Coaching to Build Parent Competency in Addressing Early Challenging Behaviors

The purpose of this article is to discuss how a parent coaching framework with the support of several critical components can be applied to build parent competency as a way to address children's challenging behaviors. Collaborative parent-professional partnerships are the underlying theme embedded in the three-cyclical coaching components. Shared goals and action plans inform focused observations, coaching practices with the parents, and functional-assessment-based interventions (FABIs) with the child. Focused observation emphasizes the physical location and learning process of parent coaching. Reviewing and updating goals and action plans allows for (a) evaluating coaching practices based on partnerships with parents, (b) celebrating successes, (c) providing opportunities for refinements, and (d) building family competence to address emerging needs and challenges. With coaching, parents and service providers can partner to effectively support young children's appropriate behaviors, decrease or eliminate challenging behaviors, and improve family quality of life.