Emotion coaching is about helping children to become more aware of their emotions and to manage their own feelings particularly during instances of misbehaviour. It entails validating children’s emotions, setting limits where appropriate and problem-solving with the child to develop more effective behavioural strategies. In effect, emotion coaching techniques instil the tools that will aid children’s ability to self-regulate their emotions and behaviour. It enables practitioners to create an ethos of positive learning behaviour and to have the confidence to de-escalate situations when behaviour is challenging.

Why do Emotion Coaching?

Gottman’s research has shown that emotion coached children:

• Achieve more academically in school
• Are more popular
• Have fewer behavioural problems
• Have fewer infectious illnesses
• Are more emotionally stable
• Are more resilient

The research demonstrates that emotion coaching:

• Helps children to regulate, improve and take ownership of their behaviour
• Helps children to calm down and better understand their emotions
• Helps practitioners to be more sensitive to children’s needs
• Helps create more consistent responses to children’s behaviour
• Helps practitioners to feel more ‘in control’ during incidents
• Helps promote positive relationships

What participants say about Emotion Coaching

It makes the children feel more secure and gives them a vocabulary to talk about how they are feeling instead of just acting out. This helps them to be more positive and happier.

– (Practitioner

I think emotion coaching has changed completely how I parent and I have been totally raving to all my friends about it.

– (Parent)

When people, like, take the mick out of me, like, in class I’d just get angry and I just hit ‘em. Now the teacher talks to me and it calms me down – the other kids don’t really pick on me now ‘cos they know that I don’t react.

– (Young Person)

Overview of the Training Programme

‘Emotion Coaching’ Training Day – Monday October 3rd 2016 9.30 – 4.30 with Dr Sarah Temple

Doctor Sarah Temple is working as a portfolio NHS GP in Somerset.  With more than 20 years’ experience working with children and young people both within General Practice and Mental Health Services, Sarah has a special interest in the link between child and parental wellbeing. She is currently leading the ECHAP Somerset Emotion Coaching programme across Somerset.

Term Two – Cluster follow up – Tuesday 22nd November 2 – 4.30 PM Castlewood, North Somerset

Facilitated by Neil Harris – High Impact Families

Coaching with Young people training day – Friday 3rd February 2017 9.30 – 4.30 with Judith Tolhurst

Judith Tolhurst has been working in education for 23 years as a teacher, head teacher, and currently as a coach and trainer. She set up her business, Coachlamp Ltd, ten years ago and specialises in coaching head teachers and senior leaders in education. Among her clients are the States of Guernsey, Bath Spa University. She is a fully qualified coach and a full member of the Association of Coaching. She has a B.Ed. from London University and a M.Ed. from Bristol University. Judith has published two books on coaching and how to use it in an educational setting.

Term 4 – Cluster Follow up – Wednesday 22nd March 2017 2 – 4.30 PM Venue TBA

Facilitated by Neil Harris

Get in touch to book a place!

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Feedback is vital if we are to improve so here are some top tips on giving effective feedback to others: Feedback is going to be effective if…

• It is descriptive rather than evaluative. By avoiding evaluative language, the receiver is less likely to respond defensively.
• It is specific rather than general. To be told – you did OK is less helpful than being told – “I especially liked the way that you waited for her to finish speaking and listened carefully to what she said”.
• It takes account of the needs of both receiver and giver of the feedback. Feedback which only considers the needs of the giver is not likely to be helpful to the recipient
• It is timely. Feedback is most useful when it is given as soon as possible following the observed event. This will of course depend upon the receiver’s readiness to hear.
• It is checked out with the receiver. It is important that the communication is clear and understood.
  The opportunity is given to the receiver to respond, or give further information/clarification.
• It is balanced in both quality and quantity, especially when there is both positive and negative feedback involved
• The person to whom the feedback is directed is invited to review and give feedback about the situation/issue first. This encourages the development of self-appraisal skills.
• The behaviour is controllable. Criticism of behaviour outside the control of the person is likely to be viewed as unfair and could give rise to feelings of resentment. Frustration may also be an outcome.
• It is future orientated, not backward looking. Whilst focusing on what went wrong, and why, may relieve your feelings, the objective is to get different behaviour in the future from the other person. Good feedback must focus on what to do rather than what was done.

Feedback is a way of helping someone to learn. It is designed to achieve a specific change in the individual’s behaviour in a way that will help them. Feedback is centred on the needs of the receiver, since otherwise it merely serves to relieve the feelings of the giver, at the receiver’s expense.

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