Peer Coaching Basic Training FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions about
the Peer Coaching Basic Training Program

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Source: Phillip Martin, artist/educator

What are the fees for Peer Coaching?

Zip, zilch, nada! The point of Peer Coaching Basic Training is to teach you the most effective ways to trade coaching with a peer, according to needs and agreements of the relationship you will learn how to set up together.

The TRAINING has a fee attached to cover the costs associated with delivering the training, but once it’s over, you’re done – unless you choose to take additional ADD/EFD skills classes.

There are people who are already Peer Coaching with no training what-so-ever, by the way. In my experience, flying by the seat of your pants is less likely to be successful for either of you, but it’s certainly an option. Obviously, I believe that’s doing it the hard way.

Click HERE for training fees

What will we be learning?

Peer Coaching skills, distinctions & vocabulary

ADD/EFD specific, brain-based coaching skills

Specific ADD/EFD information for a working knowledge of Attentional deficits due to Executive Functioning Struggles in adults

Specific coaching skills for working with & around 9 particular EFD/ADD Challenges most commonly troublesome

Listening & Languaging differences

Practical tools, strategies, and “assistive technology” to help both Peers move forward

Click HERE for Overview & syllabus

What is the time commitment for the course?

2 to 4 Wednesday night classes each month for five months: 90 minutes per session, beginning in September (see syllabus; link above)

Peer coaching practice: at least one hour per week – 30 minutes each (your choice to speak longer or more often)

Homework & Reading: no more than an hour each week for most students, frequently much less

Supplemental activities: readings and activities for your specific challenges, interests and the availability of your time.

Even though these activities are not an essential part of the curriculum, obviously, the more time you can commit to activities designed to support your goals, the faster you will progress — and the sooner you will experience the dividends of professional peer coach training!

What is the class format?

The focus of Peer Coaching Basic Training is on real-life, real-time situations: hands-on coaching practice, supplemental exercises, and class discussion designed to foster student growth through your peer coaching experiences.

It will be necessary that some of our class time must be spent in “content delivery” and explanation. With skills training and information that is more “psychological” than coaching-specific or “neurological,” wherever possible we will use the Socratic Method (question and discussion).

Non-class activities (such as required reading and homework assignments) are designed to provide the background for your participation in classes that are as interactive as your preparation will support: the more time you spend on homework and reading, the less time we spend “lecturing.”

You “come to class” using your phone

Classes take place on the phone on a “TeleBridge,” a type of phone technology which makes it possible for a number of people to call the same number at the same time to be connected to each other (“bridged”).

In addition to the phone number of the bridge, participants are issued a private access code that allows them to join the class each week. Except for the need to dial the “pin” number when prompted, class calls are placed exactly like any other call you place.

Are there charges for this bridge service?

Only the standard telephone charges currently charged by whatever telephone provider you use. The number of the bridge will appear on your personal phone bill as a regular call placed at that time to any number with the same areacode as the bridge.

We won’t pay your phone bill, but this is not “a 900 number” or anything of that sort. We have no type of revenue sharing or discount relationship with the phone or bridge companies — we even pay our own phone bills.

(Compare it to the cost of driving to an “in-person” class, parking your car, the time to get presentable as well as the additional time to get there and back, and you will probably agree with those of us who say, “WELL worth it, and actually cheaper than ‘live and in-person.'”)

Do I need a special phone?

NOPE! Bridge Technology has been around long enough that most phone types are now supported. We do request that you NOT use speaker mode, because that tends to change the sound of the bridge and to “feed back,” and that you don’t call from a cell phone in a windy or noisy environment.

It’s always best, if possible, to have a “regular” phone on a “land line” as back-up for the first few calls, to make sure that whatever you have works with the bridge line, but if you only have ONE choice, don’t worry. It will probably be just fine!

What about a HEADSET?

A headset is not required for the class, but if you don’t already have a one (and can afford it), now is the time to buy it. You will probably want one for your Peer Coaching eventually, and you will be SO much more comfortable and cognitively available without the chronic distraction of holding a phone to your ear while you try to listen and take notes!

If you need to buy one, do NOT go with “blue-tooth” – for now, get the kind that plugs in to your phone. Blue Tooth technology is still iffy on bridges, and some brands are a disaster. Until you have time to investigate what others are using (and NOT using!), play it safe and cheap.

Speaking of price – any brand name will do, but don’t go all the way down to the “no-name” headsets from drugstores or discount stores. Until you know what features you need and want, don’t pay for anything “top-of-the-line” either. If you don’t know “brand-names” – check with a couple of cell providers to see what they recommend as a quality budget headset (ask for price, and keep a list). Then buy anything that seems to be recommended repeatedly at the low end of your budget.

My experience has been that Hello Direct is pricey, but worth it if you spend a great deal of time on the phone — and that Radio Shack is iffy (even when you buy something that someone else adores – quality control doesn’t seem to be consistent).

Long-distance truckers use headphones all the time, by the way, so some of the best inexpensive ones can usually be found at Truck Stops. (You will be happy to have the back-up some day, even if you decide to upgrade down the line.)

Do I need a certain type of computer?

NOPE! In fact it is not necessary to have a computer at all during any of the calls. These are TeleClasses not Webinars.

You will have everything you need for the training as long as you have reliable weekly access to a computer — at work, through a friend or friendly neighbor, at school or at a library, etc. (Either Mac or PC is fine)

You DO have to know how to use a computer, however (unless you have a friend or family member willing to “drive”). We DO send you email with mid-class communications, assignments, weblinks, and/or material in .pdf format.

We do NOT provide computer training or support, nor are we set up to provide alternate forms of communication or content delivery. So if you need that kind of support, you will have to line it up outside of class.

BASIC computer skills are all you need

As long as you know how to read and reply to email (privately or “reply to all”), click to open an attachment, visit this blog and do basic web-browsing, you’ll be fine throughout your training.

Some of you WILL want to spend some time and focus upgrading your skills and technology during the months you spend in training, but that is NOT required (or necessary) for participation.

What does it cost?

Click HERE for a summary of fees and payment plans

Click HERE to Enroll

Source: Phillip Martin, artist/educator

Other Questions?

Ask them in the Comments Section below.
I will update this FAQs Page as new questions become frequent.