The Parent Coaching Intensive
A focused, time-limited coaching intervention for parents of children and teens ages 6–18 who are ready to respond differently when stress takes over at home.
When stress takes over at home, knowing what to do and being able to do it in the moment are two very different things. Whether you are navigating this on your own or already working with other professionals, having a clear and practiced way to respond when things escalate is often what's missing.
The Parent Coaching Intensive is a focused, time-limited coaching program designed to help parents of children ages 6–18 respond differently when it matters most.
Your child does not participate in these sessions. This work stands on its own as a complete intervention and integrates well with therapy, psychiatry, and school-based supports when those are part of your family's care.
You do not need to be in crisis. Many families come because they see the direction things are heading and want to intervene early.
Program structure
Sessions are concentrated into a short time frame, making it possible to interrupt patterns quickly and leave with a clear, practiced plan.
What’s included in the Parent Coaching Intensive:
One initial intake session
One hour of individualized preparation and intervention planning
One 2.5-hour intensive session
A written stabilization plan with scripts, step-by-step guidance, and data collection tools
One month of follow-up support access, up to one hour total, via text or email, or brief phone calls
Optional brief collaboration with your child’s therapist, psychiatrist, or school counselor, with consent
One to two follow-up sessions approximately 4-6 weeks post the intensive session
This package includes approximately 8 to 9 total clinical hours, concentrated into a short time frame so you leave with a clear plan and the support to use it.
Why a parent coaching intensive?
Families come to me at all different points. Some have been navigating a difficult pattern for years and have tried many things. Others are earlier in the process and want to get ahead of something before it becomes entrenched.
What they share is a desire to respond more effectively when stress takes over at home.
Research consistently shows that across a wide range of childhood and adolescent challenges, changing how parents respond is one of the most effective interventions available. When parental responses shift, the entire family system begins to move. This is true across a wide age range, from early elementary through adolescence. (Lebowitz et al., 2020)
Research also suggests that concentrated, intensive work can produce faster and more durable behavioral change than the same content delivered across weekly sessions over months. This includes my own doctoral research, in which I conducted a randomized controlled trial examining a one-day intensive parent workshop and found meaningful gains in outcomes that informed the model I use today. (Zody, 2017) (Blackledge & Hayes, 2006)
This work focuses on the part of the system parents can directly influence: their own responses under pressure.
The approach behind this work
The Parent Coaching Intensive is grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), one of the most rigorously researched behavioral frameworks in contemporary clinical psychology.
ACT does not focus on eliminating difficult emotions or arguing kids out of anxious thoughts. It focuses on changing how people respond to those experiences, building what researchers call psychological flexibility: the capacity to act in line with your values even when stress, frustration, or fear is present.
For parents, this means learning to respond to escalating moments from a steadier place rather than reacting from urgency or exhaustion. ACT-based parent interventions have demonstrated significant reductions in parental accommodation of anxiety, one of the strongest predictors of anxiety maintenance in children and teens, and meaningful improvements in family interaction patterns.
What this intensive focuses on
The Parent Intensive is not a general parenting program or ongoing therapy.
It is a structured intervention designed to:
Interrupt entrenched interaction patterns
Reduce cycles of escalation and
shutdown
Align caregivers around a shared plan
Establish predictable responses during
high-stress moments
The focus is on changing how high-stress moments are handled, rather than trying to change everything at once.
Parents leave with a clear plan for how to step in earlier, respond differently when things escalate, and repair without making things worse.
Why this works
Families get stuck in predictable loops when a child's stress response takes over, and parents respond in ways that unintentionally reinforce the pattern.
Under stress, the thinking brain goes offline. Logic stops landing. Responses meant to help, such as reassurance, negotiation, or consequences, can unintentionally add to the overload rather than reduce it.
This coaching intensive focuses on helping parents understand what is happening in those moments and respond in ways that reduce overload rather than add to it.
When parents change their responses, children and teens stabilize more quickly and the family system begins to settle.
What we do together
Map your family’s pattern
Identify the specific interaction loop you keep getting pulled into and why it repeats.
Target key moments
Design step-by-step responses for the moments where things reliably fall apart.
Understand behavior under stress
Learn what is happening in your child’s nervous system and which responses help versus backfire.
Build scripts for escalation,
shutdown, and repair
Practice specific language for the moments that are hardest, so you know what to say when emotions are running high.
Align parent roles
Clarify how caregivers coordinate responses so you stop working against each other
Create a
stabilization plan
Leave with a written plan, scripts, and data collection tools so next steps are clear and you have what you need to follow through.
Who this is for
This intensive is best suited for caregivers of children and teens, approximately ages 6–18, who want to:
Respond more effectively when emotions spike or everything shuts down
Interrupt repeating patterns that feel stuck
Feel more grounded and less reactive in the hardest moments
Support a child who internalizes distress rather than expressing it outward
Get ahead of something early rather than waiting for it to escalate
This work is a particularly good fit for families with neurodivergent children, including ADHD and autism, whose stress responses can escalate quickly under pressure.
Parent Intensive FAQs
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No. The Parent Intensive is a parent coaching and family systems intervention.
Although I am a licensed clinical psychologist, this service is provided in my role as a coach and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. It does not involve diagnosis, psychotherapy, or treatment of mental health disorders, and it is not designed for crisis management or acute safety concerns.
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No. This is a parent-only intervention.
The focus is on helping parents respond differently during moments of escalation, shutdown, or anxiety. Shifts in parental response are often what create meaningful change in the broader family system.
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When possible, yes.
The work is most effective when caregivers are aligned and responding consistently. If more than one adult is involved in day-to-day parenting, participation from all caregivers is strongly recommended. Logistics can be discussed during the consult.
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The Parent Intensive is designed for families navigating patterns such as:
Frequent escalation, yelling, or emotional blowups
Anxiety-driven behaviors or avoidance
Rigidity, control struggles, or repeated power battles
Withdrawal, shutdown, or emotional overwhelm
Neurodivergent-related emotional reactivity, including ADHD and autism
Co-parent misalignment that is increasing stress at home
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No.
Many families seek out the Parent Intensive because they see patterns forming or intensifying and want to intervene before things escalate further.
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Weekly parent coaching can be useful, but change is often slow when interaction patterns are deeply ingrained.
The Parent Intensive concentrates support into a short period of time so we can identify the patterns driving stress, design specific responses for high-stakes moments, and help caregivers practice responding differently when it matters most.
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This work focuses on how stressful moments are handled, rather than trying to eliminate stress or emotion altogether.
Parents often report fewer and shorter escalations, greater confidence in how to respond when emotions rise, and improved ability to intervene earlier. Many families experience more predictable daily interactions, less emotional exhaustion, and smoother repair after difficult moments.
Progress looks different for every family, but the goal is to change the patterns that keep stress cycling at home.
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Yes.
A significant portion of my work involves supporting families with neurodivergent children and teens, including ADHD and autism. The Parent Intensive is designed to account for nervous system differences, sensory sensitivities, and executive functioning challenges that often intensify under stress.
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You will leave with a written plan and specific scripts to guide your responses.
A follow-up session is included to review progress and adjust strategies as needed. Some families choose to schedule additional coaching on a limited, case-by-case basis if further support would be helpful.
