About the Founder of The Adolescent Life Coaching Center

Frances Boyde

M.Ed./Counseling
Ph.D. Psychology Doctoral Candidate

Let me introduce myself, my name is Frances Boyde,  I am passionate about creating a space where teens and parents may both feel heard. It is miraculous what happens when we really listen to each other without defending. I have a BA in Psychology from Columbia College, a Master’s in Education with a major in Counseling from Ana. G. Mendez University, and am in the dissertation phase of the Ph.D. in Psychology with a major in Industrial Organizational Psychology.

Currently I serve under contract for the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling conducting South Florida casino site inspections. I design and deliver annual casino staff trainings in both English and Spanish and report to the DBPR.
I serve as a faculty member at Ana G. Mendez University a dual language graduate school.
I serve as the Founder and Director of Parent /Teen Challenge Day and the Adolescent Life Coaching Center.
I serve as  a Local and National Speaker at both Education and Youth Conferences as an expert in adolescent issues.
I volunteer at the Osceola County Jail teaching inmates how to create or recreate a connection with their teens upon release.
I design and facilitate classes quarterly where participants may earn their Adolescent Life Coach Certification in 4 weeks online.
I hold a parent of first time offender program orientation every Wednesday at the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Enforcement Center.

Adolescent Life Coaching Center Inspiration:

As a Seminole County Middle school teacher I had teens lined up because they needed to be heard. I heard:  not sleeping because parents were fighting,  a peer wanted to beat them up, fear that mom and dad will divorce and he will never see dad again, they wanted talk to the parent but felt that 1) it would be used against them later 2) that it would make no difference anyway 3) that privacy would not be respected.  All these thoughts carried  to school with them, needing to be voiced, who were they to share them with?
It needed not be me, I was temporary. I wanted desperately for the parent to hear how their teen felt and just listen, realizing that this child cannot think nor comprehend like an adult, realizing that if we are not in their world we cannot inspire.

I lived a teacher’s worst nightmare on Friday the 13th, January 2006. I had 26 students seated in front of me when another student walked in with a gun. This incident cost him, Chris Penley (15), his life and changed mine forever. In 3 different notes he had scribbled “I have no one to talk to”. I decided I wanted to be part of the difference that the students in my community needed. The feeling of being heard by the people that love each other the most – the parent-teen was a need hard to reach at this stage of parenting. The gift of being heard by their parent was truly the best gift I could give a teen.

In Chris Penley’s memory, the Adolescent Life Coaching Center a 501 (c) 3 non profit organization opened its doors in Casselberry in February 2008. The goal was to never refuse any family due to ability to pay. The demand for the services offered was difficult to meet. Over 300 parents came seeking a better connection to their teen/s as well as effective discipline methods for today’s youth.

The answer:  Parent /Teen Challenge Day where 30 families at a time may sign up to be locked in a gym for 6 or 7 hours and enjoy a day of communication, connection, and healing. It is a day of miracles as after a day of learning about each other from each other’s perspectives through humor and fun, a knee to knee conversation takes place that shatters walls of resentment and communication begins.

In August of 2008 the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office decided to adopt Parent / Teen Challenge Day as a prosecution alternative for first time offenders. The SCSO has made it mandatory for all participants of Operation Right Track to attend with their parent/s as a second day to their program. Parent Teen Challenge Day is currently held at the SCSO, 3 Saturdays per month.

In August of 2009, the Seminole County Public Schools added Parent/Teen Challenge Day as a resource for an alternative to school suspension.
Parent Teen Challenge Day will be expanding and scheduling for 2012 dates to hold at church facilities.