Parenting Matters Coaching Services

Parenting Matters Coaching program utilizes a collaborative process where a Coach helps individuals achieve personal and or professional goals by providing guidance, support, and accountability. Coaches focus on the present and future, helping clients identify what they want, developing strategies to achieve it, and overcome obstacles along the way. They do not offer therapy or diagnose mental health conditions, but rather act as a facilitator for positive change and personal growth.

Key Differences From Therapy:

• Focus: Coaching is more focused on teaching specific skills and strategies for parenting, while therapy may delve into deeper emotional issues.
• Duration: Coaching is often a shorter-term, solution-oriented approach, while therapy can be a longer-term process.
• Goal: The goal of Coaching is to empower parents to become more effective and confident in their
  parenting, while therapy may have broader goals related to mental health and well-being.
• Therapeutic Modalities: As part of a curriculum based psycho-education program, key aspects of the coaching experience utilize therapeutic modalities. This involves educating and helping clients understand behaviors, solution focused approaches, and understanding the difference between reactions and thoughtful responses. Coaches don’t directly provide therapy; they instead incorporate mental health knowledge and use therapeutic modalities. Coaches are mindful of professional boundaries enhancing their effectiveness in supporting families. When mental health concerns are observed, coaches will refer client’s to outside professional counselors for support. Often there will be a collaborative team effort between the coach and the counselor during services.

Life Coaching Program

Life Coaching begins with a Goal Exploration activity where clients will briefly describe their goals in several areas of life, such as family, career, social, and leisure. They will start with a broad 5-year goal, then create 1-year and 1-month goals as stepping stones to reach their long-term goal. For further exploration, coaches discuss how the client’s goals align with or differ from those of their family, society, or friends. After completing this activity, a Goal Breakdown worksheet is used to focus in on particularly challenging goals.

Here are the key aspects of life coaching services:

• Goal Setting: Life coaches help clients define clear, achievable goals in various areas of life, such as
  career, relationships, health, or personal development.
• Strategy Development: They assist clients in creating action plans, breaking down large goals into smaller manageable steps, and identifying potential obstacles.
• Accountability: Life coaches provide ongoing support and encouragement, holding clients accountable for their progress and helping them stay on track.
• Skill Development: They may help clients develop new skills, build confidence, and improve their
  decision-making abilities.
• Differentiation from Therapy: Unlike therapists, who often focus on past experiences and mental health, life coaches concentrate on the present and future, emphasizing personal growth and goal achievement.
• Specialized Coaching: Life coaching can be tailored to specific areas, such as life coaching, co-parent coaching, relationship coaching, health and wellness coaching or parent coaching.

Parent Coaching Program

Parenting Matters Parent Coaching services provide support and guidance to parents navigating the
challenges of raising children. A Nurturing Parenting facilitator and or a parent coach, works with parents to develop effective strategies, improve communication, and build stronger parent-child relationships.
Parenting Matters often uses the Nurturing Parenting curriculum and its assessments to determine the
necessary skills that would benefit the parent when developing parenting skills. Parent coaching is a
collaborative process focused on empowering parents to manage challenges, foster positive behavior, and adapt to new life stages.

Here’s a more detailed look:

• Collaborative approach: Facilitators/Coaches work with parents as partners, respecting their expertise on their own children while offering guidance and support.
• Focus on skills and strategies: Facilitators/Coaches teach parents specific techniques for managing behavior, improving communication, and building positive relationships with their children.
• Individualized support: Parent coaching is tailored to the specific needs of each family, taking into
  account the child’s age, personality, and any specific challenges they may be facing.
• Strengths-based: Facilitators/Coaches help parents identify their strengths and build on those to create positive change.

Common areas of focus:

• Managing challenging behaviors: Facilitators/Coaches help parents understand the root causes of
  problematic behaviors and develop strategies to address them effectively.
• Improving communication: Parent coaching helps parents develop skills to communicate more effectively with their children, fostering understanding and empathy.
• Building positive relationships: Facilitators/Coaches help parents create stronger bonds with their
  children by promoting connection, empathy, and mutual respect.
• Navigating life transitions: Parent coaching can be helpful during significant life changes, such changes of family system due to separation, divorce, navigating the adolescent stage, or family changes due to difficult life circumstances.
• Addressing grief and loss: Facilitators/Coaches can provide support to parents dealing with grief related to life transitions or other losses.
• Understanding child development: Facilitators/Coaches can educate parents about child development milestones and how to support their child’s growth.
• Promoting mental health: Facilitators/Coaches can help parents address their own emotional well-being and develop coping strategies.

Life Skill Building Program

Parenting Matters Life Skill Building Program was developed to support parents transitioning through difficult life circumstances. Everyone experiences such transitions at some point, separation from children or spouses, divorce, recovering from mental health struggles, injuries or substance abuse, moving from school or vocational training to an occupation, searching for a job after unemployment, personal life changes like getting married, and searching for and changing career paths. These transitions can be anticipated and prepared for, but they often remain challenging for many people. Understanding and applying effective life skills is essential to managing them successfully. Life skills are important for effective human development throughout one’s life. They equip individuals with the tools to navigate personal challenges, achieve goals, break negative patterns, and excel in their careers.

Developing life skills empowers individuals to:

• Understand and manage change effectively.
• View organizational and life changes as opportunities.
• Manage their emotions, motivations, and overall quality of life.
• Develop a value-based, purpose-centered vision.
• Renew their energy and improve time and self-management.
  

Parenting Matters uses a web based Life Skills Inventory (LSI). The LSI helps individuals identify the
fundamental skills and strategies essential for success in various life and career situations. The LSI provides immediate results for respondents and coaches without requiring additional materials. It is suitable for a diverse audience, ranging from high school students to adults.

The LSI assesses various aspects of life skills, including:

• Physical Intelligence: Skills related to health practices like nutrition, exercise, sleep, hygiene and managing health concerns.
• Mental Intelligence: Skills encompassing clear thinking, critical analysis, time management, openness to new ideas, and lifelong learning.
• Career Intelligence: Skills focused on maximizing abilities, balancing work and personal life, and
  understanding workplace dynamics.
• Emotional Intelligence: Skills involving self-awareness of emotions, maintaining emotional balance, and experiencing positive emotional states.
• Social Intelligence: Skills related to building relationships, practicing empathy, and contributing to the community.

Co-Parent Coaching

Parenting Matters Co-Parent Coaching offers support to separated or divorced parents, enhancing their
communication and cooperation for their children’s benefit. It provides a structured environment for parents to learn new skills, resolve conflicts, and create effective parenting plans. The focus remains on the children’s well-being, helping parents navigate the challenges of raising children in two separate households. The initial program requires 6 weekly sessions without interruption. 3 individual curriculum based sessions (virtual option) and 3 group practice sessions (conducted on Thursdays) with both co-parents. All sessions after the initial sessions are done as needed according to progress in the program. For best results sessions should be scheduled weekly though they may be scheduled bi-weekly in certain circumstances without interruption.

Key aspects of co-parent coaching:

• Focus on communication and conflict resolution: Co-parent coaches help parents develop better
  communication strategies, manage disagreements constructively, and reduce conflict.
• Development of parenting plans: Coaches may assist parents in creating comprehensive parenting plans that address schedules, holiday arrangements, and decision-making processes.
• Skill-building: Co-parent coaching equips parents with tools to handle various parenting challenges, such as managing transitions between homes and addressing children’s emotional needs.
• Child-centered approach: The ultimate goal is to create a stable and supportive environment for the children, minimizing the negative impact of parental separation on their well-being.
• Neutral and supportive environment: Co-parent coaches offer a safe space for parents to discuss their concerns and work towards positive change.
• Collaboration and teamwork: Coaches encourage parents to collaborate and work together as a team, even while living in separate households.
• Avoiding adversarial court systems: Co-parent coaching can help parents avoid the adversarial nature of court proceedings by providing alternative conflict resolution strategies. Co-parent coaching is particularly beneficial in the following situations:
• Separated or divorced parents: It is especially helpful for parents who are separated or divorced and need assistance in navigating the challenges of raising children in two homes.
• High-conflict situations: Coaches can help parents in high-conflict situations learn to communicate more effectively and reduce the negative impact of conflict on their children.
• Parents seeking to improve communication and cooperation: Even if parents are not in high conflict, co-parent coaching can be beneficial for those who want to improve their communication and cooperation skills.
• When court intervention is not desired: Co-parent coaching can provide an alternative to court intervention for resolving parenting disputes.