COACHING & MENTORING
Many of the young adults participating in Brightstone Transitions have previously received extensive therapeutic support, but lack the tools and skills necessary to be
self-sufficient in their daily living. Brightstone uses an
action–oriented approach that creates learning opportunities through real life situations. Our clients move beyond
program–centered activities and, with guidance from mentors, they obtain employment, learn the power of volunteerism, complete educational hurdles, enroll in college or technical school, and learn what is needed to maintain successful independence.
Our team of coaches, provide the encouragement and support needed for young adults to develop the critical
self-confidence needed to propel them towards independence. This includes gaining confidence in their abilities to create and implement personal, social, educational, and vocational goals.
LIFE SKILLS
Our clients at Brightstone learn crucial life skills for independence in two distinct methods: education through coaching and real life experiences supported by their coaches. We provide clients with hands-on experience in necessary life skills such as proactive social skills, money management, executive functioning, time managment and organization. Along with conversation around the importance of healthy life skills, Brightstone also provides clients with opportunities to practice their skills experientially and in in real-time with the support of mentoring staff.
Nutrition:
Nutrition is part of a well-rounded and healthy lifestyle. Our young adults receive support regarding the importance of nutritionally balanced meals and how to plan and prepare for their diet. Instruction is given on how to create weekly meal plans, food budgets, shopping lists for their trip to the super market. Weekly shopping trips provide an opportunity for staff to coach our clients through these skills in real-time and as they prepare for their pre-developed menus.
Budget:
Our young adults also receive instruction and guidance in establishing and living within a budget. All expenses and personal spending are closely monitored by Brightstone coaches. Our young adults are held accountable for all expenses, and are required to provide receipts for their purchases.
Self-Regulation:
Our clients will also learn emotional and behavioral self-regulation strategies. With the support of their team, clients will be given a safe environment to learn how to regulate their reactions to overwhelming stimuli and how they respond to others in those moments.
VOCATIONAL COACHING
Many of our participants have struggled to maintain meaningful employment. The result is often withdrawal or apathy that ultimately leads to inaction. Brightstone uses an action–oriented approach that allows the participant to learn interviewing skills and apply those skills in real world situations. At Brightstone, we believe that employment creates fulfillment, confidence and purpose. We seek to establish a close connection with area employers which allows us to effectively communicate with supervisors, track progress, and address areas of concern.
Brightstone Transitions participants are supported in their search to obtain and maintain employment. When a client first arrives, they participate in community service and/or volunteer at local establishments prior to obtaining employment to identify areas of interests, skills and motivation. Through daily life skills curriculum, young adults learn job procurement skills, resume writing, completing job applications, interviewing skills and proper follow-up. The Brightstone staff and/or vocational coach works with each student individually to find an appropriate job placement that meets his/her needs and interests. Staff will monitor work attendance and performance as needed.
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Brightstone clients have typically received their high school diploma; however if not, they are encouraged to complete high school through a few available options. We also provide academic coaching support to continue their education at a post-secondary level at one of our three options listed below. Participants are encouraged to maintain an academic schedule that will set them up for success, even if this means only taking one or two classes at a time. This is a beneficial and intentional process to encourage time management, study skills, and self-discipline needed to succeed academically at this level.
Brightstone is located in an area ideally suited to offer a variety of academic options for young adults. The University of North Georgia and Brenau University offers a wide variety of classes for young adults seeking a college degree. Lanier Technical College is also conveniently located in North Georgia and offers an array of certificate coursework, vocational classes, trade classes and associate degrees. Tutoring or special accomodations can also be provided to the client based on need.
Learn more below:
Brenau University
University of North Georgia
Lanier Technical College
VOLUNTEERISM
Brightstone mentors use regularly scheduled volunteer activities to help guide and develop the confidence of participants. There has long been a belief that the way to learn more about one’s self is to give of one’s self. Our clients are encouraged to volunteer at organizations vetted by Brightstone or seek other opportunities that are of interests to them with support of their coaches. Whether stocking a local food bank, sorting and organizing donations at non-profit establishments, helping care for animals, or helping build homes through habit projects, we believe that helping others will create a sense of purpose and direction in oneself. The act of helping is a powerful tool to develop self-worth as well as identify job skills when seeking emplloyment.
MEN’S PROGRAM
Each of our clients are empowered to create their own schedule based on individual needs. This allows our young adults to maintain ownership in their daily structure instead of having their schedule dictated for them. For example, a young adult attending college full-time would design their weekly schedule around classes. Their class schedule may only allow minimal time for volunteering and no time for employment. A client who is not in school may work twenty or more hours per week and participate in regular social groups. Every client is different; therefore, schedules are designed to intentionally address the specific needs of the individual.
Brightstone Transitions tailors each of our client’s programs to their individual needs. Each young adult’s program consists of intentional components designed to address presenting strengths as well as areas of growth. These components are organized into an individualized weekly schedule focusing on three main areas for each young adult: social integration, secondary education, and meaningful employment.
Brightstone believes in teaching and educating our young adults. Each client is taught to implement structure into their own lives. We believe in treating young adults with respect and dignity in order to help them move beyond our program into their own autonomy. Our goal is to be the last program our young adults need.
WOMEN’S PROGRAM
There are three platforms in which women at Brightstone can learn the necessary skills for building and maintaining healthy relationships:
Individual therapy: Upon arrival at Brightstone, each young woman is asked to choose a local therapist to work with. The clinical director at Brightstone can help guide this process, but the young woman is encouraged to find the therapist she feels most comfortable with in order to establish a strong therapeutic alignment. She will then be asked to schedule regular therapy sessions throughout her stay at Brightstone.
Mentorship: Brightstone Transitions’ program model is based around the theory of Application through Independence. In addition to our coaching and mentoring model focused on Social, Vocational, Educational, and Life Skills, the women’s program has a heavy relational component. With staff mentorship in a safe environment, the women are empowered to practice healthy relational skills in real time. Staff mentors help them replicate healthy communication skills with their family members during weekly phone calls. They are coached through the process of maintaining positive relationships with their Brightstone peers at home or at social events. They are encouraged to establish new connections with their co-workers and fellow volunteers. Our young ladies have plenty of love and kindness to give, it’s our job to help them see they deserve the same love and kindness in return. We want our young women to obtain the skills necessary for living independently and maintaining healthy relationships with others and with themselves.
Psycho-Educational Groups: The women’s house at Brightstone Transitions offers a weekly psycho-educational group focused on building and maintaining healthy relationships. The intention of this group is to learn healthy relational skills and strategies, practice healthy boundaries, and engage in a safe community environment where they are able to voice their emotions and frustrations surrounding unhealthy, one-sided relationships. Our young women are empowered to advocate for their needs and engage in mutually beneficial relationships. Topics for group include: healthy relationships, communication, emotional intelligence, choices, stress, anxiety, identity (the underlying theme is always self-esteem and happiness)
Brightstone Transition offers women the opportunity to build a greater sense of self-awareness, confidence, and self-love within themselves, and the skills to translate their confidence towards their long-term life and relationship goals.
OUR COMMUNITY - GAINESVILLE
When it comes to location, Gainesville is second to none. Located at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, it is only 50 miles north of Atlanta, and is surrounded on three sides by the picturesque Lake Sidney Lanier. Gainesville is small enough to know your neighbor, yet large enough to offer the services and cultural experiences of a much larger city.
Parent Coaching
The role of the Parent Coach:
• To facilitate empowerment for the parents.
• To reflect on the role of a parent providing direct care within the home versus the support while in a program.
• To help reduce anxiety in the fear of “what if?” scenarios that parents often replay due to past experiences.
• To help the parent to gain new perspective and confidence in the young adult’s abilities they will be discovering.
• To help break old patterns that may have hindered the young adult from seeking their independence.
• To help achieve balance in the dynamics of the relationship with the young adult.
• To help the parent embrace the guidance, instruction and support offered from the team.
• To help identify the shifts in the parental roles of provider to partner.
• To serve as a catalyst for improving communication, deepening connections and enjoying all the relationships within the family.
• To help the parent refocus on other areas of their individual lives that may have been often overlooked due to the level of care having been provided to their young adult.
The coaching also provides valuable tips on how to navigate around areas of change in the dynamics of the relationship with their young adult. These “tips” offered are crucial in allowing the young adult the space they need to become more equipped in all areas that support a life of independence, but also help them manage their feelings around these shifts.
The main goals of parent coaching are to help parents set realistic expectations in the transitional phases, to feel more confident in the positive shifts that will occur in the dynamics of the parent/child relationship as their level of independence is achieved, to offer tools for effective interaction with the team and be a resource of understanding to the challenges of parenting a young adult while in program.
Brightstone recognizes that change can be equally as stressful for the parents as for the young adults. In an effort to best support the entire family, we will provide an opportunity for our parents to participate in scheduled coaching sessions via telephone. During the first few weeks of the young adult’s transition, our parents will be introduced to an independent coach with whom Brightstone contracts. The coach is a supportive resource and assists parents in gaining tools to successfully transition in their various roles from supporting a young adult from dependence to the stage of interdependence and ultimately successful independence.