
Petra Janopaul, AMFT & APCC
Welcome to the Trans Family Alliance (TFA). I’m Petra Janopaul, a psychotherapist, parent coach, activist, and mother of three amazing teenagers. I support parents and caregivers of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse youth as they navigate questions, challenges, transitions, and opportunities for growth.
For more than three years, I have worked alongside Dr. Shawn and helped develop and lead the Navigating the Gender Journey Parent Coaching Program. Since 2024, I’ve had the privilege of guiding families through a process of learning, reflection, and practical change that helps strengthen relationships and increase confidence in supporting their youth.
While my clinical training informs my work, coaching offers something different: a space focused specifically on growth, insight, action, and real-life application. As both a therapist and a parent, I bring together professional expertise and lived experience. I am here to be with you and truly guide you on this journey because I know it can be joyful, confusing, inspiring, and challenging—often all at the same time!
My coaching approach is grounded in curiosity, compassion, and respect for a parent’s innate wisdom since you know your child best. I believe people are infinitely capable of growth throughout their lives, and also that parents need and deserve support as they learn alongside their youth. Rather than telling you what to do, I help you clarify your own values, identify what is getting in the way of being the parent you want to be and know you can be, and then to develop practical strategies that both align with who you are and are more effective approaches to dealing with the challenges you are facing.
Whether your child is 5, 15, or even 55, coaching can help you build confidence in your parenting, improve communication with your child, navigate difficult decisions independently or together, and ultimately serve to create stronger connections within your entire family. My goal is to provide a supportive and judgment-free space where you can explore and share the hardest parts that are tough to even think about let alone say out loud, then to gain clarity about how to move forward, and ultimately work on coming to a place of peace knowing that you are brave and courageous, and intentionally parenting the most precious gifts you have – your own children.
I look forward to supporting you on this journey.