5 tips to simplify the transition from therapist to parent coach
Parent coaching IS best practice in the field of Occupational Therapy when working with young children. But, most of us were not taught this method in school. It takes time and practice to become an effective parent coach. Read on to find out 5 of the best things you can do to start coaching your families to success today!
I still cringe when I think back to my early days as a new pediatric Occupational Therapist.
I wanted to have all the answers to help the families I served.
I felt horrible when they would present me with a problem and I couldn’t come up with anything to try.
I would spend countless hours studying my textbooks and trying to call anyone else that I knew in the field to ask questions. (I didn’t have google back then 😁)
However, there was a huge skill that I was lacking and I didn’t even know it at the time. (hint…it was parent coaching!)
I was completely neglecting the person who could most help me figure out those answers... the caregiver!
24 years later and I still don’t have all the answers but I’ve learned that I don’t NEED to have all the answers.
Learning the skills to collaborate with and coach parents has completely transformed my practice!
What is a parent coach?
It’s someone who helps parents with tips, tools, suggestions, and support in parenting their child/children.
Sounds a lot like a therapist, right?
However, there are important differences.
How is a parent coach different from a therapist?
The biggest difference comes down to how the support is being offered.
It’s easy for therapists to assume the “expert” role. After all, this is what we are sold in our universities.
However, this can be damaging to the parent-therapist relationship because the parent now expects us to have all the answers and they rely on us to solve their problems.
It also assumes there’s something wrong with the child and that it needs to be fixed.
It doesn’t lend itself to looking at the child from a strengths-based perspective.
This approach doesn’t work well when working with young children because it can contribute to a parent’s feelings of not being good enough and create anxiety about their parenting skills.
It can also make the child feel anxious or different about their challenges too!
Why should I choose to do parent coaching?
Some of the benefits of parent coaching can include:
Increased trust/rapport between therapist, caregiver, and client
Empowers the caregiver to solve problems on their own
Allows the caregiver to become an advocate for their child
Increases the caregiver-child attachment
Children progress more rapidly due to increased parent education/carryover outside of therapy sessions
Tips for transitioning from therapist to parent coach
Parent coaching is a skill that takes lots of practice. It entails you taking a step back from all that you know and allowing yourself to be in the parents shoes (aka. therapeutic use of self).
Parents do know their children best, they just don’t always have clarity and the tools to make changes or see the big picture.
Parent coaching is not a skill that is learned overnight, so be patient with yourself and continue to repeat after me….progress over perfection!
Here are 5 steps to get you started on your way to becoming an effective parent coach and empowering your families:
1. Listen
Listen more than you speak. Your families will give you cues as to what they are needing if you take the time to listen and observe.
Make the session about them. What do they want to learn? What types of challenges did they have during the week? How can you be helpful?
Be compassionate. Your first job is to connect with the family. Do this first and your session will be a success!
Don't go in with your pre-planned agenda so that you're not able to successfully read the room.
2. Be real
Speak the truth and only the truth.
If you don't know something, don't fake it. This is probably the opposite of what you heard when you first got out of school.
Fake it till you make it? Ring a bell?
If you don't know something tell your family that you will work hard to find an answer or get them a resource. Better yet, collaborate with them and be curious so you can find solutions together.
3. Use what's in their natural environment
Leave the toy bag behind!
If you use what's in the environment then there's less of an excuse for the family to not be able to carry it over.
If you’re working in the home, use household materials. If you're working in the classroom, use classroom materials.
It will also lessen the chance that every other child in the classroom or in the home will want to play with the toys you brought in causing a major distraction.
4. Let the caregiver take the lead
If you were able to practice your skills while doing OT (or PT or SLP) teletherapy, I hope you recognized the benefit of what this does for your invested caregivers. When our hands are not there, the parents get the chance to practice and we get to be the observer.
We all learn differently..some of us learn by listening, doing, watching or through a combination of these styles.
Allowing your families to have a multi-sensory approach to learning is just as beneficial to them as it is to their child.
Collaborate with your families so that together you come up with solutions to their difficulties.
5. Mentorship
Being a therapist is hard work!
We are empaths. We feel all the feels!
We’re so busy helping others all the time that often we don’t stop to take care of ourselves.
Having mentorship at any stage of your career is worth investing in. If you are fortunate enough to work on a team, use your team members for self-reflection and support during those challenging times.
If you’re not fortunate enough to work on a team and you wished you had a place for collaboration and support you should check out one of our mentorship programs at Growing Little Brains.
This 6-week group mentorship program was designed to help new-to-the-field Early Intervention OTPs transform into confident practitioners ready to step into clients' lives knowing where and how to start making an impact. It focuses on teaching a parent coaching model of intervention and gives practical tips, resources, handouts, and video examples of EI sessions to fast-track confidence and lessen the overwhelm. There are also weekly group Zoom calls to deepen understanding, master the application of new learning, and troubleshoot each participant’s questions and caseloads.
2. The Therapy Village is an online multi-disciplinary community of Early Interventionists who are dedicated to making an impact with young children and families. It’s a place to add more tools to your EI toolbox, ask questions, and brainstorm those tough cases with your village. Click here to find out more and join us!
I hope this list leaves you inspired and renewed for your upcoming therapy sessions. If you found it helpful, don’t forget to share it using the buttons below to help your fellow colleagues. We are better together!