A coaching manual for parents has been created by a Warrington theta healer

Mar 29 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

A healer who understands the therapeutic benefits of purring cats and tuning into divine energy has co-written a coaching manual for parents. David Charters reports

THE relationship between the child and parent is the most precious on Earth. This is true of almost every species, but in the human it touches all our emotions and becomes the basis on which society is built.

Yet there is profound concern among teachers, clergymen, the police, politicians, social workers and many others that something is eroding this sacred bond.

Of course, millions of boys and girls are still being brought up in a happy way – warned of the dangers and challenges ahead, as they are guided and encouraged into adulthood by loving mothers and fathers.

But you only have to glimpse the streets at night, the hoodies, the soulless modern estates, the parks or the school yards to see that many children are not being given a fair chance in life.

TV and newspapers are full of stories about feral yobs terrorising their neighbourhoods without a parent in sight. Even in ostensibly secure homes, lonely children are left for hours to play on their computers, denied normal family or social exchanges.

The modern world, with all its pressures, anxieties and demands, makes bringing up children hard. Some parents might benefit from coaching.

Into the fray enters Jack Stewart, of Warrington, who is by calling a “theta healer”. On hearing these words, the chap, whose teeth are about to break the crust of a pork pie, senses a nervous twitching in his nose. We are not dealing here with an every- day lancer of boils, but someone who can tune into our brainwaves.

And then we recall that Jack was the co-producer of a CD called Purrfect Harmony, in which 13 cool cats joined in synthesised melodies. Jack and his pal, Jeff Moran, of Bebington, believed that the natural purring of moggies could be relaxing and possibly therapeutic. Sadly, it didn’t tickle even the lower reaches of the charts.

But now Jack, with another business partner, David Miskimin, a Cheshire father-of-two, billed as “a consultant and corporate executive coach”, has written a manual called The Coaching Parent. There is also a CD-ROM of the same title.

The idea is that the coaching techniques used in specialist fields, such as music or sport, could be applied more widely to raising children.

Although some may find its methods rather obvious and similar in style to those courses used by companies to improve management/staff/customer relations, others may find it a stimulating approach to an increasingly difficult subject.

After leaving Lymm Grammar School, Jack, 55, went to Lancaster University, graduating as a BA in economics. He also has a Masters degree in employment studies from Salford University, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He is married to Anne, 63, and has two step-daughters Karen, 40, and Janet, 36. He also has three grandchildren, James, Nicola and Josh.

Jack and Anne are planning a series of theta healing courses to begin in May, at the Heathercliffe Hotel, on Frodsham Hill.

What is theta healing? “I could talk to all day about this,” says Jack. “It is a way of healing people by changing their beliefs. The theory – and it’s not just a theory, it’s a practice that works – is that you might have a particular condition and the limiting belief that you’ll have it until you die.

“Changing that opens you up to instant healing, and this is where some people have an issue with it. We tap into a higher power, God’s energy. When you get into a theta state, the brainwaves are operating in a near hypnotic, near sleep, state. It’s a very low brainwave frequency and you can tap into this divine energy.”

In the hotel, Jack will be teaching others to be theta healers. Patients are seen in his little therapy room at home.

Theta healing was introduced in the mid 1990s by Vianna Stibal, from Idaho, who is part Native American. She gave Anne and Jack a six-day course in Rome.

But what of The Coaching Parent? “Parents have many roles,” he says. “They might be a friend, a disciplinarian, a provider, a comforter. Adding the role of coach allows the parent to get into a totally different mind-set instead of feeling hopeless and lost, as a lot of our contemporary kids do, unfortunately. The whole emphasis is to get kids to be the best they can be. Whatever their potential is, the book is to get them to realise that. As a result, they spend all their lives going towards a goal they want personally. It keeps them out of the negative stuff.”

A familiar and depressing sight on the football touchlines in British parks is dad almost foaming at the mouth as he bellows at his son. How would Stewart deal with that?

“One of the criticisms of the English game is the lower technical ability of our players,” he says. “Kids are bawled at and regimented from a very early age, instead of being allowed to express themselves. A lot of parents try to live out their lives through their kids, when they should allow the children to be what they want to be.

“Losing and losing well is part of life. You have to accept it with grace. But you should tell them that there will soon be another match when they can do better. You can emphasise the positive even in the worst performance.”

What does he think is going wrong with some children?

“I think that parents need to spend a bit more quality time with their kids,” he replies.

“Just about every parent I have ever met wants to do the best for their kids. There are exceptions and horror stories. But just about every parent I have ever met wants their children to be the best they can be. We’re offering them a way of doing that, but they need to spend a bit more quality time with the children, instead of plonking them in front of the television and forgetting about them. It is an investment of time.”

DETAILS of The Coaching Parent book and CD-ROM can be got on the internet: www.the coachingparent.com

davidcharters