Customer Reviews

Parent as Coach: Helping Your Teen Build a Life of Confidence, Courage and Compassion

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I have found the advice in Parent As Coach to be clear, well thought-out, and immediately transferable to my experience coaching teenagers and families. The sheer practicality of the PAC approach places it far above most other books on the topic, and I highly recommend it to parents, older siblings, and anyone who finds themselves in the position of coaching, counseling or teaching teenagers.

This book receives my hardiest endorsement as a practical guide for moving beyond limited thinking about teenagers and on to developing the consciousness that will allow teens to become creative contributors of a caring society.

Diana Haskins has written a useful guide for understanding and applying the concepts of how to coach anyone to the unique challenges faced by growing young adults. She begins this work by acknowledging the importance of creating a strong foundation for the relationship by: deepening the connection between adult and teen; strengthening the relationship through heartfelt, effective communications; and fostering a progressive learning dynamic between both parties by laying the groundwork for mutual respect.

From this perspective of honoring and respecting the wisdom inherent in each teen, Diana presents the keys to effective life coaching and addresses some of the most essential concerns teens and parents face today. She reinforces her message by using the language of coaching as a means to respect and nurture, rather than diminish or abandon, the many talents, gifts and insights every teen possesses, giving them the confidence and courage necessary to developing their own unique, and therefore worthwhile, manifestations as fully expressing human beings.

By sharing the principles of coaching in this book about coaching teens, Ms. Haskins has given everyone interested in understanding the heart of coaching, an easy to read, practical guide for learning and applying coaching skills to every relationship. I look forward to additional work by this author, in part because of her clear, well-conceived style of writing that turns sometimes-clinical theories of parenting into a very straightforward sequence of steps that can be practiced by anyone of any age to improve the quality of their relationships. It is this transference-capacity that makes Parent As Coach such a useful guide for all readers.

Parent As Coach is a book I am happy to recommend to my own clients, professional associates and family. I recommend it to you as well.

Are you looking for some new tools to communicate with your children that make a difference? Then this is the book for you! As a mother of two, I have experienced the benefits of Diana Haskin's wisdom when it comes to connecting with children and approaching them with deep listening, respect, love and clear requests. Parent As Coach is personal, practical and offers sage advice for building a strong foundation with your beloved children, as well as all others near and dear to your heart.

The premise of this book really struck a cord with me. As a teen, I really could have used the active, and positive, support of my parents. When I was a parent of teens, I seemed to have forgotten this. I wonder what the world would be like if all parents and teens read this book. Imagine what would happen if teens really felt respected, listened to, understood, and appreciated. Parent as Coach presents these concepts clearly and concisely, making the book very easy to read and the principles easy to follow. I'd definitely recommend this book.

If you want to be a #1 parent of a teenage adolescent-read this book! By applying the principles contained within this book, you are sure to become a #1 parent in teenagers' eyes. They are timeless techniques that really work! Yes, motivating teenagers to do what they are supposed to do is a challenge every parent must undergo. But books like this one make transfer the burden into a positive experience.

Another point about this book. I love the wonderful, practical examples that Diana gives you throughout the book. You get to see first hand of how others applied these timeless principles and how you can do the same. You will now have the tools to help your teenager go from "teenager" into a "mature young adult"

I think this book should be a mandatory reading for every parent on his or her child's 13th birthday. It's the best manual on how to parent a teenager that I have ever seen. Highly recommended.

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works and founder of EmpoweringMessages.com

This book is a thoughtful and insightful body of wisdom about parents and teens. Diana Haskins provides a blueprint of extraordinary value for parents. Combining professional coaching skills with the love, care and priviledge of parenting, Diana offers tools, guidance and a fresh perspective to the unique relationship that exists between a parent and their teen. As a parent of 2 grown children, I found her messages to be 'right on' with the successful elements of parenting. This book is strong, supportive and positive----I highly recommend it to all parents with children of any age! Sheri Boone, Professional Coach, Portland, Oregon

Yesterday I got the book. It took me a couple of hours to read, and that included the thinking time when I stopped reading to make associations with my past experience.

What the author, Diana Haskins, says makes a lot of sense. It left me thinking, "Wow, it's so simple. How come I never did what she suggests?" She encourages us to tell our teens that we "respect" them and "appreciate" them; "listen" to them so that we can "understand" them; and to ask them how we can "support" them. She stresses that we need to use those words because that is what they really want--to be respected, feel appreciated, to be understood and to have support; AND because it helps US remember that it is our job as parents to do those things so that they can become responsible and independent. Like many professionals who advise parents, she says we need to focus on the teen as an individual person, and not on a particular behavior.

Throughout the book the author describes her clients' cases, and how they used her guidelines to smooth things out with their teens. At the end of the book there is a section of questions parents ask, and one of those has to do with the "bad" things teens get involved in. She says that there are times we need to turn to others/community programs for help, but in the "singular relationship" between a parent and a teen, the parent should aim to have a positive influence by building up, rather than tearing down the teen.

There are exercises she recommends to get us into the habit of following her advice, and blank pages in the book for us to write down our thoughts as we go through them. Doing that would be ideal, but even without it, I feel I can improve the way I communicate with my sons, just beause I read the book and her advice will always be in the back of my mind.

This book coaches, and encourages you to step into a relationship with your teen that is respectful and honoring of each other. The examples are real and relevant, and the question and answer section is very practicle. The author's message that our children are not "broken" is dead on, and its time that we, as adults, take responsibility for deconstructing this myth. Parent As Coach showed me how to break that myth in my own home. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a teen, or pre-teen.

"Parent As Coach" touches and inspires the reader immediately. And even more importantly, it moves you into action. In a friendly, compassionate and easy-to-read manner, Diana Haskins lifts our view of teenagers out of the gutter and into the light. She gives user-friendly advice to shift the way we perceive, work with, raise, teach and simply live with and around teenagers. Teenagers are our future and as this book so eloquently demands, it is our responsiblity to lovingly and respectfully support and assist them to become the independent and confident human beings they are meant to be. I am not a parent but my extensive work with teenagers (in both professional and personal realms) has already been influenced by this book. Diana Haskin's advice and "exercises" have helped me to move through challenging times with numerous teens. I now have tools to truly listen, to respect, to appreciate and to understand what the teens in my life want and how I can tangibly help them. We can not continue to stand by and watch ourselves as a society drift further and further away from the teenagers in our lives. We are all aware of the angst and division that currently exists between adults and teens. As adults, we CAN lend a hand and help to usher in a generation that will stand tall and proud with "confidence, courage and compassion". Diana Haskin's book is reaffirming, supportive, open and completely inspiring. Parents, teachers, any adult who cares about teenagers, this is our call to make a difference and our call to allow teenagers the space to make their own positive, inspiring difference. If you are committed to your family, to teens, to our future on this planet, "Parent As Coach" is a 'Must Read' which will change our lives for the better one incredible teen at a time.

Raising teens is such a challenge! Diana Haskins book helps parents see their role as parents change from being a manager of a "child" to a coach of an "almost" adult. What a perspective! Her ideas are down to earth and doable for everyday parents--not a lot of jargon. Simple interactive techniques improve communication as parents spend the last few years of a child's "at home" life getting them ready for being on their own. Parents will be better people themselves as a result of practicing her ideas.