Parenting is an ongoing learning experience. Parents try to do their best and at times we as parents feel that we have no more tools in the toolbox and we are lost at what to do next. Dr. Gottman did some research on parenting and he identified a parenting style he calls emotion coaching. Emotion coaching has five steps for a parent to coach a child through their emotions and how to handle them. The five steps are:
1. Be aware of your child’s emotion
2. Recognize your child’s expression of emotion as a perfect moment for teaching
3. Listen with empathy and validate your child’s feelings
4. Help your child learn to label their emotions with words
5. Set limits when you are helping your child to solve problems or deal with upsetting situations appropriately.
If a parent can use this emotion coaching tool, they will
teach their children how to identify and cope with their own feelings, improve
self-confidence of the child and the child performs better is social and academic
situations, according to the research that Dr. Gottman has completed. Below is a diagram showing the emotion
coaching steps.
