About Us
Clinical Rigor Meets Lived Experience
As Featured In
The Founder’s Journey
Dr. April Pete Starks (known professionally as author Deana Rush Davis) is a writer, consultant, and family advocate with over a decade of experience in special education and organizational leadership. As the architect behind acclaimed titles like The Resilient Child Blueprint and Empower Children Through Play Therapy, Dr. April has dedicated her career to providing parents with actionable tools to foster independence and build emotional strength.
Her work spans both English and Spanish-speaking communities, ensuring that resilience-building strategies—like those found in El Plan Para Criar Niños Resilientes—are accessible and culturally diverse. After seeing the impact of her 110+ innovative play therapy activities in print, she founded The Resilient Families Pathway™ to bring these safe, engaging solutions directly into the home through digital and live implementation.
A Message from Our Founders
“We know what it feels like when the house is loud, your patience is thin, and the parenting ‘theory’ you read in a book feels a thousand miles away from your current reality. We didn’t build The Resilient Families Pathway™ to give you more to study; we built it to give you a way back to the joy of your family.
By combining Dr. April’s research-driven strategies with Lauren’s clinical frontline experience, we have created a space where clinical rigor meets real-life implementation. Our mission is to help you stop simply ‘managing’ the next meltdown and start building a foundation of resilience that lasts a lifetime. You aren’t just raising children; you are building a legacy of calm.
We are honored to walk this pathway with you.”
— Dr. April & Lauren
Meet Our Team
April Pete Starks (PhD)
As the CEO of Alyn Consulting LLC and Radiant Ivy Press, Dr. April brings over a decade of expertise in child development and organizational leadership to the Pathway. Her research-driven methodology serves as the foundation for the implementation tools used across all family and professional services.
Lauren P. Clements (LPC, NCC)
Lauren is a Licensed Professional Counselor and business partner who provides the clinical frontline perspective for the Pathway. Her clinical rigor ensures that every script and routine is therapeutically sound and designed for high-fidelity de-escalation in real-life dynamics.
The Expert Partnership
The Pathway is built on the dual expertise of Dr. April (PhD) and Lauren P. Clements (LPC, NCC). This partnership merges Dr. April’s extensive research in child development and play-based behavioral resets with Lauren’s frontline clinical experience as a Licensed Professional Counselor. Together, they have transformed the core principles of the Emotional Resilience Toolkit for Parents into a structured, week-by-week implementation system.
