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Our Mission and Vision

Who We Are

We’re a community of social change agents who experienced our share of struggles as adolescents. We managed to overcome, learn to thrive, and establish lives we can be proud of. Now, we’re committed to reaching back and supporting the next generation of young people who’ve yet to see the light on the other side of their struggle. We make a difference through evidence-based coaching grounded in behavioral science. 

Mission, Purpose, and Goals

Our mission is two-fold. First, to combat distress and overwhelm with resilience building and empowerment by increasing access to evidence-based coaching for youth. Second, to train caring adults and youth serving professionals to do the same by increasing access to rigorous, research-based coach education and credentialing at accessible rates for social servants.

Our goal is to help fill a support gap for struggling young people, one coach at a time. Our vision is that every teen and emerging adult may have access to a qualified life coach when they need one. 

Knowledgebase

The unique needs of our audience require developmentally appropriate and research-informed practice. To this end, our services integrate relevant psychology theories and evidence-based models adapted for application in a coaching context. Our content is continuously updated to ensure our services are informed by the most current research.

The adolescent stage of development includes the greatest biopsychosocial changes we undergo in life – rapid and significant physical changes (puberty, hormones), rapid social brain development (social cognition, identity development), relationships (distancing from parents and family toward friends and romantic partners), and societal expectations (school, work, law, community). As such, adolescence is a natural period of struggle on the way to independent adulthood. As of 2022, teens and emerging adults have reported the highest perceived stress levels, in comparison to other age groups, for over a decade. The gap between Gen Z’s experience of stress when compared to all adults is greater now than any prior generation. We have been applying evidence-based coaching to empower teens and emerging adults to thrive through resilience building since 2012. Our work is more important now than ever. 

We view all people as inherently resourced and capable. Our work is grounded in promoting coachees developing their own voice, capacity to choose well for themselves, and trust in themselves.

Competence and Capacity

A coach’s ability to hold safe and supportive space for others depends on the coach’s openness, willingness, and commitment to remain diligent and engaged in their own wellness, learning, and growth. Coaches strive to remain continuously engaged in personal and professional development while attending to their own self-care.

Psychological Safety

Coaches create the social conditions conducive to the coachee’s ability to be authentic and vulnerable for the sake of learning and growth. Coaches strive to develop their capacity to self-manage to remain in their coaching presence (e.g., mindfully engaged, non-judgmental, honoring the coachee as the expert in their own life, holding coachees in unconditional positive regard, etc.) throughout coaching engagements.

Integrity

A coach’s trustworthiness, dependability, responsibility, and consistency are vital to the work we do in the world. Coaches strive to uphold high ethical and professional standards to promote effective coaching interactions and positive coaching experiences.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We believe our differences can be our greatest strengths if only we seek to understand and incorporate our varied experiences, perspectives, and ideas into our collective learning and growth. We are committed to making evidence-based coaching and rigorous coach education and training more accessible to all who can benefit from the work. We strive to promote a sense of belonging and value for all who come through our programs.

Non-Discrimination Policy

Youth Coaching Institute, LLC does not exclude, deny benefits to, or otherwise discriminate against any person on the basis of race, age, religion, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, or veteran status in admission to, participation in, or receipt of the services and benefits under any of its programs and activities, whether carried out by Youth Coaching Institute, LLC directly or through a contractor or any other entity with which Youth Coaching Institute, LLC arranges to carry out its programs and activities.

Participants who wish to report discrimination are encouraged to follow the grievance policy outlined in your training or other services agreement. Youth Coaching Institute, LLC will promptly investigate all claims and reports of inappropriate conduct.

What is Life Coaching?

Coaching is a non-directive, person-centered, growth-oriented support service to help functional clients achieve meaningful goals. Coaching promotes self-concordance, pursuing goals aligned with personal values and interests. The coaching relationship serves as a structural support that offers three factors vital to promoting positive outcomes for youth: a one-on-one relationship with a caring adult, competency building, and time intensity.

The coaching approach emphasizes autonomy, voice, and choice.

Clients come to coaching with an interest in self-improvement or measurable progress. Through coaching, clients find insight and direction to identify practical means to reach their goals. The coach guides and supports the client’s planned, intentional, and purposeful action toward achievement from a place of openness, acceptance, and non-judgment.

Coaching clients are ready and willing to do the work inherent in the coaching process. They are committed to maximizing their internal and external resources to achieve the outcomes they seek.

Why Coaching Works So Well With Teens & Emerging Adults

Adolescents are in a sensitive stage of development. Their social cognition is developing rapidly, which means they’re much more sensitive to others’ judgments about them. They’re more self-conscious as they’re developing their identity and trying to decide where they fit in. They’re dealing with heightened emotions and sensitivity with hormone surges related to biological changes that are still very new for them. They’re wired to be more impulsive and engage in more risk-taking as they’re developing a willingness to separate from their family and create their own way.

A non-judgmental approach is healthy for all humans, but needed so much more in this developmentally vulnerable stage. The non-judgmental ear can make the difference between if they reach out for help when they’re struggling or get the support and guidance they really need as they navigate toward healthy independence. The non-directive approach is a way to respect their need to develop their own voice, choice, and self-confidence.

Why Evidence-based Matters

Studies show adolescent interventions including personal and social skill-building practices developed from a strong research base significantly enhance self-perceptions, school engagement, positive social behaviors, grades, and reduced problem behaviors while those lacking a research base show minimal effects.

Our Youth Life Coaching Programs Emphasize

  • self- and others-awareness;

  • self-efficacy;

  • self-determination;

  • meaning, purpose, and goal-orientation;

  • proactive skill building;

  • flexibility, tolerance, and collaborative problem-solving.

Our Youth Life Coach Training Programs Emphasize

  • research-informed practice,

  • trauma-informed practice,

  • cultural awareness and sensitivity,

  • and social responsibility.

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