This project was born from a deep desire to equip social work teams with additional tools that enhance their practice and offer foster carers a new kind of support—one that is empowering and transformational. Life coaching techniques can complement traditional social work interventions and deliver powerful, lasting outcomes.
Often, social workers find that directive approaches—offering advice, strategies, and professional expertise—only partially resonate with foster carers. Advice may be acknowledged but not fully implemented. This can create an unconscious dynamic of frustration: foster carers may feel stuck or overwhelmed, while social workers feel unvalued, powerless, or ineffective. In critical situations, this breakdown in collaboration can even contribute to placement disruptions.
Integrating life coaching approaches into social work practice changes this dynamic.
When social workers use coaching techniques during supervision and reflective discussions, they lead foster carers into a deeper, more active learning process. This enhances carers’ reflective abilities, strengthens their confidence, helps them take ownership, and often leads to genuine behavioural changes. Over time, foster carers will also naturally adopt elements of the coaching approach in their work with children and young people, strengthening their confidence and increasing the chances of success in their fostering role.
The skilful use of life coaching questioning not only supports foster carers—it also enhances the social worker’s assessment process. Coaching-based discussions help social workers identify both the limitations and the strengths of foster carers, leading to more informed decision-making and more tailored, effective support plans.
Development always begins with awareness. Foster carers need support to recognize the gap between their current beliefs and behaviours and those they need to adopt to achieve the desired outcomes. Just as importantly, they need someone to believe in their potential—because it is only when carers believe in themselves that they can, in turn, instil belief and hope in the children and young people they care for.
We know from experience that when carers see beyond the current limitations and hold and communicate positive, achievable expectations, children are far more likely to thrive.
New behaviours and skills require practice, repetition, and ongoing encouragement. Social workers, too, need opportunities to test, refine, and strengthen their use of coaching techniques in real-world situations. That’s why I use life coaching not just in my direct practice but also in my management role— supporting the social work practice of my team.
Meaningful development doesn’t happen overnight—and without follow-up and accountability, progress often stalls.
I am committed to working alongside you or your team for as long as it takes—providing support, encouragement, and real, practical tools to help you master the life coaching approach in fostering social work.
If you are a fostering manager, a team leader, or a social worker passionate about developing your practice, I would love to hear from you.
A conversation about what you’ve read here—or about where you are in your professional journey—costs nothing.
Let’s connect and explore how we can move your work and your impact to the next level.
📩 Message me at [email protected]
📞 Or call me on 0044 (0) 7990 106 867
Note: The approaches discussed here do not apply to safeguarding situations. In safeguarding cases, the intervention, procedures, and dynamics of discussions are different and must follow statutory guidelines.