Life skills are defined as “A skill that is necessary or desirable for full participation in everyday life.” Many young adults have fallen behind their peers in the development of some of these skill sets because of mental health struggles like depression and anxiety. At Winds of Change Recovery, you will learn and practice these core skill sets: Communication, Executive Needs (organization, time management,) primary needs (food/eating, health, household, safety), and secondary needs (transportation, personal finance, vocation/work.) By engaging in daily programming, you will have the opportunity to practice these skills as well as participation in groups that teach hard skills such as personal finance and job interviewing.
ASSESSMENT BASELINE
Upon admission, you will be assessed for any areas of growth that may be present in relation to life skills. You will then sit down with your therapist and incorporate any areas that you want to work specifically on into your treatment plan.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
We believe that having strong life skills is necessary for a fulfilling and effective life. At the core of these life skills is communication. The ability to make appropriate requests, initiate conversations and appropriately interrupt and politely refuse are the basis for healthy adult interactions.
EXECUTIVE FUNCTION SKILLS
As you are mastering these communication skills, executive functioning tasks will be addressed. Clients will be presented with activities of daily living where they practice tasks such as using a calendar, creating, and prioritizing a checklist, and organizing spaces around them. Executive Functioning Behavior-Related tasks include being able to focus attention on a single task for at least 30 minutes, and the ability to accept disappointment and accept an alternative option. We recognize that many of these life skills are tied to therapeutic issues, which is why we believe in addressing the whole person.
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY NEEDS
Also addressed will be the primary and secondary needs of individuals that include: eating a well-balanced diet, physical activity, following a safety plan, using a chore list, taking medications safely, online safety, setting and achieving SMART goals, reading job descriptions and practicing interviewing, and learning personal finance.
ADVANCED SKILLS
Advanced skills, making time for a hobby, using basic mindfulness, and understanding basic public safety and workplace laws are addressed as needed by each individual client. Without these skills, it is impossible to live a fully functioning life and live life to the fullest.
At Wind of Change Recovery, we understand the difficulties that can arise when you are struggling with life goals. We believe that everyone is worthy of a fulfilling life, and we believe learning life skills and creating healthy habits can transform and help you achieve the life you want.
Young Women who have just graduated from high school or college are often in need of guidance. Perhaps they know what they want to do with their life, but their mental health issues are delaying them from getting there, or maybe they have no idea what they want out of life and need even more help in becoming a successful independent adult. Young women who come to Wind of Change are in need of both knowledge and experience to help them navigate the adult world of work and responsibility, with the accompanying dual diagnosis struggles. They need encouragement and help from someone who has walked the path before them. This is where the coaches at Wind of Change come in. We’re proud to say that we offer individual coaching to each of our Clients. Each of our coaches is prepared to coach young women to success, helping them overcome their mental health issues and other issues holding them back from living the life they want.
Coaching Vs. mentoring
There is a difference between coaching and mentoring that is significant, although coaching and Mentoring are often used interchangeably.
Mentoring is usually long-term, and relationship-based. An example of Mentoring is the practice of apprenticeship. A skilled and experienced master craftsman takes on a young impressionable apprentice and teaches her the ins and outs of the craft. This mentor/apprentice relationship can go on for years as the apprentice gradually learns to master each aspect of the trade, under the guidance and encouragement of the master.
Coaching focuses more on improving performance to higher levels in the short term, which means coaches must emphasize the improvement of a specific skill set, with the aim of improving performance.
While the Wind of Change behavioral health program encompasses aspects of both Mentoring and Coaching for the young adult women who attend, the aim is to improve the life skills of each client to the level of independence. Simultaneously addressing all dual diagnosis. Wind of Change coaches has mastered the skills of independent living, which makes it possible for them to model and teach life skills to struggling young women. Coaches have also mastered the techniques of communicating and teaching those skills to those who are struggling to establish their identity and independence. Our coaches are able to relate to our
clients and form a meaningful relationship that allows the clients to trust their coach and be willing and eager to learn from them.
What Does Coaching at Wind of Change Look Like?
Each client is different; some clients arrive at Wind of Change, ready to learn and willing to make the effort to master independent living skills, while others arrive unwilling to learn, hoping to continue down the path of least resistance. The work that a Wind of Change coach does depends on the needs of the young woman. Clients who insist on wandering down the path of least resistance are given the therapeutic space they need to learn important lessons about choices and consequences. When those clients realize they need to stop wandering and start building living skills, only then can our coaches help them develop those skills. Young Women who come to Wind of Change prepared to change and grow benefit from our life coaching much earlier, but regardless of where you or your loved one is at, with the support of a coach, they can make profound changes.
Young Women who have failed to take on the responsibilities of adulthood may look mature, but they haven’t matured internally. Young Women in this situation are skilled at disguising their immaturity to avoid the difficult and often times emotionally painful task of acquiring the skills of a mature adult. As a result, they avoid performances where performance would expose them to their lack of skills. Coaching is about helping others improve performance; where a client refuses to perform or will not acknowledge a need to improve, a coach cannot be effective.
Counter-intuitively, the first task of a Wind of Change coach is not to teach clients life skills, it’s to help them realize and then openly acknowledge that they need to learn those skills. Only after this realization will the client be motivated to work through the tough task of acquiring real-life skills. Then and only then can the coach effectively teach them the life skills they need.
Regardless of the skill or experience level of the client, a Wind of Change coach is there to coach the client every step of the way… through the good and the bad; through the victories and the challenges. 6-9 months down the road, clients and loved ones are overjoyed at the progress they have made and excited to see them take the next big step toward adulthood outside the safe harbor of Wind of Change. All of this is made possible through the work of the coaches at Wind of Change.
Call any time with questions 307-314-4719
