Parent and Family Coaching:
Essential Services and Strategies for Every Parent
Parenthood is a journey like no other. From the moment you hold your child for the first time, life takes on a new dimension filled with joy, challenges, and boundless love. In all the incredible moments, there are also times when parents can benefit from guidance and support. Maybe you’re a parent raising a child who struggles to focus, or who has sensory sensitivities that make self-regulation difficult. Maybe your child has big fears or time-consuming routines that interfere with daily functioning. Maybe as a parent you’re learning about your own neurodiversity as you work hard to support your child. In our Parent and Family Coaching service at Possibilities, we share neuroaffirmative guidance and strategies informed by the science of child development. We want parents and caregivers to feel confident in their roles, and to gain new insights as we work together.
Clinicians who offer Parent and Family Coaching recognize that every family is unique–and so are the questions, concerns, and search for support that bring families to us. What is common to all families is that they require tailored support that changes at different stages of their journey. Clinicians in our Parent and Family Coaching service can support you whether your child is younger than 5 years, in elementary school, or in adolescence up to the age of 18. We help families who have questions and concerns about attachment and parent-child relationships, their child’s development, tantrums, oppositional and challenging behaviors, school avoidance, school bullying, and more.
Here are some common questions we are asked about our Parent and Family Coaching Program, along with our answers.
Parent and Family Coaching integrates attachment work, CBT principles, and parenting programs to provide support. Clinicians work collaboratively with parents and caregivers to create a specialized, tailored Action Plan designed to acknowledge the joys–and address the complexities–of raising and supporting children. In coaching sessions, clinicians offer emotional support, suggestions for self-care, and strategies for raising children who can leverage their strengths and seek support for their needs to the best of their abilities. Clinicians can also assist parents in navigating the complex array of services, therapies, and interventions available for neurodiverse children, helping parents prioritize and access resources that best meet their child’s needs.
At Possibilities, our Clinician Coaches work with families using various approaches to provide support. With parents of young children, they often use components of two child-led, play-based approaches called Watch Wait Wonder and Watch Me Play!. Both programs are designed to support parents’ attunement to their child, helping parents gain a new understanding of their child’s strengths and needs. For parents of children at any age, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is often used in coaching sessions since science shows that thoughts, feelings, and actions are directly linked. If weeks, months, or years of frustrations have resulted in negative thoughts about your parenting skills, then how you feel and react in your relationship with your child will be influenced by these perceptions. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) can also be an important component of coaching for supporting positive change for adolescents and their families.
The goals covered in coaching depend on what is meaningful for each client. Typically, parents have goals that relate to home life. For all clients, some “right now” expectations are identified and some time is spent on “you” goals, too. These can be goals such as feeling more connected to your child, or feeling less overwhelmed by all the responsibilities inherent in family life. At Possibilities, Parent and Family Coaching is about more than improving daily functioning. It’s about creating exciting possibilities for your family’s future, too.
While Parent and Family Coaching mainly targets caregivers, children can also take part in some of the sessions based on the identified goal and age of the child or teen.
At Possibilities, we recommend booking an initial block of 16 to 20 sessions, with a session happening once per week or once every two weeks. Usually it’s best to start at a once-a-week pace to support consistent reflection and practice right from the start. There is no requirement for upfront payment, and you can discontinue or cancel sessions at any point with sufficient notice to the team. Booking 16 to 20 sessions in advance ensures that consistent times and days with the same clinician have been reserved for you. Sessions can be adjusted and staggered as needed to best suit your schedule, and your therapist will be available to support you with any scheduling questions or changes. Each session within the block builds upon the last, starting with a progress check from the previous week. Successes and challenges are reviewed, and new strategies are devised through collaborative discussion for future improvements. Structured sessions and blocks of reserved time will allow you to set clear goals and achieve them.
Yes! Certainly you can continue with additional sessions after your initial block of 16 to 20 appointments. The next steps in your treatment plan can be discussed with your clinician towards the end of your first booking block.
Sessions typically happen once a week, every one to two weeks. More than two weeks between sessions will make it difficult to determine which weekly goals were met, and which ones need to be revised. Attending an appointment once a week, or once every two weeks, will help you monitor change at a steady pace, and make adjustments relatively quickly so new habits can form with consistent reflection and practice.
Yes! We offer coaching services remotely through secure video sessions. Clients enjoy the convenience of this option, rather than traveling frequently to our Toronto office. We’ve expanded our reach, too. Our clinicians now work with clients across Ontario—made possible by offering coaching and therapy services through secure video appointments. You must be physically present in Ontario during your video coaching sessions.
Coaching at Possibilities is provided by non-medical health professionals such as psychologists, psychotherapists, occupational therapists, and social workers. As such, these services are not covered by OHIP. Your private insurance plan may cover ADHD Coaching as a psychotherapy service.
Yes! You do not need a doctor’s referral to start working with one of our coaches.
The cost of each coaching session ranges from $200 to $280, depending on the clinician providing the service.
For more information about the Possibilities Parent and Family Coaching Program, please contact us at info@possibilitiesclinic.com or call 1-833-482-5558.
You can also get started right away by completing our Intake Form. Once this form is received, our Care Coordinator will review your needs, match you to an appropriate clinician, and get back to you with booking options.
