JaDE BEGGS
CERTIFIED INTEGRAL PRACTITIONER COACH FOR TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS
“As a coach, I provide anchoring and support for Teens and Young Adults, giving them a space to be heard, to explore their challenges and find their best way forward. Why I believe coaching is an effective way for Teens to work through the challenges they face is that it’s practical and unintimidating. It’s a way for them to deal with the problems that they themselves identify - which is important as it gives them the confidence and sense of control that comes from working things out for themselves.”
As a parent it’s hard to know what kind of support your child needs.
Coaching is different to formal therapy or counselling in that the coach is not there to advise, mentor, or diagnose. A coach is there to help them recognise patterns or habits that can be holding them back. Teens are often resistant to counselling or therapy, and many can’t or won’t discuss their issues with parents. The idea of seeing a coach is less formal and intimidating.
Coaching is forward looking. Whilst it may sometimes be necessary in sessions to explore the past, we mainly focus on the future, with concrete goals, aims and objectives that can help drive positive behaviours and outcomes.
Coaching is time-based and specific with actionable outcomes. We do not explore general themes, but instead focus on particular issues and outcomes.
Coaching helps Teens to be resilient, confident and self-supporting. It gives them skills they will carry with them into their adult life.
The teenage years are more turbulent than ever.
As we grow older, it’s easy to forget the intensity of our teenage years. They can be challenging, overwhelming, full of emotion and confusion. Nowadays, the age-old challenges and growing pains of the teenage years have only been exacerbated by social media. Widespread research confirms that the “Screenagers” of today are more overcome with worry, anxiety and self-doubt than the generations that came before them.
Some of the common themes we see are: Stress and anxiety that comes from high pressure and expectations, unhealthy coping skills, a struggle with their identity and knowing who they are, a struggle with acceptance and feeling seen and heard, unreasonably high expectations they place on themselves, anxiety around friendships and social placement as well as the uncertainty that comes from changes in home, school or their social lives.
What can coaching do for your child?
⁃ Developing healthy coping tools
⁃ Understanding habits and patterns that hold them back
⁃ Developing practical skills to emotionally regulate
⁃ Developing healthy study habits
⁃ Exploring social habits
⁃ Working out what serves them and what they can let go of
⁃ Working with anxiety
⁃ Techniques to reduce stress
⁃ Finding their voice
⁃ Building confidence and resilience
⁃ Setting achievable goals
WHY COACHING?
“How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.”
- Yvon Chouinard
“The Anchor Model”
My role as a coach is to provide a supportive, non-judgemental space where my clients can feel accepted, seen and heard - a safe space to explore and think through the specific issues they are facing.
I recognise that all people are individuals, and therefore an individualised approach is necessary.
I’ve developed a coaching model which I called the Anchor model. The aim is for the child and the coach to journey together, starting with a topic or goal in mind. By the end of the sessions together, they will have gained insight and awareness about the topic, as well as strategies and skills to help them to achieve their specific goals.
As a coach, I am an equal partner, there to hold a mirror and shine a light on the topics that are important to them, and to hold them accountable at each part of the journey.
I am autonomy-supportive, which means that I am there to anchor and support, but ultimately the aim is that they will find their own internal motivation to move forward, through my support and the questions that I ask.
Internal motivation and autonomous decisions are critical, especially for young people. We all know that teens hate to be told what think, feel and do! Giving them space to arrive at their own conclusions through structured sessions will provide longer lasting solutions for them.
It means that they will be more committed and accountable than if a solution is simply given to them. Solutions that you discover on your own will resonate much deeper and have longer lasting impact than instructions or advice from another. Coaching empowers them with confidence and a feeling of control, as they have true agency in solving their own issues.
MY APPROACH
MY COACHING PROCESS
Parent’s are offered a free online Chemistry Session, to get a sense of who I am and how I work, and to determine if they feel I would be a good fit for their child.
After the Chemistry Session, you can book 6, 9 or 12 sessions to work on the topics that they would like to explore, depending on their needs.
We would meet every week or every 2nd week - and this can be done either online or in person from my home office in Rondebosch.
After those initial sessions, we can continue to meet once a month just to touch base, track progress and embed learning.
