Who are Parent Coaches?
Ideally, someone who is clinically trained or life coach certified. Ideally a parent themselves so they can help other parents from a professional lens and reflecting on personal experiences. These are professionals who use these experiences to help you understand and navigate communicate patterns, educate you on what boundaries are, understand ambivalence to change and meet parents where they are, and lastly, help guide you proactively on how to parent differently with your child. This is someone you might chat with for 5 weeks to help get your loved one into care quickly, or it might be someone you check in with once a month for ongoing support. No matter, there are a lot of parent coaches out there. The question isn’t just who are they, but also who is best for you?
I refer families I work with the parent coaches because I want the parents to have someone specifically who can be dedicated to being in the trenches with them to redirect them when times get stressful. As a consultant, I need to keep the 10,000-foot-view perspective which includes being able to see where the family was, what’s happening now, and be able to predict what’s on the horizon. With that knowledge, I provide clinical recommendations for the young adult and family appropriately.
Parent coaches can help parents understand that their patterns or behaviors are actually perpetuating the situation at home or at-a-distance with their loved one. The first step is identification. Then the second step would be action; implementing the newly learned skills.
As a consultant, collaborating with a parent coach can really help me be able to do my job effectively, and I’ve also seen parents really lean into working with their parent coach. Some parents are at their wits end and very coachable. Other parents really struggle with being able to apply what they’ve learned in real-time with their child, so the coaching can be a long process. Change is hard, but if the parents are willing to understand their own patterns and make changes, that in itself sometimes can help shift the entire situation for the young adult.
This is someone who may be available during a crisis. Not all parent coaches are available in crisis though, just like not all Therapeutic Consultants are available in a crisis. Each coach is different. Not all are clinically trained. Most are ICF coaching certified. Some have decades of experience and that’s where their expertise comes from. Some have curriculums and trainings that they use with parents. Regardless, just like treatment programs, not all parent coaches or coaching models are the same. In the end, you want to make sure you’re working with the right person to help you as a parent learn about yourself and make changes all to better help your young adult. That what it comes down in the end. If you want “success in treatment” for your child then you as the parent need to also seek out your own supports as well.
For questions or comments contact Joanna.
