Parents are in charge of seeking out coaching for their children and teens. They want to understand the coaching process, the fees and coaches’ availability and, more importantly, need to know if their child or teen is a good candidate for coaching.
Here are tips to help both parents and professionals working with young people confirm readiness for coaching.
When are children ready for coaching?
(8-12 year of age on average)
- Child is able to cognitively understand the basic coaching process.
- Comfortable communicating independently with an adult.
- Child feels safe and at ease with the prospective coach.
- Parents are ready, willing, and able to partner with a coach to support coaching efforts at home.
- Child is not hindered by predominate mental health or medical issues.
- Child understands that coaches are helpers and that this is not a punitive measure.
- Child is interested/motivated in making changes. What is the child’s level of emotional maturity (EQ)?
When children are not ready, parent coaching is strongly recommended.
When are teenagers ready for coaching?
(13-18 year of age on average)
- Teen is a willing participant, interested in coaching and is not being pushed by parents or other adults to participate.
- Comfortable communicating independently with an adult.
- Teen feels safe and at ease with the prospective coach.
- Parents are ready to step back and let go of some of the daily monitoring while the coach steps in.
- Teen is not hindered by predominant mental health or medical issues.
- Teen understands that this is a supportive process not a punitive measure.
- Parents understand that this is a confidential relationship where the coach and teen partner in the coaching process.
- Teens and parents understand that the coach will not disclose details to the parents without permission from the teen or if the teen is a harm to self or others.
- Teen is motivated to learn and make changes.
When your child is ready to move forward, please visit our JST Coach Finder for a list of coaches trained to work with children and teens.