Transformative Parent Coaching: The Foster Lane Team’s Unique Approach for Deeper and Meaningful Change

Have you been here too?

At your wit’s end. Discouraged by the lack of support. Frustrated that you’ve wasted time and money on books, classes, and coaches to learn strategies that didn’t help your child actually make progress. All you want is for your child to be understood and accepted–is that too much to ask?! 

After investing so much time and energy to not see results, you’re hesitant to try anything new. 

Feeling skeptical is totally understandable. But I want you to know there is hope and a path forward.

I understand the challenges you face because I’ve experienced them too along my foster parenting journey. And as a parent coach, I've worked with countless families like yours. You don't have to navigate this journey alone. 

If we haven’t met yet, I’m Sarah Salisott, Certified Parent Coach(R). My passion is helping families with children who have experienced trauma or struggle with attachment. I started The Foster Lane Parent Coaching in 2016 to help others avoid some of the parenting challenges my own family faced.

Read on to learn what parent coaching is and how our approach will help you enjoy your child again.

What Is Parent Coaching?

If you think parent coaching is another form of therapy, think again!

Though therapy has its place, it is focused on the past. Past events. Past experiences. Past behaviors.

Parent coaching, on the other hand, is future-focused. There’s less talk about your child’s behaviors and more about recognizing the needs behind their behaviors. There’s less talk about your child’s outbursts and more about learning emotion regulation strategies that you can model for them.

Like a sports coach, the parent coach’s job is to motivate and guide you toward being the parent you want to be. Your parent coach is there to provide customized support to help you identify what matters most to you as a person and a parent and then help you modify your own behavior to improve your family life.  

Parenting is hard. And unfortunately, many of us don’t have a village we can lean on and learn from. This is why The Foster Lane Team believes parent coaching can be beneficial for all families.

Parent Coaching at The Foster Lane

Our approach to parent coaching is to meet you where you’re at. You’ll have weekly sessions in person in your home or the office or via Zoom–whatever works best for you. (If we meet in the office, you’ll get to meet Unelma AKA Uni, our therapy dog in training!)

Whatever the location, the purpose of your initial sessions is for your coach to learn from you. What are your goals? What are your expectations? What are your values? This lays the foundation for the coaching relationship and allows your coach to provide you with support customized to your individual needs.

Here’s a typical breakdown of a 45-minute session:

• 5-10 minute check-in on the previous week
• 30-minute chat about current struggles and possible approaches or resources to review
• 5-minute recap/homework assigned

What To Expect From Parent Coaching

Since this style of coaching is one on one (or two for coupled adults), it works best if you’re able to openly share your current struggles and if you’re willing to implement strategies at home each week. The Foster Lane is a judgment-free zone for this reason!

You can expect your parent coaching sessions to be future-focused, action-oriented, and strength-based.

Future-Focused-We’ll start our journey together with the end in mind. You’ll share your desired outcome of our sessions, and once we know where you want to go, we make a plan to get you there.

Action-Oriented-The only person you can change is yourself. Throughout our journey, we’ll work on changing how you respond in situations and create space for the rest of your family to change. You’ll have homework to help you build on your strengths and skills.

Strength-Based-When you’re in the weeds of parenting, it can be easy to overlook your unique strengths, skills, and resources instead of using them to your advantage. We’ll work on (re)discovering them and giving them the attention they deserve. After all, what we focus on we get more of! By approaching struggles from a foundation of strength, you can be a more confident, effective parent.

What To Expect From Your Parent Coach

At The Foster Lane, we have a standardized approach when it comes to parent coaching. It is strengths-focused, evidence-based, and judgment-free.

Strengths-Focused-As I mentioned, your coach will help you (re)discover your own strengths. As your self-confidence grows, you’ll be empowered to implement the skills and strategies we work on together in our sessions. In turn, you’ll be able to communicate better, set and hold boundaries, and resolve conflicts more effectively.

Evidence-Based–The Foster Lane Team are Parent Support Specialists. We stay on top of the latest research and continue to learn best practices to be better supports and also so we can share the available scientific evidence that applies to your situation. Implementing evidence-based, research-backed strategies that promote positive parenting practices can improve your relationship with your child and results in positive outcomes for your whole family. 

Judgment-Free-We’re here to help, not harm. We help lighten your load by replacing the heavy thoughts, experiences, perceptions, and beliefs you may bring into the session with positivity, laughter, and hope.

We provide individualized support and attention customized to your needs. By tailoring our support to you, we’ll focus on the skills and topics that would be the most beneficial to you, like recognizing the needs behind your child’s behaviors, emotional regulation strategies, attachment theory, and more. This can lead to profound transformations within yourself and your family.

How Parent Coaching Will Help You And Your Family

Though the focus of parent coaching is on you, the parent, what you learn will help your child and your family.

Parent coaching will make you a change agent. By empowering yourself with skills and techniques and gaining a deeper understanding of child development, you’ll create a new environment for your child and family. 

With less yelling and more laughter, your relationship with your child will be transformed. Having a nurturing, healthy relationship with you helps your child feel safe and supported. This is a solid foundation upon which they can build their future relationships. The investment you make in parent coaching today will serve you and your child well for the rest of your lives.  

What’s Next?

Now that you know what parent coaching at The Foster Lane is like, take the next step toward enjoying your child again. Schedule your free 15-minute consultation with The Foster Lane Team today!