What is Parent Coaching?

Parent coaching is a customized-to-your-family opportunity to understand your intense child’s behavior, and learn what to do to help it improve dramatically.  You’ll learn Present Moment Parenting with the support of a coach who will not pass judgment on you, but will stand by you as you gain new skills.  There’s no diagnosis from your coach; just solid, usable tools for bringing out the best in your intense child.  How do we define “intense”?  If you have a child with whom typical parenting methods don’t help, and even make the situation worse, you’ve come to the right spot.


What type of issues do the kids have?

Our parent coaching clients have children of all ages who have ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, giftedness, adoption or foster care issues, blended family, and even those with no diagnosis at all.  Bio, foster, adoptive, caregivers and step-parents can all benefit from coaching. 

How does parent coaching work?

Typically, parents have four appointments, after which they decide whether to continue, based on their individual needs. Appointments are held via Microsoft Teams. Contact us at info@anufs.org to schedule an appointment.

Don't have MS Teams?  No worries - it's just clicking on a link, and we're on, seeing and hearing each other.  It works best on a desktop or laptop, but is fine on a tablet or phone, too.   

The appointments are usually two weeks apart, so you have time to implement the techniques, and come back to get your questions answered. You can request once-a-week appointments if you choose.

Appointments can be over the phone, on three-way calls with spouse or and/or teacher, or via Microsoft Teams (we email you a link, and you simply click on it.)  We work with parents from all over the world.  Parents and teachers alike benefit from coaching.


What will I gain from parent coaching?  Click here to see the results of coaching. 

You will:

  • Understand the underlying cause of the unwanted behavior.
  • Learn to approach the child as a success mentor, rather than the “behavior police.”
  • Attend to children’s success in a way that brings out the best in them.
  • Help your child identify real feelings, so they don’t have to come out “sideways” through inappropriate behavior.

How Much Does It Cost?

For private pay clients, the initial 1½-hour appointment is $175, and subsequent 1-hour appointments are $125. 

What type of issues do Parenting Coaches help with?

Our parent coaching clients have children of all ages who have ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, giftedness, adoption or foster care issues, and even those with no diagnosis at all.

What will I gain from parent coaching?

You will:

  • Understand the underlying cause of the unwanted behavior.
  • Learn to approach the child as a success mentor, rather than the “behavior police.”
  • Attend to children’s success in a way that brings out the best in them.
  • Help your child identify real feelings, so they don’t have to come out “sideways” through inappropriate behavior.

What can I expect for long-term results with parent coaching?

Parent coaching will help you to:

  • Learn highly effective techniques and apply them, whenever or wherever you are with any child.
  • Gain a sense of peace and calm in the child’s presence.
  • Gain control over the classroom or home environment.
  • Take pride in the fact that your child/student is successful.
  • Witness your child’s dramatically increased sense of esteem and empowerment.

Does the coach meet my children?

Not usually. We support adults from the background, placing the healing in the hands of parents and teachers who love the children and have the most invested in their success. We help parents maintain the authority with their children, which can dissipate if they see their parents being corrected. We also work best when we have our clients’ full attention, and they have ours. Occasionally home visits are necessary, but only when parents need extra support. In addition to parent coaching, our coaches visit schools to observe children anonymously, attend school meetings with parents, and consult with teachers on improving behavior.

What do parents say?

 “My husband and I have struggled for several years to help our daughter in every way possible deal with her anxiety, coming at it from all angles with providers for her.  The angle we were missing is the provider we found for us – the parents.  Our coach has been incredibly insightful and powerfully helpful with her years of coaching, experience and wisdom.  Her parenting advice netted immediate results and has helped shift our family’s culture to a more positive and happy one.  We are so thankful for her help and feel confident knowing we can consult her any time we have questions or situations that need her insight.  Thank you, Tina!!!”   Amy L.

What do county social workers say about parent coaching for their clients?

Jill Chaffee, Program Administrator with Western WI Comprehensive Community Services shares, “We believe that there are times that “counseling” or “psychotherapy” do not meet the complex needs of the families that we collaboratively serve.  Many of our families face intergenerational challenges within their family systems.  With that in mind, parent coaching serves an important purpose of connecting with families, in their natural environment, to provide direct support and teaching.  This is critical to behavior change.  Sometimes we don’t know what we have never seen and the hands-on coaching shows the family how to do it differently. Our services need to be flexible for our families and Anu offers the kind of services we need.”

Parent coaching is the most effective service we have to offer our kids!

I LOVE THIS SERVICE.  All your providers are fantastic!  I continue to send referrals to you guys as often as possible.

The coach not only works well with the client, she educated the team also, allowing the team to understand what she was doing and to help support and encourage the client.

She connects well with the family and is very creative in her approach as well as suggestions for the family to try.  An asset to the team.

I love working with her!  The only suggestion is to have a parent coach work with service facilitators [case managers] too!

The coach was awesome and the family is communicating very well now with her help. A huge improvement from before she was involved.

[Coaching] has been a valuable resource for our foster families and he has a special ability to connect with families and children in a non-threatening strength-based approach.

The Parent Coach is compassionate, he boosts up the family, he gives them practical and realistic ideas.  The parents are moving closer to adopting the child.

The family had nothing but great things to say about [the Coach].  They were at a place where they were considering giving up placement of their grandchildren, and after working with him, they say that they will never consider that.