Is parenting not bringing you the joy and satisfaction you hoped and imagined? Maybe you’ve read multiple parenting books or articles but aren’t finding yourself able to implement the strategies effectively because they just don’t seem realistic for you and your children. The sense of frustration, fear, loneliness, and worry is intense and interfering with your ability to think clearly, causing stress in your marriage and family relationships, and maybe even bleeding into your professional life. You may find yourself feeling as if you are a failure, always reacting and putting out fires, in crisis mode, with no time or energy to even think about a different way of parenting. You may feel confused and wonder why your children seem to always be acting up and misbehaving. You may even feel sad, guilty or ashamed that you don’t feel close to your children and sometimes don’t even like them very much. You may feel overwhelmed and wondering “what is wrong with them?” or “what is wrong with me?”. You may be truly terrified of the choices your child, teen or young adult is making and wondering how to help them stay out of trouble and can’t imagine them growing up to be successful, independent adults.
Imagine feeling a sense of connectedness, satisfaction and mutual respect as a strong, solid foundation in the relationships between you and your children. Imagine your children truly engaging with you, talking to you, listening to you, behaving in a way that makes them a pleasure to be around and easy to connect with. Imagine a household where yelling and threatening is just not necessary to get your kids and teens to “mind” and follow the rules. Imagine when your kids, teens, and young adults make a mistake or mess up turning towards you for support and guidance (maybe even taking your advice!) rather than away from you into deeper and scarier trouble. Imagine having fun with your children and teens and truly enjoying their company, proud of the amazing young adults they are growing into.
This may sound like a dream or a too perfect movie plot but it is attainable! I have helped countless families change their family culture to one of mutual respect, honesty, strong connections, and healthy relationships. Just like an athlete needs a coach who believes in them, will cheer them on when it’s hard, celebrate their success, and most importantly does not give up on them when it gets hard; I can provide the coaching and support you need to create the healthy, satisfying parent/child relationship that will last a lifetime. Perfect parenting doesn’t exist but satisfying, healthy, respectful, relationships with children, teens, and young adults is possible! I can help you find your way to the relationship you desire with your children.
FAQ’s about Parent Coaching
- What is the difference between therapy and parent coaching?
- Parent coaching is not therapy. In therapy, there is a mental health diagnosis that means insurance will cover “medically necessary treatment” that may include individual therapy and possibly family therapy. In parent coaching, no mental health diagnosis needs to be present (but a mental health diagnosis in your and/or your child is okay and you can still greatly benefit from parent coaching) and session won’t be reported to your insurance company or on your medical records. Instead, we can focus on the areas of concern specific to you while strengthening your relationship with your children, teens, or young adults without having to worry about insurance approval. I will be there every step of the way to guide you, teach you, and help you create the relationships you desire that honor and respect your own personal values, beliefs, and desires.
- If I can’t use insurance, how much does this cost?
- There are several packages to choose from so one is certain to meet your budget. How much money is it worth to have the relationship with your child, teen, or young adult that is respectful, peaceful, and satisfying?
- How does this work? In your office? By phone? In our home? Does it include the kids or just the parents?
- Services can be provided either in person in my office, by video, or in your own home (additional fees apply for in home services and are dependent upon location). In the current climate of Covid-19 concerns, in person or in-home sessions will require agreement to follow Covid-19 health precautions. Much of the time, parent coaching will be just for the parents. However, in many situations, it is beneficial for the family to participate in some guided activities with the parent coach facilitating.
- What makes you qualified to provide parent coaching?
- Most of the learning I’ve acquired over the years about how to develop and nurture healthy, respectful relationships with children, teens, and young adults has honestly come from raising my own three children. Currently, my “kids” are ages 18, 21, and 22 and we have struggled at times just as any parent/child relationship. I certainly have made plenty of mistakes and had many learning opportunities in my own journey (and I’m still learning every day!)! I also have much training and experience working with families, teens, and children in a variety of settings including in-patient psychiatric hospital program, intensive out-patient psychiatric treatment, long term residential treatment, and out-patient treatment. Much of my work has been focused on increasing connection, providing support and skills to families to develop and strengthen healthy, respectful, family relationships. Just as any good athlete needs a coach to support, push, guide, and encourage them to perform at their best, I will work closely with you to create and develop the family relationships and culture you crave for your family.
- My spouse and I often don’t agree on how to parent, can parent coaching help us figure this out?
- Absolutely! We often enter into a parenting relationship with unspoken ideals about the “right” or “best” way to parent. If you and your spouse had different experiences as children, it can be challenging to agree on how you will raise your own children. Parent coaching is an excellent way to get both of your feelings and expectations out in the open, feel heard by your spouse, and come together as a team with a solid parenting plan that works for you both.
- My child’s other parent and I are divorced and I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like. Can parent coaching help strengthen and protect our relationship?
- Divorce is often hard on parent/child relationships. Parent coaching can help you make the most of your time together and even help your relationship be stronger and healthier than before the divorce.
- What if I’m struggling to figure out my role as a step-parent? Can parent coaching help me navigate that?
- Absolutely. Being a step-parent is a challenging role! My job as your parent coach is to help you figure out how to connect with and related to your step-children in a way that feels respectful, healthy, and natural.
- I’ve adopted my children and we seem to be struggling with creating a healthy, strong attachment. Can you help us with that?
- Most definitely! Attachment between a child who has been adopted, and possibly had trauma, neglect, or abuse in their background is attainable and parent coaching will be invaluable. I am trained as a TBRI® (Trust Based Relational Intervention®) practitioner. TBRI® is an attachment-based, trauma-informed intervention that is designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children. TBRI® uses Empowering Principles to address physical needs, Connecting Principles for attachment needs, and Correcting Principles to disarm fear-based behaviors. While the intervention is based on years of attachment, sensory processing, and neuroscience research, the heartbeat of TBRI® is connection.
Parent Coaching Packages
- Initial 15-20-minute phone/video consultation (FREE) to make sure we are a good fit for a parent coaching relationship.
- 4 hours per month – $600 per month – Services provided in office or by video. Additional fees apply for in-home services based on location and travel requirements. The sessions can be divided up into 4 one-hour sessions or 2 two-hour sessions per month. You can renew month to month as needed to meet your goals with your family.
- This is right for you if: You have historically had a pretty good relationship, but right now things are rough and you aren’t feeling as connected and close to each other as you’d like. There are minor behavioral issues that you want to address before they get out of hand.
- 8 hours per month – 3-month commitment (24 total hours of parent coaching) – $3300 (options for monthly payments or discount available for paying in full) Services provided in office or by video. Additional fees apply for in-home services based on location and travel requirements. Sessions will typically be 2 hours each.
- This is right for you if: You feel you have tried everything and nothing is working. The culture in your home, more often than not, feels toxic and uncomfortable. You sometimes don’t even like your children and certainly don’t feel connected or as close to them as you’d like. You may feel they don’t listen to you and don’t respect you. Behavioral issues may be more serious and concerning.