Youth Coaching Expert Insights

Evaluating coaching competency is some of the most important work in our profession. It determines who earns their credentials and whether coaches are genuinely equipped to serve the clients who count on them. When you are dedicated to fostering youth resilience and empowering adolescents, you want to know that your skills meet the highest standards. Historically, navigating the credentialing process has been complex. Rubrics often require significant interpretation, and waiting

There’s a moment many new coaches describe, somewhere between completing their training and stepping fully into their practice, where something feels unsettled. You know the skills. You’ve done the coursework. But something about fully owning the identity of “coach” hasn’t quite clicked yet. If that resonates with you, here’s something worth knowing: that unsettled feeling isn’t a warning sign. It’s actually evidence that your professional identity is forming exactly as

Stress has a reputation problem. Most people treat it as something to eliminate entirely, a sign that something has gone wrong. But decades of research in performance psychology tell a different story. The right kind of stress, applied at the right level, is one of the most powerful drivers of human growth available to us. According to Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquist (2025), a leading researcher on the science of “good

When a student fails a test, the way they explain that failure matters more than the grade itself. If they think “I’m just not smart enough,” they’re likely to disengage and avoid future challenges. But if they think “I should have asked for help” or “I need a better study strategy,” they’re positioned to learn, adapt, and grow. This shift in thinking is at the heart of attribution retraining, a

As adolescent well-being coaches, we witness firsthand the profound challenges young people face during major life transitions—starting high school, heading to college, entering the workforce, or stepping into independent adulthood. These pivotal moments aren’t just logistical shifts; they’re “identity earthquakes” that shake the very foundation of who our clients believe themselves to be. The good news? Recent research spanning 2021-2026 has identified five evidence-based protective factors that consistently buffer young