What Is Emotion Coaching?
Emotion coaching is helping children understand the different emotions they experience, why they occur, and how to handle them. In the simplest terms, you can coach your children about emotions by comforting them, listening and understanding their thoughts and feelings, and helping them understand themselves. As you do this, your children will feel loved, supported, respected, and valued. With this emotionally supportive foundation, you will be much more successful at setting limits and problem solving. While the Family Proclamation does not refer to emotion coaching, it does counsel that “parents have a sacred duty to … teach (their children) to love and serve one another” (ΒΆ 6). Emotion coaching helps children gain skills that will help them love and serve, including becoming comfortable with their own feelings and learning to express their emotions in constructive ways.
