Parent Coaching
Before:
Daily Conflict
Emotional Outbursts
Difficult Communication
Power Struggles
Coaching:
Communication Practice
Exploration of Empathy
Insights
New Skills
Child Development
After:
Deeper Connection
Constructive Communication
More Peace
Mutual Respect
Collaboration
Problem Solving
Struggles with parenting are common and all families have their ups and downs. The stress that can result from the challenging behaviors of our children can be overwhelming! What are the causes of those behaviors? How can we change our parenting style to better meet the needs of our kids?
Change is never easy, especially when it comes to overcoming patterns of parenting that can go back many generations. Katie can help you identify which changes need to take place and how to implement them in a way that will set you up for success.
As a coach, Katie:
-remains neutral and non-judgmental
-keeps track of progress and goals
-shares information about child development
-uses a curriculum to guide coaching sessions
-leads your family through helpful exercises
. . .so that your family can:
-enjoy being together
-improve communication skills-solve problems collaboratively
-use conflict resolution techniques
-make it through tough times
Coaching is a powerful process that infuses your family with new energy and enthusiasm. Get the parenting support you need.
SUPPORT
Everyone needs to feel heard and understood before being able to collaboratively problem solve. This takes some crucial communication skills including empathy, observation, and reflection. Katie models these skills so that family members can learn to use them effectively.
EDUCATION
Understanding the biological basis for patterns of behavior goes a long way toward being able to implement effective responses. Katie offers relevant information about child development, the functions of the brain and rest of the nervous system, as well as what purposes emotions serve.
RESOURCES
There are so many sources of parenting advice out there that it can be a struggle to find which information is relevant to your family's needs. Katie shares resources with you that are catered to your family's values and culture. She has incorporated a variety of books, articles, and websites into her curriculum.
Katie O'Connor, M.A.
(she/her)
A single, homeschooling mother, Katie developed a parenting style that worked for her and her now adult child. She focused on facilitating the development of emotional regulation and empathy as well as self-direction and problem-solving skills. Her goal was to nurture her child in such way as to be interdependent in relationships, maintain healthy self-esteem, and set appropriate boundaries on how they expect to be treated.
Katie has over twenty years of experience in various alternative education settings. She ran a learning center for homeschoolers in Philadelphia for seventeen years where she worked with kids as young as four and as old as eighteen. She transitioned to family coaching to more directly support parents and caregivers seeking to raise children in a conscious way instead of repeating or reacting to their own upbringings. She received a Master's in Counseling with a concentration in Child and Family Therapy from Arcadia University in 2023 and has used this as a knowledge base upon which to develop a coaching curriculum for families.
Katie lives in the Mt Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia with her husband and multiple cats. She enjoys taking walks in the woods, abstract painting, and avoiding weeding the garden.
Philosophy
Katie coaches all members of a family to better understand one another, communicate with compassion, and increase the quality of their relationships. She works from a non-judgmental, solutions-focused, and strengths-based perspective.
Flexibility
She believes that all parents and caregivers maintain the capacity to grow and change throughout their lives. Old patterns can be shifted when they prove to be unhelpful and new, more fulfilling ways of being with our kids can be developed with support through coaching.
Non-Judgment
Parents are often concerned about being judged harshly or blamed for their children's challenges, but we need to remember that child-rearing is based on both nature and nurture. When it comes to the nature part of parenting, we get what we get, whether our children's temperaments are calm or active, compliant or defiant, shy or out-going.
When it comes to the nurture part of child-rearing, we do not receive a handbook with each child containing the do's and don'ts of parenting that particular child. In addition, most of us do not get the opportunity to take a parenting course in school or our community.
The Past
We do have the experience of how we were raised, which may be helpful depending on whether we thrived or simply survived. In sum, for most of us, parenting is part making it up as we go along, part intuitive, and part purposeful. We may regret some of our parenting but it is important to bear in mind that just because you are a parent or caregiver you are not superhuman.
Parenting is a transformative experience whether we accept that fact or not.