Parenting is one of the most valuable and rewarding jobs you will ever undertake. Unfortunately, it is a demanding job for which we receive little training. I use a coaching approach to share resources and help you discover parenting approaches suited to your strengths to feel confident in addressing the challenges parents face in today’s world. Parenting support is provided through:
- Parent or Co-parent Coaching
- Parent Support as a wrap-around to a child, adolescent or teen client
Parent Coaching can be an as needed approach to counseling giving a parent/guardian guidance to best respond to the child or adolescent behavior or need. The parent is the primary client and counseling is done with the intent of supporting the parent/guardian in his/her role of caregiver.
By working together Parent Coaching helps:
- to understand the temperament of your child(ren) and your natural strengths as a parent
- to use proven techniques and developmentally appropriate interventions promoting growth through teaching and modeling
- to support you in strengthening your family relationships using your own emotional regulation and awareness to build your connection and communication
Co-parent Coaching is not couples counseling, but many of the same communication and healthy cooperation principles will apply. The counseling supports the family in finding a healthy balance to work towards reaching shared goals.
Co-parent Coaching helps with all of the features of Parent Coaching, plus
- defining family goals and expectations of every member of the family
- communication techniques and styles adapted to your personalities helping all to be heard in a productive way
- understanding the strengths of all caregivers and how to support each other not as partners in life but partners in parenting
Parent support is part of my approach in working with individual minor clients, it is my policy to include a parent coaching style session periodically after several individual sessions. This is not family counseling model, but supports the work of the child/adolescent/teen in counseling.
Parent support has the child/adolescent as the primary client, but using regular check ins or parent requested additional sessions brings the parent(s) into the therapeutic conversation. It helps with all of the features of Parent Coaching, plus:
- provides the client with system support by working with the caregiver to support the young person’s goals in counseling
- gives designated space to concerns or questions a parent/caregiver may have about the needs of the primary client