Coaching Guide

Each week has a complete script. Read it out loud ~ it is designed to sound like a real conversation, not a textbook. Check-in prompts, psychoeducation, worksheet introductions, Compassionate Inquiry exercises: it is all there. You do not need to memorize anything. Just sit down together and read.

Every week has a worksheet your loved one fills out between sessions. They are fillable right here in the app ~ no printer required, though you can print them if that works better. Completed worksheets save automatically, so you can pull them up in future sessions and track patterns over time.

Twenty-one exercises organized by what your loved one is experiencing right now. Activated and anxious? There is a category for that. Shut down and unreachable? There is one for that too. Grounding, self-soothing, emergency tools ~ each with step-by-step instructions. The "Match State to Practice" guide tells you exactly which exercise to reach for. Grounded in polyvagal theory (Porges) and Somatic Experiencing (Levine).

An optional audio layer that plays bilateral stimulation tones through stereo headphones ~ during regulation exercises, quiet moments, or whenever it helps. Four presets (calming, deep relaxation, sleep, gentle focus), adjustable volume, and ambient background sounds (rain, ocean, forest). Requires stereo headphones. This is NOT therapy. It is a relaxation aid.

You record guided imagery scripts in your own voice while BLS tones play underneath. A teleprompter walks you through each section ~ what to say, when to pause, when to breathe ~ so you never lose your place. When you are done, export it as an MP3 your loved one can listen to between sessions. Scripts included: The Container, Comfortable Place, Care and Nurture, and Repairenting. All from *101 Trauma-Informed Interventions* by Linda Curran.

Based on Gabor Maté's Compassionate Inquiry model. Every weekly session includes a CI exercise ~ a reflective question or prompt that helps both of you look underneath the symptoms at the stories, beliefs, and adaptations driving them. The dedicated CI page collects all exercises in one place for review and deeper practice.

Visual indicators showing where you are in the 12-week program. Module completion, worksheet status, checklist items ~ tracked automatically. You can export a progress summary to share with your loved one's treatment team, which is useful for keeping everyone on the same page.

A structured crisis plan you fill out together during your first session. Emergency contacts, warning signs, coping strategies, a step-by-step action plan. This is the single most important tool in the manual. Fill it out before you start Week 1. Print two copies ~ one for each of you.

Supporting someone with a mental health condition is hard, sustained work. This tool helps you honestly assess your own well-being ~ physical, emotional, social, spiritual ~ and identify where you are running on fumes. If you burn out, the whole program stalls. Take this seriously.

Your field manual. Quick-reference tools, communication scripts, de-escalation strategies ~ the things you reach for in the moment when you need a specific phrase, a grounding technique, or a reminder of what to do and what not to do.

The questions supporters actually ask: What if they refuse to participate? What if I say the wrong thing? When do I call 911? Organized by topic so you can find what you need without scrolling through everything else.

The entire 12-week program ~ scripts, worksheets, appendices, regulation exercises ~ as a downloadable PDF. Print the whole thing or just the pages you need for a given session. Formatted for standard letter paper with generous margins for notes.