Adolescent Coaching

Looking for advice on adolescent coaching?  Then you want someone who has truly been there in the trenches!  Who can really understand what you go through on a daily basis with your kids?  Probably, your friends, but often they are in the same boat as you.  Working with a parent coach with experience in adolescents can help you see where your kids are coming from and offer you new perspective on how to connect with them.
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Parent Coach Susan Epstein’s real life experience with her two teenagers.
 

Mom’s Point of View

I was standing in the checkout line at the Gap with my two teenagers, Dan and Sarah. We had just done the yearly back to school shop. With every item that Dan had selected and had to have, he tossed it to me to carry. Now, I am a petite woman, I am 45 years old, I worked all day and it is 9pm. We have been in the mall since 6pm and I am exhausted, irritable, weighted down and broke. In one hand I am holding, two pair of pants, a sweatshirt, shirt, 4 pair of boxers and a sweater. In my other hand is my purse and $250 of clothing that I purchased for Sarah at Old Navy.
 

There are three checkouts and four to five people in each line. It is a mob scene. I am almost there, I can already feel myself sinking into my bed and nodding off to dreamland. I am dead on my feet. I glance up at the counter and two of the checkout girls, not much older than my son are giggling and discussing what they’ll do when they get off work this evening. I feel like I have been in this line for ten days and I want to scream! Instead, I turn to my kids and say, in a whisper, “this is ridiculous!” Dan looks at me with disdain, and hisses, “I hate it when people do that…it’s soooooo rude!”
 

One of the girls looks up from behind the counter and sheepishly says, “I’ll be right with you.” I am instantly shamed. My more than truthful comment makes me look like the “mom from hell” to the entire back to school shopping crowd.
 

Truthfully, if I had heard that come out of another mom’s mouth, I would have been appalled. Isn’t it strange that what we despise in others we often see ourselves doing?
 

Dan’s Point of View
 

We are at the gap. Mom is so cool; she is getting me whatever I want. I’m going off to college and she feels bad. She likes everything I choose. I can’t remember a better shopping spree with mom. She is even carrying everything for me. We got everything I wanted in less than thirty minutes and there is still plenty of time left to see my friends. This is awesome!
 

Now it’s time to pay. We get on line. The line is really long. My cell phone rings, and it is one of my friends. We talk for a while and then I tell him that I’ll pick him up real soon. I brought my own car to the mall so I could split as soon as we were done.
 

My mom is breathing heavy and looking really irritated and crabby. How can her moods change so quickly? All of a sudden she blurts out, really loudly, “This is ridiculous!” This is horrible; everyone in the store is looking at us. I try to hide and pretend that she is not my mom- so I say, “I hate it when people do that, it is sooo rude!” Again, all eyes are looking at us, and I look away, again pretending I don’t know her. Even the hot girl behind the counter knows how embarrassing it is to be out with your parents. She looks right at my mom and says, with an edge, “I’ll be right with you”. There, my mom is put in her place.
 

Now I feel bad…. I want to be with my mom but sometimes she can be such a dork!
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Writing this really helped me gain perspective on where my son was coming from. I realized that I really can parent these teenagers. I just have to have the vision to see life from their point of view. Sign up for your free coaching consultation with Parent/Teen/Adolescent Life Coach Susan Epstein……and watch as the Generation Gap begins to close.

Susan P, Epstein, LCSW, parent and family coach, works with parents and families looking for satisfaction, balance and growth.  Susan is an expert in the areas of family dynamics, parenting and child development and her unique blend of therapy and coaching combine to make her a powerful catalyst for change.

She practiced psychotherapy for 23 years before becoming a coach, writer and speaker.  Susan graduated from University of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare.  She is a licensed clinical social worker in Connecticut and Rhode Island.  Susan also completed training with the Coaches Training Institute, an internationally accredited coach training organization.  Learn more about Susan.

Articles and Specialties of Susan Epstein:

Life Coach

Family Coach: Six Tips to Less Stress at Home

Grief Coach: Advice on Helping Children Grieve the Loss of a Family Member: Step I

The Making of a Teen Life Coach

Teen Life Coach Riffs on the College Homesick Blues

Teen Life Coaching Workshop

Teen Life Coaching:  Drugs and Alcohol

Parent Coaching Testimonial

Teen Life Coaching FAQs

Family Coach: Six Tips for Enjoying Your Kids While Working From Home

Adolescent Coaching: Through the Generation Gap

Parent Coach

Parent Coaching

Parenting Coaching in the Fast Lane (workshop)

Parent Coaching Workshops

Parenting Coach:  Attention Parents!  No More Yelling!

Parenting Coach:  Attention Parents!  No More Yelling! (part 2)

Family Coach

Couples Coaching:  Rediscover the Joy

Learn more about adolescent coaching at Feroce:  ask for a free consultation!