Parent Coaching and Relational Aggression: Case Study: Part One

Do you have a daughter or son who is experiencing relational aggression or bullying?

Do you need some help and/or ideas to help your child feel empowered?

Is it painful for you to watch your child experience relational aggression?

Are you unsure if you should let your child work it out or intervene?

Does it bring up memories from your past?

Do you feel hopeless?

When a young person experiences relational aggression, the parent can have a variety of feelings, most of them painful.  No one wants their child to feel hurt, lonely, left out and sad.

As an expert in the field of relational aggression and a new parent coach, I started to have a hunch that Parent Coaching could really help parents feel empowered around this topic.   

Enter:   Celia and Elaine (names  and other identifying details have been changed and both mother and daughter have agreed to this blog series--confidentiality is always upheld in my Parent Coaching practice). 

Celia  had a great relationship with her daughter and Celia described a rich and nurturing family life.    However, at school Elaine had been the object of teasing from a group of more popular girls for many years.    She was now about to enter high school as a freshman.   Elaine had developed a thick skin, on the outside, not really caring about the teasing.  She also had a small but tight group of friends that stuck closely together.   Elaine also had a rich life outside of school in competitive horse racing.

Celia's hope for her daughter was that she enter high school open to new friends and experiences.   She also hoped that her daughter would turn to her if things got rough.    She wanted to keep the lines of communication open. 

I thought that working with Celia would be a wonderful chance to see if parent coaching can help parents handle the ups and downs of friendships.  What I found was surprising and delightful and, yes, empowering.    Come along with me as I share our eight session coaching process, one each week.   

Please Note:   In our eight sessions, we focused on other topics too, but I have only included the work we did around this topic.