Parent & Child coaching
At your home, or on video from anywhere in the world.
Parent & Child coaching for a parent and their adolescent or adult child, when things at home have got hard and the usual conversations are not working. One coach works with both of you, so nobody is relaying messages. We talk about the conversations that keep going wrong, when to hold firm and when to let go, what to say and what not to say in the moment, the decisions made late at night that make things worse, co-parenting across two houses, and how to stay connected to a young person who is pulling away. We also coordinate, with your agreement, with anyone already involved — a school, a clinician or a program.
It runs as a three-month term: an hour with the parent and an hour with the young person each week, plus a family session together every other week, with an intake with each of you first. What is said in each person’s hour stays there unless you both agree otherwise. It is $1,800 a month across the three-month term, charged monthly, in person in Santa Cruz County or by video from anywhere in the world. This is coaching, not family therapy; if something needs a clinician, we say so and help you find one.
Does this sound like you?
- The usual conversations at home are not working.
- You are not sure when to hold firm and when to let go.
- Decisions made late at night make things worse.
- Your young person is pulling away.
One coach, both of you.
One coach works with both of you, so nobody is relaying messages. What is said in each person’s hour stays there unless you both agree otherwise.
You are the one who called, and you are not the one everyone thinks needs help.
Where it shows up
- ConversationsThe ones that keep going wrong.
- Firm or let goWhen to hold firm and when to let go.
- In the momentWhat to say and what not to say.
- Late at nightThe decisions made late at night that make things worse.
- ConnectionHow to stay connected to a young person who is pulling away.
How we approach it
Pick one thing.
We choose the one thing to work on, properly, not several things briefly.
Run it out loud.
We rehearse the real conversation or talk in the room before you have it.
Look at how it went.
After you try something, we look at what actually happened, not what you feared.
The techniques, by name.
- The Hour Each
- a private hour each, then one together
- The Night Plan
- deciding in daylight what you'll do at eleven at night
- One Agreement
- one agreement the whole family can keep
What a session looks like
- 1Before
Pick the one thing to work on, properly. A short note to us is plenty.
- 2The hour
Fifty-five minutes, one to one. Plain talk about what we see, and the real conversation said out loud.
- 3After
One small thing to do before the next session, then a look at how it went.
Pick One · Plain Talk · Run It Out Loud · How It Went · The Scoreboard · The Move How a session runs →
Parents of an adolescent or adult child who is struggling, when the usual conversations are not working.
Counselling for a whole family. If something needs a clinician, we say so and help you find one.
What it costs
One hour with the parent and one with the young person every week, plus a family session every other week. At your home or by video, the same price.
Questions about parent & child coaching
My kid will not agree to this.
Most do not, at first. We start with you. What usually changes their mind is not persuasion — it is that the first thing they hear from us is what stays in their hour, and that turns out to be different from what they expected.
Will you report back to me about what they said?
No. What is said in an individual session stays there. What we bring into the room together, we agree on beforehand. That is the difference between coaching and surveillance, and a young person needs to know which one this is.
Why three months?
Because a month is long enough to feel better and not long enough to change anything. Three months is roughly where the second and third conversations about the same pattern happen, which is where the work is.
Our adult child does not live at home. Does this still work?
Yes. A good deal of this work is with adults in their twenties and thirties. The distance changes the logistics, not the pattern.
Is this the same as a life coach for teens?
It overlaps. Your child gets their own hour, like an individual life coaching client would — the difference is the coordination with you and, where useful, with school or a clinician already involved.
Talk to us about parent & child coaching.
Call or text (510) 770-6169, or email info@glcoachingsc.com. A free 30-minute call, by phone or video.
Or leave your details and we will call you.
By video from anywhere in the world, or at your home in Santa Cruz County and across the Bay Area.