Services
Parent coaching
You know your child better than anyone. If evenings are hard, or you leave school meetings unsure what to try at home, trust your instincts. You are not overreacting.
Parent coaching is support for you when your child is struggling emotionally or when challenging behavior has started to run the day. We work out what is driving it, what to try at home, and how to respond in the moments that keep going wrong. The aim is a plan you can actually use, and a little more room to breathe.
What this is
Parent coaching is work with you.
We sit with what is happening at home and at school, and we help you choose next steps you can carry. It is practical and containing. It is not a script, and it is not a promise that your child will change on a timeline.
Coaching here is built around children who are having a hard time: meltdowns, shutdowns, defiance, big feelings after school, and behavior that seems to come out of nowhere. Behavior is communication. We help you work out what it is communicating, respond in ways that lower the temperature instead of raising it, and decide what to try next.
How this differs from counseling and special education consultation.
Counseling is work with your child. Special education consultation is the school side: IEPs, Section 504 plans, and what an evaluation means. Parent coaching is work with you, the parent, on what happens at home, so you are not inventing every next step alone.
Who it's for
For parents who already feel the strain.
Parent coaching is for parents of children and adolescents who are struggling emotionally, or whose behavior has become hard to manage. Evenings that end in a meltdown. Defiance that escalates no matter how you respond. A child who holds it together all day and falls apart at home. You are doing your best and still unsure what would actually help.
It often fits alongside concerns about anxiety, ADHD, or autism, when what you need right now is support in your role as the parent. If you still need a fuller picture of what is going on, start with evaluations rather than asking coaching to stand in for testing.
You do not need the perfect words to begin. If you are in immediate danger, skip this page and use the crisis line at the bottom.
What to expect
Four steps, at your pace.
- 1
Tell us what's happening.
Use contact. Share what you are comfortable sharing. Do not send records, diagnoses, or detailed school files through a public form.
- 2
We talk it through.
The first conversation is a consultation: whether parent coaching fits, what you are hoping for, and whether another Crescent service is a better first step. Fees are discussed there.
- 3
Coaching sessions with you.
If we go forward, we meet with you, the parent. We look at what is actually happening at home and at school, and we work out what to try. Your child's voice and strengths stay in the room.
- 4
For a season, not forever.
Crescent's job is temporary scaffolding. We carry part of the load so you can take it back. How long that lasts is something we set together. We do not lock you into a program, and we do not promise a particular outcome.
Our approach
Warmth and competence belong in the same conversation.
You should leave a session with a firmer next step, not a longer list of terms.
We start from the child you know, and from your instincts about them. Then we add what we understand about school systems, because we have been on both sides of the table. Strategy matters. So does how it feels to be the parent in the hallway after a hard meeting.
We will not rubber-stamp a story that does not fit. We will not tell you that you are overreacting. Partnership, here, means we think with you, and we stay in range of what you can actually do this week.
Who you'll work with
Who you’ll work with.
Crescent is led by Marcia Lynn Miller, Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP #3015), Nationally Certified School Psychologist. You’ll work directly with the person coaching you.
Read more on About.
Logistics
By appointment
Coaching is by appointment, serving California's Central Valley and Central Coast. In person in Fresno, Madera, Merced, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties. Virtual throughout California. We do not publish a street address.
How we meet, and how often, is confirmed when we talk. We do not list session length on this page.
Parent coaching is not emergency care. This site is not monitored overnight.
Fees & insurance
Discussed at consultation
Fees are discussed at consultation.
For the practice-wide money explanation, see Fees & Insurance. A Good Faith Estimate notice lives sitewide in the footer.
Common questions
Asked before, answered plainly.
Is parent coaching the same as counseling?
No. Counseling is work with your child. Parent coaching is work with you. Many families use both, and the free consultation is where we sort which fits first.
Do you coach children?
Coaching is for parents. Direct work with your child is counseling, which has its own page.
Is this therapy? Will you diagnose my child?
No. Parent coaching is support for you as the parent, not treatment for your child, and it does not diagnose. If your child would benefit from counseling or an evaluation, we will say so and point you to the right service.
How much does parent coaching cost?
Fees are discussed at consultation. See Fees & Insurance for the practice-wide explanation.
What should I prepare?
Come with what is on your mind: what a typical day looks like, what school is reporting, and what you have already tried. You do not need a binder. Please do not upload records or sensitive details through the public contact form.
Related pages
- Services: all services
- Counseling: support for your child
- Special education consultation: help with the school side
- Evaluations: when you need a fuller picture first
- About: the practice
- Contact
- ADHD, anxiety, and autism: related concerns, not substitutes for this page
Start with a conversation
Restore your peace.
You do not have to carry this by yourself.
Tell us what’s happening, and let’s figure it out together.
Prefer to talk? Call or text (559) 287‑8351.
Marcia Lynn Miller, LEP #3015 · Independent practice
See all services