Why coaching, not just tutoring on content?

Coaching for Success

Achieving success demands more than just expertise in a subject.

The challenges of the future will necessitate adaptability, decisiveness, empathy, and the ability to embrace continuous change.

Elements of self-esteem are associated with improved results in education, career, and overall life fulfillment.

The optimal period to cultivate these skills is during early adolescence.

By integrating executive functioning and mental wellness coaching with academic training, we can foster happier, sucessful adults for the future.

About Me.

With decades of leadership in children’s mental health, education, and corporate/non-profit learning & development, I specialize in creating evidence-based learning experiences that inspire growth and lasting change. My work spans from engaging K–12 students in the classroom to guiding corporate and non-profit leadership teams through transformative learning initiatives.

My experience includes:

Teaching in public and charter schools
Tutoring in reading, math, and science
Providing individual, family, and group therapy
Conducting psychological assessments (IQ and projective testing)
Designing curricula for all ages in social skills, leadership, and peer support
Leading systems change by aligning policies for youth involved in multiple systems
Conducting needs assessments and measuring outcomes

I use the Socratic method to help learners of all ages build confidence and develop powerful thinking skills—organizing and storing information, recalling details, and connecting broader concepts. By cultivating abilities like reframing, positive self-talk, and visualization, I equip learners with tools they can use to navigate challenges and achieve success in both personal and professional arenas.

The Edge Approach

Building the skills of the future today.

Confidence

A youth’s belief in their skills and performance ability in specific domains (academic, social, athletic).

Building the skill: Provide small-step mastery experiences, clear performance feedback, and explicit skill mapping (skill → practice → evidence)

Resilience

The capacity to recover from setbacks and adapt to stressors.

Building the skill: Integrate cognitive coping strategies (CBT-informed), stress-management practice, and rehearsal of adaptive responses to normal setbacks.

Empathy

The ability to understand and respond to others’ emotions and perspectives.

Building the skill: Work on brief perspective-taking tasks, role plays, and reflection prompts. Pair empathy practice with actionable social skills so empathic insight translates to prosocial behavior.

Self-efficacy

The belief that one can perform actions required to produce desired outcomes in specific domains.

Building the skill: Practice goal scaffolding, peer or near-peer modeling, and attributional retraining (link success to strategy and effort) to bolster task-specific self-efficacy.

Self-compassion

Treating oneself with kindness, recognizing shared humanity, and maintaining mindful awareness of negative self-evaluation.

Building the skill: Practice brief self-compassion exercises (self-soothing scripts, reframe criticism as a common human experience), especially when working with high-achieving youth prone to self-criticism.

Grit

The ability to persevere through challenges to achieve the goal.

Building the skill: Identify success in spite of challenges, predict future challenges and plan for them. Reframe and contextualize unpleasant tasks, find a strategy to mark progress and celebrate milestones.