I recently finished a graduate level coaching course on group coaching which has inspired me to start my own group coaching for high school student with ADHD. The concept is to give high school students a safe, non-judgmental place to talk openly about their struggles with ADHD while helping them learn their strengths, the right strategies to avoid struggles or to use when they find them floundering and learn about their diagnoses and where they see it show up in their own life. I use an awareness-action-accomplishment model to help all of my clients.
Group coach should work much like individual coaching. Good coaches do not give their clients answers but help them to undercover the right answers of themselves. As a coach, I believe my clients are naturally creative resourceful and whole meaning that I don’t need to be the expert. For many of student clients, I am the only person in their life who is treating them like an equal. My clients and I partner to find the right solutions for them. In a group setting, the members of the group would partner to create a formed group.Formed groups benefit by being: centered outward, interacting with others, questioning and sharing, moving quickly into coaching, co-creating a group agenda and have a shared focus (the focus changes for I/me to we/us).
Group coaching can be powerful. Here is a list of potential benefits for members who participate in the coaching group:
- Learn to take ownership of the group, themselves- Members could take ownership of parts of the group by participating in deciding the topics discuss that would be more meaningful to them, holding each other accountable to the group norms and holding their accountability partners accountable, as well as caring about everyone’s success in the group. In addition, they could each also take ownership of their own self-care, accountability to their partner, accountability to the group and to themselves as well as becoming aware of what does and doesn’t work for them when trying to move into action.
- Learn they are not alone in their struggles with ADHD – We aren’t alone in our struggles. There is support.
- Learn to self-evaluate – Learning how to self-evaluate so that they will be able to tell what in their life is working, what isn’t working and how to use or tweak what does work to support what isn’t working.
- Learn to move from awareness to action – This is a place where many people with ADHD get stuck. Group members should come out of group coaching with “tools” for their toolbox that they can rely on in the future.
- Learn to celebrate their completions – Many people with ADHD don’t pause to celebrate their completions. My hope is that they learn to do that from the group. Not only theirs, be recognizing and celebrating other members completions as well.
- Gain a support network – Potentially they would have a whole group of people to support them.
- Education about ADHD – Many clients know their diagnosis but have no clue as to what is really means.
If you are interested in my group coaching click here.
