Family Coaches Near Me

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FAQs:

What is Family Coaching?

Family coaching is a process where one or more members of the family partner with a coach to address goals that will ultimately improve their family dynamics. Family dynamics are the interactions between family members, how they relate to one another, and how the family functions as a whole.

There are family coaches that specialize in improving a family’s dynamics, while others may focus on helping teens and children, assisting with parenting needs (sometimes referred to as a parenting coach), and those that work with the entire family together. Every family has their own group dynamics and unique structures, whether it’s a traditional family with two parents (also known as a nuclear family), a single-parent family, a step-family, an extended family, a one-child family, an adopted family or a family with same-sex parents, there is a family coach that can help.

One of the most important things to consider in family coaching is the needs and wants of each of the family members, to better facilitate the coaching process.

Oftentimes, families need help, just like smaller organizations. They need to communicate about their shared values, beliefs, and goals and see where they are aligned and where they may be out of sync. There are all sorts of tools that a coach can use to help families leverage their strengths as well as help decrease the noise in what may hold each person back from achieving their goals.

What Does a Family Coach Do?

Family coaches help families and individuals identify their various values, wants, needs, and goals and helps the members come up with strategies to reach these goals as well as keep them accountable.

Coaches work on leveraging the strengths of individuals and groups as well as call attention to areas where they have room for improvement to help make forward progress.

Some common areas family coaches help with:

- New parent challenges

- Marriage challenges

- Communication

- Parenting issues for different stages, such as separation anxiety, depression, or discipline

- Blended family issues

- Teen pregnancy

- School dropout prevention

- Anger or stress management

How Does Family Coaching Work?

Family coaching can classically be divided into three phases:

1. The introductory or getting-to-know phase

During the getting-to-know-you phase, the coach and the family get to know each other. For family coaching to be successful, it is of great importance that the chemistry is right. Together, we discuss what the family expects from the coaching and what the collaboration will look like in detail. The issues that led to the consultation are outlined. It is also already possible to define a goal. Ideally, all family members participate in coaching voluntarily. Nevertheless, in practice, it happens again and again that individual participants refuse or do not take the coaching seriously. In this case, the rest of the family must find a way to deal with the refusal (coercion is useless!) and still reach a constructive result.

2. The work phase

In the second phase, things get serious: Together with the family coach, structures and relationship patterns within the family are analyzed step by step. It often turns out that the conflicts addressed in the getting-to-know-you phase are only the tip of the iceberg. Most of the time, the real problems are hidden somewhere else than the people involved assume. The family coach supports the family in seeking advice in adopting new perspectives and understanding one another. In this context, it is important to understand that there is no absolute truth. Each family member feels the conflicts subjectively differently. To say who is right or wrong is neither possible nor purposeful. During the second coaching phase, destructive behavior patterns are broken and new communication possibilities are explored. The coach encourages the family to focus on their intuition to trust and try out different new ways.

3. The conclusion or reflection phase

In the final coaching phase, we reflect together on what we have achieved: Which goals were we able to achieve? What is still lacking? What resources have we developed in order to face future crises as a family? Together with the family coach, the family sets further development goals for the future.

What is the Difference Between Family Coaching and Family Therapy?

Family coaching is not therapy. Coaching is a unique partnership that helps clients identify goals and obstacles that keep people from moving forward as well as behaviors that get in the way.

A coach helps clients create action plans to achieve desired goals/results. Life coaches do not diagnose problems or determine illnesses. They focus less on the past and more on who and where the client(s) are right now, to help them determine where they want to go. Therapists tend to focus more on past behaviors and how they have impacted current situations - the WHY, so to speak. Family coaches will focus on the present and work more on helping the client move toward a goal - the HOW, so to speak.

When it comes to family coaching, the client and their family’s starting point is what it is—there is no judgment as to whether this place is good, bad; right, or wrong. Family coaching is about helping clients figure out what they want, what is keeping them from getting there, and how to get there.

Of course, there are similarities between family coaching and therapy—both help clients make positive changes in their lives and there is a time and a place for each discipline. If appropriate, coaches will refer clients to therapists.

Why Consult a Family Coach?

Many problems can be tackled with family coaching, such as situations happening on a daily basis: routine management, difficulties with sleep, following instructions, managing anger or temper tantrums, discipline, fostering independence, siblings fighting, etc. Family coaches can also provide support for specific problems: bullying and assertiveness, parental separation, moving house, conflicts, homework motivation, social skills, etc. Parents can also be coached on having better leadership, improving communication in their relationship or if they’re separated, etc.

When Should You Consult a Family Coach?

Ask for the help of a family coach as soon as you feel you need it. I’ve noticed that a vast majority of parents come to us when they feel overwhelmed by the situation: “I don’t know what to do anymore!” That’s quite normal. Parents try different ways to improve the situation first. However, those who decide to start seeing a family coach before finding themselves at the end of their rope are often more motivated to bring the necessary changes and sometimes get quicker results.

What Are the Limits of Family Coaching?

It’s important to understand that family coaches aren’t psychologists. Family coaching isn’t therapy, it’s a helping relationship. Family coaches try to understand the causes of the problem to come up with concrete solutions that can meet the family’s needs. They don’t make any diagnosis, “treat” or “heal” anyone. They identify a family’s needs, help its members set goals for themselves, and suggest means to reach those goals. If the problem can’t be solved with family coaching or persists despite having tried the suggested solutions, the family coach will refer the family to the right professional.

How Long is The Family Coaching Process?

Every coach and family has a different process that works for them. When shopping for a family coach, make sure their process works well with your family’s routine and needs. Most coaches will offer a free consultation before signing you up for paid sessions, so you can better understand their approach and see if they are a good fit for you and your family. While some family coaches may have specific programs that are three to six months long (or longer), many coaches are willing to offer as many, or as few, coaching sessions as it takes to reach the goals set by the individual or family. They will also work with you to figure out the frequency of sessions that will work best for your situation. Part of the coach’s job is to help you identify what works well for you and your family members and what doesn’t.

How Much Does Family Coaching Cost?

When it comes to the cost of hiring a coach, the simple answer is: it depends. It depends on how long you hire the coach, how many coaching sessions you have, and the hourly rate of the coach. Most family coaches charge rates that are comparable to other helping professionals, such as physiotherapists, massage therapists, and acupuncturists, but there is more variability because the life coaching industry is less regulated. We’ll explain that in more detail below.

Here are three things to consider:

1. Family coach hourly rates vary

As mentioned earlier, coaches charge rates similar to other helping professionals. Most coaches charge somewhere between $75 and $200 per hour. However, you can find coaches who fall outside of that range.

2. Family coaches frequently offer monthly packages

You can get some value from a single life coaching session but the real benefit of hiring a coach is experienced through an ongoing relationship aimed at achieving your goals. To support their clients in a variety of ways over time, many coaches offer comprehensive monthly packages. Here is a checklist of some of the offerings coaches will include in their monthly coaching packages:

- scheduled one-on-one coaching sessions,

- email and text messaging support,

- between-session “homework”,

- impromptu calls as needed,

- personality assessments and debriefings

- online tools such as journalling, goal tracking, or accountability software

- Monthly packages will generally range somewhere between $200 and $750 per month.

3. Some life coaches ask for a long-term commitment

A family coach can help you improve your life but you still need to take responsibility for the changes you want to make. They aren’t going to do the work for you. For that reason, some coaches ask for a three, six, or 12-month commitment. Before they invest the time and energy into working with you, they want to know that you are committed to improving.

What is a Family Coach?

A Parent and Family Coach is an experienced and trained professional coach, educator, and family mediator whose primary role is to support and guide parents as they embrace the challenges of raising healthy, happy, well-adjusted, and successful children and creating healthy and fulfilling interpersonal and family relationships.  Using a strengths-based perspective, a Parent and Family Coach provides parents and other family members with research-based information, tools, and skills, along with encouragement, compassion, and positivity.   

A Parent and Family Coach helps parents to find practical solutions that will work for them and their families by creating an individualized approach to their unique families' needs, taking into account their time, schedule, resources, cultural, religious, and spiritual beliefs, as well as their family structure.  Overall,

A Parent and Family Coach works directly with the family to address the specific needs of the child (ren), mother, and father/partner to help create a more harmonious, fun-filled, joyful, and loving family.

Common Issues Family Coaching Can Help With

Here we’ll explore some of the common issues that family coaching can help with.

Support for Parents

There are many reasons why parents seek coaching. It can be due to the difficult behavior of a child, parental burnout, or many other reasons. The transition to being a parent and looking after a child is a time filled with changing roles and identities. Parent coaching aims to help parents create a healthy, happy, and balanced family life for themselves and their children. Seeking support does not mean you aren't fulfilling your role as a parent - it means you are doing the best you can to provide the happiest life possible for yourself and your child.

Children

Sometimes, for one reason or another, children need a little extra support. If your discipline strategies aren’t working or your child’s behavior is starting to affect other areas of life such as their performance at school or your social life, it can become frustrating. A family coach will help everyone get to grips with their emotions and learn how these emotions might be affecting everyone else. Once communication lines have been improved, misunderstandings can be cleared up and family members can learn to be more honest with one another.

Teenagers

The teenage years can often be difficult for all the family to deal with. A combination of raging hormones, school stresses, peer problems, and the natural fight for independence can quickly turn the home into a battleground. A family coach can work with parents and teenagers together to establish mutual respect, clearer boundaries, and a greater understanding of each other. A family coach will help both teenagers and parents to see life from the other's point of view.

Affairs and Betrayals

It can be incredibly distressing to discover that your partner - the person who you chose to share your life and start a family with - has betrayed you in some way. It can shake up your whole life, making you question everything. Sometimes, couples find it impossible to patch up the damage caused by a major relationship betrayal and choose to separate or divorce. However, other couples will try to find ways to tackle the problems and stay together. When this happens, a family coach can help families recover from betrayal. Unlike counselors and psychotherapists, family coaches do not try to get to the root of why a betrayal occurred. The idea of family coaching is not to place blame on one another or to discuss what happened; the idea is to move forward by configuring a new family dynamic. A family coach will develop certain interactive exercises and techniques to rebuild those trust bonds and help families recover from a big shake-up.

Separation

There are many reasons why a couple may choose to separate but, ultimately, divorce or separation is the final stage in accepting that a relationship no longer works. Some people say that separation from a long-term relationship is one of the toughest experiences to deal with. Moving on can be particularly tough if you have to remain in contact with your ex-partner, for instance, if you have children together. You will likely still see or speak to one another, for the parenting relationship to continue. A family coach can help families to transition through a divorce or separation, to limit hurt and upset.

Bereavement and Loss

Coaching is very powerful support during times of transition - and losing a loved one is one of the hardest transitions we go through. A family coach can help you understand the turmoil of these conflicting emotions, and any intermittent, out-of-character behavior they may cause. Grief can have a profound effect on the family unit. But, working with a coach can help the whole family to adjust and make sure that everyone feels supported.

Work/life balance

Being in a long-term relationship or having children doesn't necessarily mean you have to put your career goals on hold - you simply have to think more carefully about your work/life balance. Family coaching can be a great tool for families to work on achieving this together, as it offers everyone the chance to get together in the same room and set out exactly how they feel. Family coaching sessions are designed to get everyone's opinions out in the open so a good compromise can be reached.

Benefits of Family Coaching

Think of the family as its organization. It often requires work to grow as individuals and situations change. Some of the things that can be addressed are the following:

- Empowerment of all members of the family

- Improved communication

- Stronger relationships

- Increased respect

- Increased confidence

- Increased balance

- Improved ability to make decisions

- Improved time management

- Improved peace

- Improved day-to-day living

- Conflict resolution

What Happens in Family Coaching

Although coaches adjust to each family and its specific challenges, they follow a set of guidelines. First, the coach assesses the family’s needs. Sessions usually last between 90 minutes and 2 hours, and all family members are invited to participate. The family coach acts a little bit like an investigator and asks many questions to get a good understanding of the situation.

Based on their observations and the information they gathered, the coach formulates hypotheses about the reasons that may explain the difficulties. The coach then invites the parents or children to set goals for themselves. Depending on the problem and the goals that were set, the coach will follow up and suggest concrete tools that could be used. The coach may suggest meeting with the whole family or only with a few of its members. They could also suggest a session of observation, where they insert themselves in the family’s daily life when a problematic situation arises: at dinner time, bedtime, etc. You can usually expect between 4 and 8 sessions in total, with two to three weeks in between each session.

How to Find a Good Family Coach

"Coach" is not a protected professional title. For this reason, there are unfortunately many black sheep on the market. Unfortunately, this cannot always be recognized at first glance. Nevertheless, there are some tips and indications that you should pay attention to.

First of all, don't be shy to ask about your family coach's experience and credentials: Has he/she completed certified training or has a professional background as a therapist? How long has he/she been practicing? Is there an opportunity to exchange ideas with other (former) clients?

Furthermore, a reputable family coach will transparently inform his clients about the pricing. The introductory meeting is usually free of charge. If the coach avoids the question of costs, this is not a good sign. Bad surprises can threaten here!

Ultimately, your gut feeling is also decisive as far as a "good" family coach is concerned. The most popular coach with the best references will not be able to help you if you do not harmonize interpersonally. For this reason, a (free) meeting to get to know each other is so important and should be offered by every serious coach. Coach is offered.

Sources:

Noomii

Greator

Kaleido

The Family Womb

Life Coach Directory

 

The content herein is provided for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Medical information changes constantly, and therefore the content on this website should not be assumed to be current, complete or exhaustive. Always seek the advice of your doctor before starting or changing treatment. If you think you may have a medical emergency, please call your doctor or 9-1-1 (in the United States) immediately.