What is the difference between parent coaching and psychotherapy?

Parent coaching supports parents in grounded practical ways through resources, education and suggestions on how to set up schedules and family management systems. Psychotherapy has more of a focus on healing past hurts and trauma. As a parent coach and a mental health therapist, I blend the two disciplines to provide comprehensive nurturing and support to parents and families. My work focuses on encouraging the attunement and bond between parent and child and strengthening the whole family system. One major difference is that True Connection Parent Coaching focuses on teaching parents how to teach and be present with your child, rather than having the child be the center of the therapeutic relationship.

Ariel will gain important insights and have the opportunity for observations that the online platform simply can’t provide. By witnessing the natural interactions of a family in their home environment, even in the somewhat stilted atmosphere of a home visit, the spirit of the family dynamics will shine through and inform our work together.

Ariel can provide suggestions and expertise both to families and school staff to help craft a supportive school setting for the child. Similarly, school visits will illuminate the concerns parents may have for their child in the classroom.

While home visits and school visits are an important aspect to the True Connection program, both are purely voluntary.

Ariel has developed a Strengths-Based Family Assessment to evaluate client’s strengths and to determine where support and attention are needed. Through a series of validated self-directed rating scales, questionnaires and assessments, patterns of behavior and areas of need will become clearer. True Connection will use the data collected to create a parenting support plan to help clients better understand themselves as a caregiver. With greater understanding, parents will be better able to connect with and support their children.

What is your psychological theory orientation?

Like many clinicians, I pull my theoretical orientation from a variety of sources. I am trained as a clinical art therapist and I have spent the majority of my career working within the public school system. Major theoretical influences are the work of Dr. Alfred Adler, Dr. Daniel Siegel, Edith Kramer, Dr. Bruce Perry and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. I am fascinated by the ever changing landscape of interpersonal neurobiology and how our physical bodies respond to trauma and to healing. 

I am an out-of-network provider and do not work directly with insurance companies on their panels. If you have out-of-network coverage for mental health or counseling services (contact your benefits administrator), I can provide you with an invoice if you would like to submit a statement to your insurance company for reimbursement.

Please be aware that if you decide to utilize your insurance benefits for mental health services, you may not have the same extent of privacy and confidentiality that you would otherwise.

Are you available for speaking engagement and events?

Yes! I am happy to present at professional development workshops, PTA meetings and other gatherings. Email me at arielfrager(at) gmail(dot)com and we discuss presentation topics.