A few years ago, I received a call from one of my local attorneys and he said ‘Do you offer parent coaching? What EXACTLY is that? I paused….and said “Where did you hear that term?” and he told me his client was ordered to do parent coaching from the Judge.
Parent coaching is another new area that seems to be surfacing in the Courts these days. I have two ways I view and actually offer coaching to my parents. When parents receive an order to do parent coaching they already have their signed Parenting Plan and all paperwork completed, perhaps a final divorce decree, and/or they have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from a mediation session. Parent coaching can be viewed a few ways:
- You are co-parenting at some level and may need more guidance on how to better follow your Orders. The biggest issue that comes to my table is around communication. Agreements are pretty clear yet the ability to discuss child issues or the agreements themselves can get stuck or messy at times. Working on communication together as parents is ALWAYS a good area to focus on – kids NEED you to communicate well. When you don’t, the children suffer.
- You may have an absent other parent or be totally parallel parenting – not able to communicate or work together at ALL for the benefit of the children. In this scenario I will work individually with parents to help them navigate their own parenting duties and behaviors with the children. This is a very individualized approach. There are so many things parents can do in this situation to be healthy and guide their children to grow into emotionally stable adults. The work done now through this stage has great value to the children.
Parent coaching is truly focused on supporting the children with some guidance for yourself along the way. It is not easy to navigate this new life as separate parents and children can feel this unrest and turmoil. You are the role model for your kids so this is critical time for all of you!
Feel free to reach out to me for a 30- minute consult session to get you on your way. Parent coaching sessions are often one hour in length and occur over time so the parents can learn to integrate new ways into their lives. Change takes time and having the guidance through this difficult situation can be GOLD for your children. Don’t wait the kids are depending on you NOW!
