about our parent coaching service
This coaching service builds on our commitment to positive parent mental health and parent wellness and the key part it plays in positive family functioning, relationships and outcomes for the child and family as a whole. You can book a coaching session (subject to availability) with any of the coaches by email – see the “Meet the Coaches” section below for contact details.
Why a coaching service?
Research studies have shown that the parents of special needs children experience higher levels of stress and anxiety and this can have a negative impact on parent wellness. A diagnosis of autism in a family is described by some parents as an emotionally challenging event in their lives. The feelings that parents most commonly describe when their child receives a diagnosis of autism are feelings of loss, distress, anger and helplessness with many describing it as a life altering event and this can be is a very challenging time for parents. Parents raising an autistic child or adolescent also continuously face practical, financial and physical challenges. Changes to the family dynamic allied to the additional levels of care required for the child place additional emotional and practical pressure and demands on the parents. The most common stressors experienced by parents are frustration, the judgement of others and a lack of support and understanding.
Coaching is an accepted strategy to manage stress and improve performance and is underpinned by coaching models grounded in established therapeutic approaches. The parent coaching service offers the coachee the opportunity to move forward through increased self-belief, self-motivation, choice, clarity, commitment, awareness and action. Improved parent mental health and wellbeing has been shown to increase the potential of the child and family members to achieve a better quality of life. A recent study in 2015 on psychological adjustments in families with an autistic child found that the parents who engage in the action-orientated behaviours of acceptance and positive reframing have increased levels of emotional resilience and a reduction in their levels of stress.
what is coaching?
Coaching is a supportive relationship where the total focus is on you, on what you want in your life, and on what will help you achieve it. A life coach is there to listen not only to your words but what is behind your words and listens to the very best in you, when sometimes you can’t hear it yourself. A coach will listen without judgement and give you the opportunity to work with some of the issues in your life that are blocking you from performing at your best. The coach will facilitate a process where you begin to set personal goals to change and help you to develop the actions required to achieve them.
Coaching is about looking forward and supporting people in a creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal potential and is a particularly effective process in encouraging and building resilience with people in the face of difficulty
and adversity.
Meet our coaches
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