Parent Support & Coaching

The primary goal of a “Coach” is to help clients do a better job with each other, with their children, grandchildren or other family members. A Parenting Coach works with families and individuals to address concerns surrounding divorce, separation and family transitions. This is a confidential process aimed at strengthening the family and assisting members in adjusting to a shifting family system. A Parenting Coach works to empower parents to make healthy decisions regarding parenting and discipline. The Parenting Coach also provides support and guidance to parents and individuals as they adapt and adjust to various family transitions and developmental stages.

COACHING SESSIONS CAN FOCUS ON:

• The “how-to’s” of single parenting, co-parenting or grand-parenting
• Issues such as transfers, child management skills, communication, and home-to-home coordination
• Helping family members in relationships with other people in the child’s life such as the child’s other parent, the other parent’s significant other, or service providers (therapists, attorneys, teachers, Guardian ad Litem, etc.)
• How and when to introduce a new significant other or spouse and new step-family members, and how to work successfully with them
• Helping family members work with “the system” (school staffs, custody evaluators, other psychologists, etc.)
• Working with the client to “adjust attitudes,” i.e. develop strategies to manage frustration, anger, and resentments, and be more empathic with the child’s growth, development, feelings, needs, and experiences
• Supporting parents through healthy decisions for their children including adolescent transitions and limits, discipline, school issues

COACH OR THERAPIST

Although I am licensed as a marriage and family therapist, I do not provide therapy in my role as a Coach. The Coach role is approached as primarily educational and advisory in nature, although it may have therapeutic benefits. There is no diagnosis provided, so sessions will usually not be reimbursed by insurance. The following chart outlines how the focus and outcome differ between a coach and a therapist: