Caregiver Coaching First and foremost, let’s define ‘parent’ and ‘caregiver’ and honor that families take many forms. If you are a grown up raising one or more humans, these coaching services are for you. Folks sign up for themselves, themselves and a partner, or any combination of grown ups involved in a kid’s life. Here’s to the ‘Raisins’ (i.e., the person “raising” a child). And whatever way you define family will be supported, whether that’s as a single parent, those in CNM relationships, a Queer couple, or a traditional marriage. Here you are. Looking for something. Because while your social media newsfeed make it look like everyone else in the world is a perfect grown up raising perfect children, moving through life with an ease you can’t currently fathom, I promise you aren’t alone. Caregivers are bombarded with information from books and blogs and unsolicited advice and often wind up feeling inadequate. I see you. You looked into counseling or play therapy for your kid and thought, ‘wait a second, the things I’m concerned about aren’t quite that. I’m more worried about how I’m raising these humans in my house. Am I providing the most supportive environment for my kiddos? If this is you, I got you! Some kids aren’t best served by engaging in a therapy experience themselves. Yet their caregivers want to get some outside perspective on the day-to-day struggles of the caregiving experience. If what you have read so far has resonated with you, here’s what we know is true: You have an unmet need as a caregiver. Your kid(s) have some unmet needs that at this point are relatively elusive. That missing something has been your biggest personal challenge to figure out. You want support. Your intuition is telling you that therapy for the child(ren) in your life isn’t what is called for in this moment. And by now you are second guessing. Do I NEED support? Because here’s the thing. You know you aren’t a bad parent. I know you aren’t a bad parent. Yet amidst the day to day challenges, you find yourself questioning your own decisions around what is best for the kids. What you need is some support to bring you back to that brilliant inner wisdom hiding under all the noise. You need an outside perspective to help you get a handle on things. You need to have someone to vent to, someone to laugh with, someone who isn’t going to judge you, someone who has heard it all. We will navigate the day-to-day uncertainties and challenges, identifying solutions together drawing on your existing inner knowing alongside my years of experience working with struggling caregivers. What it looks like:
Scheduling *virtual* meetings with me at your pace, whether that is every week, every month or as needed
Building on your existing parenting skills and knowledge in order to achieve your parenting goals
Action steps devised to bring you closer into alignment with where you desire to be with your caregiving experience
I will hold you accountable, relying on you to be a contributing member of this team. That way, by the end of our time together, you will feel proud of the effort you put in to make positive changes that benefit the whole family. I will be honest with you even when it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes being honest will means I tell you that while I know I can do great work with you from a coaching perspective, you and/or another caregiver have some bigger mountains to climb and you need to see a professional yourself. Sometimes I will make the same recommendation for a kid. There are clear definitions that make counseling and coaching distinct. Most of my coaching clients are already engaged in their own therapy or other healing modalities and need support and guidance specific to their parenting experience. If this is you, I offer Parent/Caregiver Coaching so that you can set goals, receive guidance and feedback, and make the changes that feel aligned with your parenting values. If it sounds like I might be able to help, you can go directly to my coaching specific online scheduler to set up your free 30 minute consultation. We will figure out if I am the best fit for you and I will answer any questions you have. Can’t wait to hear from you!
Differences between Parent Coaching and Counseling/Play Therapy It’s really important that we distinguish what is what here. Parent/Caregiver Coaching is aimed to help you achieve goals you are striving for in your parenting experience. In the parent coaching role, I am not able to assess or diagnose you or your child. Coaching isn’t able to be submitted for reimbursement for health insurance purposes, as it is not a medically necessary service. There are some similarities between coaching and counseling, but Cassidy does not combine counseling with coaching. Further, Cassidy is not currently seeing child clients in a therapeutic capacity.
Generally, we can separate the roles and separate conversations that occur within the coaching or counseling space. Coaching services aim to increase parenting confidence, comfort, and parent-child relationships. This is done by encouraging you to make significant behavior and lifestyle changes to incorporate new skills. Although both coaching and counseling use knowledge of human behavior, motivation, behavioral change, and interactive counseling techniques, there are major differences in the goals, focus, and level of professional responsibility. In some situations, Cassidy may recommend that you or your child enter psychotherapy (with a separate psychotherapist or counselor) as a condition of continuing coaching. Cassidy may also request to consult with your existing psychotherapist or counselor when appropriate if matters arise that are outside of the scope of coaching and could benefit from therapeutic intervention.
Coaching General FAQs:
All services are virtual utilizing zoom for appointments.
Coaching clients can be located anywhere! We’ll schedule based on EST, and you can set your client portal to reflect whatever time zone you are in.