! I’m Esther Brandon, and I’m so glad you’re here.
I first saw these words on the wall of the pond boathouse near my home. Louisa’s words felt like a quiet, steady reminder — whispered through time. They echoed a truth at the heart of my work — that resilience isn’t about avoiding storms, but meeting them with steadiness, compassion, and both strength and softness.
✨ A Window Into My Story
Why Attachment Matters
Through my own healing journey, I’ve come to understand how profoundly early relationships shape the way we feel, connect, and grow.
As a child, I longed to feel emotionally safe and connected. Like many highly sensitive children, I struggled with anxiety and often felt alone in my inner world.
My parents were good and loving people, and yet I experienced insecure attachment. I’ve come to see this as part of a larger truth: the traumas carried through families can live on across generations. My relationship with my mother was marked by misattunement, what we now understand as insecure attachment. Years later, when my mother asked for forgiveness, I met her with compassion. That moment of shared vulnerability became a turning point, leading to healing and reconciliation.
Even with loving parents, insecure attachment can affect development, leaving a child caught between a longing for connection and safety, while the nervous system works to protect.
To survive, we often blame ourselves — yet this blame becomes the seed of shame, self-doubt unworthiness that we carry forward.
Attachment provides the early ground for integration to unfold. When caregivers create conditions of safety, attunement, and comfort, the brain and nervous system grow in healthy ways. When there is repeated misattunement or insecure attachment, development can be affected, shaping our patterns of regulation, trust, and connection throughout life.
Dr. Dan Siegel’s framework of the 4 S’s of attachment — Safe, Seen, Soothed, and Secure — offers a way of understanding what helps us heal and thrive across the lifespan. These are not fixed outcomes of childhood, but relational experiences we can re-cultivate again and again. Neurobiology shows us that repair is possible at any time.
A Framework for Healing
The 4 S’s of Attachment
Safe
Feeling safe grows from caregivers who
avoided actions that frightened or hurt us.
As adults, it allows us to
express our emotions and gently trust ourselves and others.
Seen
Being seen comes from
caregivers who perceived us deeply and empathically.
As adults, it nurtures
belonging.
Soothed
Being soothed arises from caregivers
who comforted us in times of distress.
As adults, it helps us regulate,
build resilience, and offer comfort to others.
Secure
Feeling secure develops from consistent care
and attunement.
As adults, it fosters a steady sense of well-being
and inner balance.
♡ I often describe the 4 S’s as the water and nutrients that nourish the soil of well-being. 🌱
💛 How This May Relate to You
You may have arrived in a time of change— perhaps through illness, grief, or trauma. You may be wondering how to move forward with clarity and compassion.
As a Post-Traumatic Growth Coach, I bring together mindfulness, body-based awareness, and trauma-informed science to support your reconnection with yourself—your strengths and your wholeness. Together, we listen gently to the body’s natural intelligence, the quiet ways your nervous system and brain remember safety and connection. Healing isn’t about fixing ourselves. It’s about softly coming home to who we already are. This is the heart of my work — holding space for women to reconnect with their strengths and wholeness in ways that are soothing, grounding, healing .
What I’ve Learned
More than 35 years ago, a mindfulness workshop with Jon Kabat-Zinn shifted the course of my life. Since then, I’ve deepened my practice, studying Jewish mindfulness and trauma-informed science. These teachings have helped me reconnect with my body, heart, and spirit.
From my study and practice of Interpersonal Neurobiology (Dan Siegel, M.D.), Polyvagal Theory (Stephen Porges, Ph.D.), Jewish mystical traditions, and other wisdom traditions, I’ve come to understand the central role of the nervous system in expanding our capacity for love and freedom throughout our lives.
A Turning Point
Ten years ago, a breast cancer diagnosis confronted me with profound vulnerability. In that place of brokenness, felt experiences and memory began to surface. Childhood trauma reawakened, grief and loss moved through me, and with them came a pathway toward clarity, growth, and love.
Within the wounds of my early attachment story, I uncovered seeds of resilience—compassion toward myself and others, a reclaimed sense of agency, and a deep capacity for connection. Healing isn’t about fixing ourselves. It’s about coming home to who we already are.
Today, even as I continue recovering my ability to walk, each step is rooted in strength, courage, and love. This is post-traumatic growth—not just healing, but remembering your way back with compassion and clarity.
You’re Invited
If you’re navigating grief, illness, or transition, I invite you to walk this path with me—a journey of healing , integration, and reconnecting to yourself— your strengths— your happiness — your wholeness.
Trainings & Accreditations
M.S.Ed., Leadership in Early Childhood Education – Wheelock College, Boston
Retired Director of Undergraduate Field Placement – Lesley University
Co-Active Coach Training (CTI), ICF-Accredited
ICF Certified Coach (ACC)
Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training – Institute for Jewish Spirituality
Mindsight Approach to Well-Being – Dr. Dan Siegel
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional – Polyvagal Theory & Somatic Recovery
The Spiritual Healing Journey – Thomas Hübl
Healing Trauma with IPNB – Dr. Dan Siegel
Applied Polyvagal Theory in Trauma Yoga – Dr. Arielle Schwartz & Dr. Stephen Porges
Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Guide
Neuroscience of Change – Coaches Rising
Connect, Restore, Reclaim – Thomas Hübl & Dr. Richard Schwartz
“Serving makes us aware of our wholeness and its power. The wholeness in us serves the wholeness in others and the wholeness in life.”
— Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D