Young adults need a lot of guidance to thrive. After all, they’re dealing with school challenges, puberty, and a whole host of other struggles that make adolescence a trying, tough time no matter who you are! Life coaches can provide invaluable assistance to young adults and teenagers.

If this sounds like a niche you want to focus on, read on. We’ll explore the importance of life coaching for teenagers and some of the services you’ll provide to your young clients.

Challenges Facing Young Adults

Young adults face myriad challenges in today’s world. School is tougher and more competitive than ever, and many teenagers feel lots of pressure to get into a good school – otherwise, they fear, they’ll be set up for failure in adulthood. Personal relationships can also be fraught with complexity, and many teenagers have less than stellar relationships with their parents or guardians.

On top of that, many young adults face specific, unique challenges like mental health issues or learning disabilities. For instance, you might work with young adults like these hypothetical clients:

• One teenager struggles with anxiety and depression. However, their parents don’t believe that mental health issues are real, causing them to feel even worse. You as a life coach may need to provide guidance and ways to cope
• Another young adult can’t decide which college to attend. They need to make a decision soon, but they fear making the wrong decision will ruin their life going forward. You can teach that young adult how to prioritize certain things in their professional ambitions and choose the right school for their needs
• A different teenager might come to you needing help managing stress and relationships with family members. You can teach them positive coping habits and ensure that the teenager doesn’t take up negative habits, like smoking or doing drugs, in order to handle that stress

In these ways and more, you’ll provide real value to your young adult clients at a time when they need as much support as they can get.

Identifying Goals and Values

Many life coaches who work with young adults also help teenagers to identify goals and values. Paradoxically, we as a society expect teenagers to know exactly what they want to do with their lives when they haven’t had a chance to experiment or try much out. It’s no wonder many teenagers feel a lot of anxiety when college application season rolls around!

To that end, life coaches like you might empower the next generation by:

• Helping young adults determine what their personal and professional goals are. Many teenagers may never have asked themselves this question honestly, so they might be surprised by what they want to do as adults
• Helping teenagers align their goals with their values and passions
• Assisting young adults in developing action plans so they can achieve those goals

Say you work with a teenager who wants to become a musician. Their passion has always been music. But they don’t know how to get there! You can develop a step-by-step progress plan for that young adult so they feel confident and in control of their destiny.

Building Resilience and Coping Skills

Part of being an adult is learning how to handle the challenges that life throws at you. Many teenagers don’t have those skills inherently, so it will be up to you as a life coach to help them build resilience and coping skills.

For instance, you might help one teenager develop emotional intelligence and learn self-awareness. You can help them identify negative thought patterns or behaviors they do, particularly if they’ve been having trouble in school.

For another young adult, you might leverage some of your stress management techniques. You can teach that teenager:

• Mindfulness meditation
• Yoga
• Reading exercises
• And more

All of those efforts will do wonders to help your teenage clients feel more confident and be more durable against the struggles they will inevitably face.

Enhancing Communication and Social Skills

If you become a life coach specializing in young adult clients, you’ll spend a lot of time helping your clients with communication and social skills. Teenagers often feel awkward and have difficulty relating to others.

But you can help them by:

• Teaching them conflict resolution skills, like speaking honestly and openly without being aggressive
• Helping them navigate different social situations
• Assisting teenagers with basic communication skills, like making eye contact and speaking clearly
• Showing young adults the value of networking in a personal and professional context
• And more

You should have a lot of empathy for the young adults who come into your office with these problems. If possible, draw on your own experiences to imagine what it’s like for your new clients and help them as effectively as possible.

Career Planning and Decision-Making

Teenagers are always worried about their careers and what they’ll do after high school. You can assist these young adults by helping them to explore different career options and educational pathways.

For instance, a young adult might walk into your office and not know what to do after high school. They might generally want to go to college, but not know what for. You can provide invaluable assistance by:

• Helping that young adult choose the right college
• Explaining to the teenager that they have many different educational pathways and futures to choose from, and they don’t need to worry about making the wrong choice
• Developing your client’s problem-solving and decision-making skills – for instance, you might create a decision tree and help your client pick the best school or career path based on what they do or don’t want
• And so on

Conclusion

Ultimately, life coaching has the potential to provide positive, long-lasting benefits to young adults in the personal and professional spheres. For instance, you might help a teenager develop more self-confidence, or help another young adult apply successfully to the college of their dreams.