Individualized Coaching Support
How does the Restore Network’s parent coaching role help stabilize families and promote healing?
This thing you are doing is a really big deal and you don’t have to do it alone.
Lots of people in your life don’t understand and may give you the wrong advice. But we get it, and with us you won’t have to explain things or clarify the way you do the other people in your life. With us, you can speak honestly and openly.
Most professional support available to help your family focuses on the struggling child and keeps you on the sidelines of their healing journey. Some support is inaccessible to you because of your child’s insurance plan or high costs and it’s just not financially feasible for you.
With us, you get an approach that looks at the functioning of the whole family and did we mention it’s FREE for Restore Network families??
We think YOU’RE worth it too. Not just your kids.
Which means that your own health and wellness will matter to us. Figuring out how you stay healthy and regulated in the midst of this hard parenting journey will be part of our plan.
We know that change is possible.
We’ve seen it and we will carry the hope for you even when you can’t. We will celebrate the progress and wins and ensure that we keep track of them so that on those days when things seem harder, we remember where we’ve come from. We will sit in the grief with you on those messy day-we won’t push you to feel something you don’t feel. All of your feelings will be welcome with us. Show up however you need to show up. We’ll keep track of the interventions and ideas that we’re working on together & keep you accountable-we’ll be your “thinking brain” for you when yours needs to go offline for a bit. We’ll learn to laugh together and have a little fun along the way. 😊
Reach out to your County Director to ask questions or get started today!
We are eleven years into our foster and adoption journey and if there is anything I would change, it would be to learn about trauma informed parenting before we had our first placement. Getting to spend weekly time talking with Ashley, as a parent coach, learning from her incredible, God given wisdom was a blessing I didn’t know I needed.
She gave me specific ideas for each kid to help heal our relationships and their hearts and minds. She talked to me as a friend with no judgement. And she’s walked this journey so she truly knows what we are going through as foster and adoptive parents. This ministry is a gift!
Restore Network Foster Parent
FAQ
How do I get started?
Reach out to your County Director, and have a conversation with them. Tell them about what is going on in your home, and let them know you are interested in talking more about the parent coaching role.
What happens next?
We’ll start with a zoom consultation. You’ll share with staff from our Trauma-Informed Care team and your County Director the joys and challenges in your family’s situation right now. You’ll share your goals for your family and the kind of help that is needed. In this session, you’ll probably hear a lot of “yesses” and see a lot of heads nodding along… we get it. There isn’t anything you can say that will surprise us. Promise.
What if I just have one issue I want to talk through but I’m not interested in ongoing coaching right now?
That’s great. We’d love to help you through this as well! We’ll schedule a zoom consultation with staff from our Trauma-Informed Care team and your County Director and you can let us know what’s going on. We’ll suggest practical ideas or resources that can help!
Who will we work with during this process?
The Parent Coaching program was created by our Director of Trauma Informed Care, Ashley Bennett. Ashley has a Master’s Degree in Social Work and has worked in the field of foster care and adoption since 2007. She also has taken additional training to become a Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Practitioner and a Making Sense of Your Worth facilitator. Ashley has personal experience as a foster parent and has adopted 3 boys from the foster care system. Ashley also supervises a team of Parent Trainers who are trained in the principles of trauma informed parenting. This team of Restore Network staff is ready to support you along your journey.
What can we expect from the coaching role?
After your zoom consultation, if appropriate, we’ll invite you into the coaching role. The coaching role is best for families who are committed to the children in their home, who are teachable and ready to make some changes in their family, and who have the flexibility & capacity in their life to try something new. It doesn’t matter if the child has been with you two months or two years.
Each coaching role is unique but generally begins with a couple of intake sessions via zoom where your Parent Trainer gets to know your family and the challenges you are facing. At the end of the intake session, you’ll set goals you’d like to see for your family.
After intake, we’ll determine the best path of contact. The coaching role works best with weekly one-hour zoom meetings or phone calls in which we are both setting aside the intentional time to connect. In these conversations, we will focus on making progress towards the goals you have. We’ll try to help you make sense of what is going on, see where your current parenting strategies might not be working for you, and find new parenting tools you can add to your toolbox.
Between sessions, we’ll stay in contact via text, email, or the voxer app. This contact in between lets us navigate challenges in REAL time—offering you step by step practical guidance you can put in place immediately. No waiting a week to talk to your child’s counselor again and forgetting about all the details you wanted to share in the 5 minutes when you have their attention. You can relay the situation to us and get prompt feedback.
Coaching includes one-on-one conversations with a trauma-informed Parent Trainer, additional resources provided in whatever learning style you prefer-reading books, watching videos, listening to podcasts, etc., and invitations to additional Restore Network training opportunities like our online training modules & small group studies.
How long does the coaching role last?
We’ll be along for the journey with you no matter how long it takes. As long as you’re committed to learning and growing and making changes, we’re committed to helping you. The majority of families who begin the coaching role see real progress towards their goals by 6 months, often being able to close the coaching role around that time frame. But if that’s not you, that’s okay. There is no end date & you determine when your goals are met.
When your goals are met and your family feels stable, we’ll have a conversation about closing the parent coach role for that season. The Restore Network team is still always available to navigate new challenges and the parent coach role can begin again at any time. But for now, we’ll celebrate the changes you have seen in your family even if we’re going to miss chatting with you each week!
What areas of concern does the parent coach role address?
- Chasing the why behind your child’s challenging behaviors.
- Calming the chaos in your home.
- Improving regulation.
- Supporting sibling relationships.
- Growing attachment.
- Helping children feel safe.
- Growing connection.
- Navigating big behaviors-aggression, control battles, tantrums, lying, stealing, self-harm, etc.
- Communicating your child’s story and helping them navigate the foster care system.
- Overcoming blocked care & growing in the understanding of your own attachment style as an adult.
- And more!