Emotion Coaching

In our schools we use the Emotion Coaching approach to nurture and support children's behaviour, emotional mental health and well-being. It is based on the principle that nurturing and emotionally supportive relationships provide children with optimal contexts for the promotion of the best possible outcomes, achievements and resilience.

What is Emotion Coaching?

Emotion Coaching uses moments of heightened emotion and resulting behaviour to guide and teach the child and young person about more effective responses. Through empathetic engagement, the child's emotional state is verbally acknowledged and validated, promoting a sense of security and feeling 'felt'. This activates changes in the child's neurological system and allows the child to calm down, physiologically and psychologically.

It is an extremely supportive way of helping children to deal with 'big feelings' by co-regulating with them and teaching them how to self-regulate and deal with 'big feelings' in the future.

Emotion coaching is all about:

• Teaching the child ‘in the moment’ about the world of emotion
• Supporting the development of strategies to deal with emotional ups and downs
• Accepting all emotions as normal and valid
• Using moments of both negative and positive behaviour as opportunities for teaching and reflecting
• Building trusting and respectful relationships

For more information watch the video below and please don't hesitate to speak to a member of teaching staff.

This 30 minute webinar about Emotion Coaching describes, why we need Emotion Coaching, what it is (and what it is not) and how to do it. 

Here is a lovely (short) video from the Centre of Early Childhood which tells us more about how children manage their emotions:

Both our Nurture and Relationships for supporting behaviour and Key Person policies support and embrace emotion coaching.