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Shepherd's Heart Counseling
Our Services

Behavioral Coaching in Siler City, NC

Targeted, non-clinical coaching for a specific behavior and a specific goal. Short course, measurable, and clearly not treatment for a mental-health condition.

A coach and client reviewing a written weekly plan together at a wooden desk.

One behavior, one goal, a plan you can run.

Behavioral coaching is the narrowest, most tactical service on this list. You bring a specific behavior — homework avoidance, screen use after 9pm, morning routine collapse, a chronically missed medication, a specific classroom problem — and we build a plan around it. We define the behavior in plain terms so we can tell whether it's changing, identify what's currently reinforcing it, and design a response you (or your child, or you-and-your-child together) can execute this week. Sessions are shorter-arc and more directive than therapy.

This is not therapy. Say it out loud.

Behavioral coaching is not treatment for a mental-health condition. It does not diagnose anxiety, depression, ADHD, or anything else. It does not produce a clinical record of the client as a patient in the way therapy does. If a diagnosis is what's actually needed, or if the behavior is being driven by depression, trauma, an eating disorder, active suicidality, or substance use, coaching is the wrong tool and we'll say so and route you to the right one — usually individual therapy or trauma work here, or a referral out for testing and medication management.

What a session actually looks like.

Fifty minutes. Quick check-in on the last week — what happened, what didn't, where the plan held and where it broke. The middle of the session is problem-solving: refine the plan, adjust the trigger, change the script, pick a smaller unit if the last one was too big. The last few minutes are the assignment for the week ahead, written down before you leave. Between-session accountability matters more here than in most services on this list; you and the clinician agree at intake how much of that you want (a text mid-week, nothing, a shared checklist).

Who this fits.

Adults who need structure and follow-through — ADHD-related habit work, procrastination, sleep hygiene, phone use, exercise consistency, morning and evening routines, medication adherence. Teens working on school engagement, screens, chores, or a specific privilege-and-responsibility contract. Children age 10 and up on focused targets like homework routines or bedtime, usually with a parent in the room. Parents who want a short structured intervention for a specific household behavior rather than open-ended coaching.

Who should be in counseling instead.

If the behavior you want to change is really a symptom — sleep that won't fix because anxiety runs the nights, procrastination that won't fix because a depressive episode is underneath, chronic outbursts that are actually a trauma response, an eating pattern with body-image content, a habit that's really a compulsion — behavioral coaching will not touch the root and you'll spend money changing nothing. In those cases the right service is individual therapy, PTSD & trauma counseling, or a referral out. We'd rather tell you that at intake than after six coaching sessions.

Length, cost, and how to start.

Most behavioral-coaching engagements run four to eight sessions, weekly or every other week, sometimes with a follow-up check-in a month later. Fees are $195 for the intake — where we scope the target behavior and confirm coaching is the right format — and $155 per session after. Because coaching by design doesn't require a diagnosis, some clients pay privately for it. In-network Aetna and BCBS-NC coverage may apply when a diagnosis is clinically appropriate; we'll walk through that at intake.

Many families combine this work with parent coaching or parent counseling. If you're not sure where to begin, reach out for a free consultation and we'll figure out the right starting point together.

FAQ

Common questions.

Is this therapy?

No. Behavioral coaching is a non-clinical, action-oriented format for changing a specific behavior. It doesn't diagnose or treat a mental-health condition, and if that's what's actually needed we'll refer you to therapy instead.

How is this different from parent coaching?

Parent coaching is about you leading the household — routines, expectations, how you respond as the parent. Behavioral coaching targets one specific behavior in one specific person (often the child or teen, sometimes an adult) with a measurable goal.

How long does it usually take?

Most engagements run four to eight sessions. Some clients wrap in three; others come back for a tune-up a few months later. It's built to be short-arc on purpose.

What if we discover the behavior is really a symptom of something else?

That happens, and we'll name it when we see it. If depression, trauma, an eating disorder, active suicidality, or a compulsion is driving what looked like a habit, we'll pause coaching and either transition you into therapy here or refer you out.

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