Coaching
“Wisdom is the intelligence of the system as a whole.”
Approach
Coaching helps you identify and work through obstacles to your success, creating space to clarify your goals and generate actionable plans with detailed steps to realize them. My approach to coaching is rooted in my systemic orientation as a therapist, I believe the most effective way to look at ourselves is to also look at how our individual self is impacted by the external world, and how our actions impact that world in return. Coaching will be collaborative and will offer you support in maintaining accountability while you make adjustments. I do not use a one-size-fits-all approach to coaching, each individual is unique which means no one plan will look the same. We will work together to gain insight into your intentions and motivations in an open, judgment-free environment to explore your thoughts and questions. We will use tools to explore and assess your values, strengths, relationships, and career and life aspirations and this will guide an approachable, one step at a time plan. Learning new skills through coaching is there to help you build confidence and move into feeling connected to yourself and life purpose.
How is Coaching Different from Therapy?
Therapy is for resolving a specific acute situation or managing an ongoing difficult diagnosis or mental-health pattern or issue. While improving quality of life and achieving goals is also part of therapy, coaching is often most effective when there has already been a foundation of healing from therapeutic work. If you’re unsure of what approach is best for you, we can discuss in your complimentary consultation.
Areas of Expertise
Transitions (personal or professional): Transition often feels unstable, unleashing doubt and existential distress, but transition also offers an opportunity to examine what has or has not been working to drive more purposeful decisions about where to go next. Coaching helps to navigate these difficult changes with more clarity. Examples of common areas are entering into a new relationship or marriage, starting a new job or career, or becoming a parent.
Readjustment after loss, (relationship loss, divorce, death of a loved one, career loss/change): Grief and loss is another type of transition that is often accompanied by pain, confusion, doubt, difficulty with trust. When grief becomes more complex and acute, like when trauma is associated, therapy services may be more appropriate than coaching; but in cases where this transition has not resulted in acute depression or anxiety, coaching may help with tools to both process the loss and move forward in a way that honors all yourself and the relationships involved.
Assertiveness and Negotiation: Depending on your social context, knowing how to speak up and discerning when to do so may be skills you’ve struggled with. These are skills that are helpful to navigate life’s relationships and expectations. Increased confidence may be experienced when you know your needs and have the ability to express them to others. Expressing these needs creates more supportive and secure relational safety through healthy boundaries, which allows you to set expectations and may promote flexibility and collaboration.
Career Planning and Growth: Whether or not your work is satisfying right now, the reality is the long-term landscape of careers has changed. It’s highly likely you will change jobs more often than in previous generations, and be motivated by a desire to engage in meaningful impact-driven work. Understanding your personality, skills, interests, and next steps will help you pursue learning and work experiences that enable satisfying engaging productivity.
Communication: Communicating is not only about using the right words at the right time. Verbal communication has been shown to be made up of only 10% of an interaction. Learning to understand and use non-verbal communication skills increases your ability to communicate effectively with others, and may positively impact your relationships at home and at work.
Relationships: When relationships are unfulfilling, unsettling, and disappointing, you feel the negative impact on many other aspects of your life. Everyone longs for genuine connection and belonging, and we seek to find these experiences through interactions with others. Understanding the science of relationships helps you improve the quality of your connections at home, work, and in the world.
Self-Esteem Challenges: we humans have often been conditioned around stories that make it difficult to believe in or love ourselves, especially if you feel you’ve failed to meet your own expectations of who you “should” be. To change this story and experience a greater sense of freedom, it can be helpful to examine these beliefs, understand the origin of these ideas, and challenge your perspectives to realign to how you want to feel; which is often the feeling of freedom and confidence.
Exploration of Spirituality: Spirituality is the broad concept of a belief in something beyond the self. It may involve religious traditions centering on the belief in a higher power, but it can also involve a holistic belief in an individual connection to others and to the world as a whole. (Elizabeth Scott, Ph.D.) Many people have a complex relationship with spirituality. Sometimes there is difficulty in the relationship itself or sometimes the self wonders if “this is all there is to life?” Existential questions are often rooted in spiritual and philosophical questions. Understanding your underlying value systems within the context of your spiritual life can clarify what drives you to connect, flourish, and feel satisfied.
Life Balance and Stress Management: People wear many hats and they all come with their share of responsibilities. Balancing different roles can feel like balancing a stack of 100 plates and the first thing to be sacrificed when life tasks collide with desires are the goals and needs that you may have hoped for. Learning how to listen to yourself and address the priorities most meaningful to you will help you prioritize, say no to unfulfilling commitments, and create space for a deeper satisfaction in life. Understanding how to identify, manage, and understand your stress triggers is a part of defining the lifestyle changes that can help you expand your capacity to solve problems, cope with disappointments, and feel healthier.
Finances and Budgeting: Our deeper stories and relationships with money often creates added stress in our lives, especially if we have not learned effective and realistic tools or understanding about money from a young age. Your beliefs and assumptions about money, value, and worth can impact how you spend, save, and share. When you have a healthy relationship with money, it no longer controls you and instead, becomes a supportive tool.
