Become a Life Coach Who Specializes in Parenting

There are many niches to consider once you decide to become a life coach. And in fact, the more you specialize, the more valuable you become as a coach. And one needed niche is coaches who are willing to become a parent coach. And even those coaches who decide to become a parent coach may decide they want to specialize even more. Parents of teenage girls will have different needs than parents of toddlers, lower school children, and even teenage boys. Here are some tools to use if you want to become a life coach who can take them all on.

When You Become a Life Coach, You Learn the Value of Positive Reinforcement

While Karen Pryor has not yet written a book on how to become a life coach, she has written a book describing the merits of positive reinforcement versus negative reinforcement. In her book, Don’t Shoot the Dog! she describes in detail the rationale behind her belief that punishment, negative reinforcement, and extinction (ignoring a behavior will eventually cause it go away) is ineffective. And of course you won’t become a parent coach with much of a reputation if you advocate, ‘shooting the dog’ or somehow getting rid of the child. But here are a couple of tips you can use:

Some Tips for Those Who Want to Become a Parent Coach

Become a Parent Coach Who Encourages Their Clients to Use Distraction: This was one of my dad’s favorites when my sister and I were not getting along well in the back seat of the car. One day we were driving through a very rural area and he suddenly yelled, “Hey guys! Look at the tomatoes!” There was such enthusiasm in his voice that we looked, and then started laughing. The tomato plants were so small that we were basically looking at a field of sticks that would eventually support the plants. The behavior of quarreling was incompatible with the new stimulus. He could have become a life coach with that one phrase, because any time we began quarreling he would use the same phrase and get the same result. With or without tomato plants.

Become a Parent Coach Who Teaches Their Clients to Change the Motivation: This one takes some understanding and planning, but is very effective. When I am driving in the car with my children, I can gauge how tired, hungry, or bored they are by their behavior. Become a life coach who helps point out that children may be hungry and tired on the way home from an after school activity, and encourage parents prepare a healthy snack for them. For longer car trips kids might need to stop at a ‘rest stop’ and run around for a few minutes to manage the pent up energy.

You Can Use Your Life Coach Skills on Your Way to Become a Parent Coach

You can see that the skills you learned to become a life coach are valuable if you decide to become a parent coach. Once you understand how people’s behaviors are driven by their needs, you can encourage empowering alternatives and find ways your clients (and their children) can get their needs met at a higher level.

Colette Seymann
JTS Advisors Designated Accountability Coach