Five Coaching Steps

Emotional coaching is a learnable sequence: notice the feeling early, welcome it as connection, validate it, name it, then set a limit on behavior while accepting the feeling.

The line that makes coaching work: all feelings are allowed; not all behaviors are.

Say your child swings a fist at a sibling. A coaching reply does four things in one breath: "You're really angry at your brother, and I get it. Hitting still isn't okay. What else could you do with that anger?"