Save the Relationship with Your Child, and Yourself
The Empowered Mom
Get expert guidance and group support in this 6 month on-line journey as you relieve fears and increase the power of your love, strengthened with
tools and skills that inspire change
Connect with more moms in purpose, on purpose
to discuss in more detail and get more support, please schedule a 1:1 call
You Matter. Your Healing Matters.
Give it to You, and You Give it to Your Child.
No one does the hard stuff alone, at least not very well. It's normal and common to feel stressed out by:
Worry - Things could get worse. They'll never forgive me. It's too hard. I can't. Good people don't say no. I need to help them.
Guilt - I did something wrong. I did too much, didn't do enough. I shouldn't haven't said that. I should have done it better. I caused it.
Anger - They keep pressuring me, I want it to stop. They get even angrier with me. They don't respect me. They don't listen to me.
Although it makes perfect sense to think and feel these things, please don't let it
stay that way. Because it will damage your relationships.
If you have ongoing stress, you need ongoing healing, with a treasure box of ways to get inner peace, get your energy back, and learn skills to love you and your child through their addiction.
“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves."
~ The Dali Lama
The Empowered Mom
Your 6 month journey is held within a safe, compassionate, transformational space to heal, establish kind boundaries, and develop skills in communication and behavior change ~ with love guiding the way. This is a deep and lasting experience for you to find answers that make sense to you, to overcome fear and worry, to tap into your own wisdom so that are grounded in your truth and free to love without fear. A lifestyle to inspire healing so that your child sees you, and can follow you to rise beyond addiction.
Wisdom Speaks. Love Moves.
Get clear on what is most important
to you and why.
Transform your worry to peace.
Let go of guilt.
Resolve resentments.
Forgive yourself, forgive your child,
set your heart free.
Calm and strengthen your nervous system.
Learn and practice skills that build connection and inspire change.
Get the kind of tools that are doable and powerful so that you can walk your peace path for the rest of your life.
This is For You if:
You feel overwhelmed by worry, guilt, resentments, imagining a scary future, re-living difficulties of the past.
You're tired, unsure, doubting yourself, wanting to be closer with your child, often distracted in thought and thinking the worst, waiting for the call.
Can't relax, pretending you're ok when you're not.
Sometimes feel consumed by conditions and crises, feeling hopeless or helpless.
You know things need to change, you just don't know how (yet). You wonder what's going to work, and you need something to work quickly.
You see others doing well and compare yourself, wondering if or when life might improve for you and your loved one, questioning if you're doing something wrong (you're not).
You want to connect more with your heart, open your mind, and practice taking care of your mind, body, and spirit so that you have a care plan that works for you, except fear keeps getting you stuck.
Even though it's uncomfortable to feel all the feels, you are willing to be willing to go a bit deeper, care for your fears, learn and try on new ideas - you sense hope calling to you, and are open to believe that love is going to find you and move you into healing and learning new ways to show up loving your child, with more confidence to help them.
As an Empowered Mom you CAN:
Re-gain your mental clarity.
Re-claim your peace.
Re-store your energy.
Re-new essential skills to love a child through their addiction.
Re-create new ways that feel right for you to solve old problems.
Re-connect with your child, heart to heart
This is how moms like you honor your great purpose to love, so that you can honor the timeless, unbreakable bond with your dear child, especially when it gets complicated and peace is needed the most. Feel lighter so that you have the presence and power to light the way for your child.
Welcome, I'm Joanne
Hello to you, my fellow courageous mom. I'm Joanne Richards, mom of a child who struggles with substance use and mental health issues. I'm also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie, Certified Grief Educator, with a Certification in The Invitation to Change and Trauma Sensitive Heart Math. I've earned a broad personal and professional perspective of loving a child through addiction, the hard way. We must create some ease, and we can!
I believe that unless and until we do our own healing, we will remain in a cycle of suffering. I have caused more difficulty, estrangement, and increased struggle because I just didn't know or wasn't doing enough for my inner peace. Much of it was preventable. Of course, I didn't do it deliberately, I did it because of fear, lack of knowledge and skills.
If you're reading this, most likely we share an intention to actively love our children through their struggles with substance use, starting and continuing with our own healing. We have got to care for our fears (worry, guilt, anger etc) and return to love, with much needed skills.
With over 20 years of professional training and personal experience, I've collected some of the most effective and powerful tools and methods, thankfully that have supercharged my own healing, and I trust can supercharge yours too. My approach is deeply grounded in a foundation of acceptance, compassion, empathy, faith, with practical, evidence-based strategies that promote healing and self-empowerment. I call it loving with skills. I'd love for you to join me.
Care for your Worry, Guilt, Anger.
Get Essential Tools and Skills.
Have your experience and struggles seen and heard, supported by those who understand
Re-connect with your best self
Relieve your stress and restore your peace
Choose life and love over fear and worry
Release the burden of guilt
Be free of anger and renew your hope
Forgive and heal to rebuild stronger relationships
Learn concepts that can naturally help you move forward with more confidence
Strengthen your resilience
Heal your pain and create purpose from it
Learn effective listening and communication skills
Invite shared interest and problem solving with your child
Clarify kind boundaries and release the fear to live them
Inspire accountability, insight, and behavior changes
Support and uplift your child with your own healing
The Empowered Mom
Experience a powerful combination of compassionate support and learning with other moms who understand and join you in practicing effective strategies and tools for your personal healing so that you can better heal the relationship with your child and love, skillfully, the way we need to when loving a child through their struggles with substance use. Move from surviving to thriving and showing your child the way.
Experience the kind of change that builds a strong foundation to restore your peace, create better balance, and strengthen your resilience to do the hard things with less pain, more ease, less confusion, more confidence.
Love Wins Here!
Mindset Coaching
Stay focused and intentional
supported by Joanne's facilitation
and coaching so that you experience consistent support in your healing and turning fears into understanding, and therefore peace. Break through fears that would hold you back from learning and living empowered love.
Skill Building
Along with a variety of coping
strategies to manage stress, learn
and practice needed skills for boundaries, communication, and behavior change so that you can
best love a child through their
struggles with substance use and/or mental health issues.
Stress-Melting Activities
Learn and practice restorative and doable peace techniques designed to care for your tough emotions so that you can renew your peace and balance. This is a mind, body, spirit approach to take care of all parts of you.
Pain into Purpose
Learn how to turn your emotional turmoil into a source for deeper understanding, resilience and inspired choice and action. Because Love is who you are, we will use its power above the pain and for greater purpose.
Worksheets & Resources
You will have a collection of tools and worksheets to apply your learning during and after the course is complete. Worksheets include topics such as identifying your priorities, mind-set, self-care, boundaries, and saying "no" with love.
Support & Accountability
Connect with other moms in community to provide mutual support and understanding so that you can heal and grow, inspire and rise. Stay on track to meet your own needs so you can show up without added stress when your child needs you the most.
Special Bonuses
1. A guided meditation to listen to any time at your convenience. (Value $100)
2. A comprehensive self-guided educational program ~ The Invitation to Change ~ based in science and kindness. (Value $500)
3. Expert led sessions in Tapping, Somatic Healing, and Easy Nutrition Hacks
6. 21 Ways to Re-Set Your Happiness Set Point (based on Happy For No Reason) ($200)
7. Over 100 thought provoking journal prompts to enhance your healing and inner wisdom. (Value $100)
8. A collection of inspiring and uplifting biblical verses, if desired. (Value $100)
(Added Bonus Value $1,100)
Are you ready to empower your love?
Schedule an Empowered Mom Call today to learn more. Whether or not the course is a fit for you, you will be fully supported, seen, and heard to move forward with some resources to meet you and your situation where you're at and consider next steps that are right for you.
Don’t put off what is so critical for your health and the health of your relationships. Peace is the way. Peace in you is peace out of you, and what you will share with your child
Take the first step or continue towards
a renewed mind and more peaceful heart now!
Have questions?
Here are some answers!
What is The Empowered Mom and Who is it for?
The Empowered Mom is a live 6 month program within a community of like minded mothers of children who struggle with substance use. It’s a compassionate group of moms interested in peace and loving a child through an addiction by transforming their worry, guilt, anger and grief into the power of love, learning and using skills to inspire deeper connection with our children, with kinder boundaries, improved communication and knowing what contributes to change. The Empowered Mom provides expert guidance and the power of group energy and support so you experience deep and lasting transformation, so that you feel better and are far more confident and capable as you take and complete The Empowered Mom and have an empowered lifestyle. . Love wins here!
How do I know it will work for me?
Maybe you've tried a variety of support groups and methods to take care of your worry, fears, and lots of the emotions that are part of the struggles of loving your child and trying to help them. Your child is still alive and you know you want to do all you can to support yourself and them. The Empowered Mom is for the mom who is willing to move from fear and worry into clarity and peace. It's for moms with an open mind and open heart to seek and find what works for you so that you can better support your child, change, and essentially advocate for love itself. It is because of this shared intention that we empower our individual and collective energy and love, our actions. Joanne facilitates individuals and groups to find what is true for them, what is doable and what is needed to support the doing. The power of this "work" is your inner wisdom guides you all the way. In The Empowered Mom with Joanne, you are fully supported to find your inner wisdom. The truth you find in your wisdom and Love helps you live it. That's why it works!
What can I expect from The Empowered Mom
Participants can expect weekly 90 minute sessions that are interactive and experiential so that what you learn and practice is what you can bring to your every day life. Sessions include discussion and practice of tools for managing stress and difficult emotions, building resilience, and how to use fear, worry, guilt etc. instead of being overwhelmed by them. You will create a personalized peace path including self-care that integrates into your life. You will learn essential tools and skills to create kind boundaries, to communicate in a way that inspires connection, and learn how to effect behavior change. You also receive a comprehensive self-guided course in The Invitation to Change. In The Empowered Mom, we strive to create conditions that can inspire change for you and your child. In addition, if you'd like homework partners between sessions, it is encouraged so that you can stay in practice and make the tools your own, so that you are familiar with them, especially when you need them. You can expect your love to shine in you and from you.
What is my time investment and how long does the program last?
Sessions are 90 minutes over a 6 month period, so that you are immersed in learning and practice, and get a comprehensive program that covers what you need the most. To create new habits within challenges requires time. You'll have time and support to become far more empowered, clear, capable, and confident over the 6 months. You'll also have worksheets and other supportive resources provided for you to practice new ideas between sessions and/or connect with other moms.
Is there any support available between sessions?
Yes. Individuals in The Empowered Mom have access to a supportive community and easy access to Joanne by email and phone if needed. You're encouraged to join a private Facebook group of other Empowered Moms to exchange ideas and support. I want this to work for you!
Will I have to share during sessions?
The Empowered Mom is here for you so that you can show up any way you want and need. You can be silent, you can cry, you can volunteer to be facilitated or coached, you can benefit from doing your own "work" silently while another mom is doing hers. Everything and every part of you is welcomed here.
Will I get individual coaching?
Yes, and it works best if you please just let Joanne know prior to session that you'd like some 1:1 support during the live weekly sessions. If you can't contact her before session, let her know when we start sessions so she can do her best to include that special time for you.
How is coaching different from therapy?
There are many paths to healing, and any that feel right for you are important. Coaching and therapy are compatible and compliment each other. Coaching is designed to identify changes to make in the present and how to move forward to realize those changes. Coaching doesn't diagnose or analyze. It includes asking powerful questions to guide you to your answers. It is a partnership, co-creating opportunities for you to be inspired, find your inner motivation, and be empowered to create solutions and action plans. Coaching also includes acknowledging all parts of you with acceptance and moving forward, maximizing your strengths, wisdom, and resources.
How will this help my child?
If your energy is overwhelmed by worry and fear, guilt, anger, etc that is what gets projected into your relationships. Fear has an energy, it makes things harder. Peace and Love have an energy that is much higher, it makes things kinder. We will have fear, we face big challenges. Ok, that's the reality of it, and the reality is that we can help ourselves through the struggles to bring more love to the world. Or we stay stuck. I don't know anyone's timing or path, what you should or shouldn't do. I trust you will know if, when, and how to help yourself. And I know that when we heal, we heal relationships and can help in more helpful ways , from a place of love, not fear. And it takes some time and effort. When you help yourself in healing and learning skillful loving, that transfers to the people you love. The Empowered Mom is designed to cover the mind, body, spirit connection so that you get clarity to know what is help-full from a place of love and skill, and what might not be because it comes from desperation and fear. Love is your power, not fear. The Empowered Mom can guide you to develop skills for clarifying what you can do so that you can communicate and contribute to conditions for change and improved relationship.
Can I cancel my enrollment if needed?
There is no cancellation or refund built in to The Empowered Mom. If an emergency arises, please contact Joanne in writing to discuss temporary hold, refund in special cases only, or you can consider gifting the remainder of your program to someone else who may benefit.
Please note: If a member presents behavior that will negatively impact the group and has not offered resolution, she may be asked to leave.
What is The Invitation to Change?
The Invitation to Change® Approach (ITC) is a holistic and helping framework based in science and kindness, designed for the families and loved ones of people struggling with substance use, as well as the professionals who support them. It's been created by psychologists who have taken the best science has to offer and translated it into a practical, compassionate, and accessible approach, providing evidence-based tools for change to everyone who cares about a person struggling with substance use.
The Invitation to Change® (ITC) is made up of three main parts: helping with Understanding, helping with Awareness, and helping with Action. At the center of it all is Practice, because learning new behavior can’t happen without it.
The science behind The Invitation to Change® can be found here: The Invitation to Change
When are weekly live sessions?
The Empowered Mom course meets on Tuesday at 4:30 pm Pacific Time Zone. Sessions are up to 90-120 minutes. Come as you are, you will get the most of this transformative course if you attend as many sessions as possible. If you can't make the whole session, please come for any part of it just to be together. No need to explain why, you're welcome any time!
The Empowered Mom and all Hearts At Work conversations are for moms of children struggling with substance use to discuss the experience of loving and grieving a child who is still alive while exploring ways to manage the stress, worry, and other big emotions that are part of this walk. It's a place to learn and practice valuable skills of loving a child through their struggles with addiction.
This is not therapy or group therapy. No online discussion should be used to replace professional help.
No one is turned away for lack of funds.
© 2026 Hearts At Work LLC.
© 2026 Hearts At Work LLC.