Frequently Asked Questions
What happens when you work with a coach?
The nuts and bolts are spelled out on my “Services” page, but let me say this:
When you face life’s challenges directly and honestly, those challenges get easier to manage much more quickly, and you are able to find the “lotus in the mud” with more ease. Coaching provides a strong structure for this work.
Our roughest roads, when walked attentively, can lead to hidden lakes and the highest peaks. From this new, surprising view, we’re able to see different paths to our goal, or chart a whole new destination. That’s awesome.
Who should work with a coach?
- High-functioning people who are ready to tackle something new
- Effective people who are looking to bring more ease or purposeful choice into their lives
- Working artists who are looking to complete a project, confront procrastination, or become more at ease
- Successful people who want to better align their lives with their values, or pursue their “calling” at any stage of life or during a transition
What does a coach do?
- A coach helps her clients set goals and help reach those goals
- A coach helps her clients clarify what really matters to them, and helps her clients move forward in life honoring what matters most
- A coach champions her client swhen they feeling awesome, and when they feeling glum
- A coach listens to her clients with care and active attention and creates a safe space
- A coach and her clients build a robust conversation over time that inspires clarity, confidence, action, and transformation
What does a Co-Active© coach do?
As a Certified Co-Active Professional Coach, I completed my training with The Coaches Training Institute (CTI), the largest and oldest coach training school in the world. CTI’s founders were among the initial pioneers of the coaching profession, and their book, Co-Active Coaching, is widely known as the definitive text on coach training. A Co-Active coach believes first and foremost in the power of people to transform their lives. Co-Active coaches use an array of proprietary tools developed by CTI that have been proven as the gold standard over the past 20 years of the coaching profession. (http://www.coactive.com/)
How is coaching different than therapy?
A helpful distinction someone once told me: You go to a coach when you want to lose weight; you go to a therapist to work on your eating disorder. It’s not that black and white, of course, but in general, coaching is about taking action and forward-looking, while therapy focuses on the past, or treats a medical diagnosis. (Yes, you can be in therapy and see a coach – that is like a multi-vitamin of action! Why not have a whole team of supporters rooting for you in different ways?)
In my experience, I think a lot of people seek a therapist when what they really need is a coach. That was true for me, before I knew about coaching. I wanted support and someone to talk to…all I knew about was therapy. The best therapists coached me out of a bad relationship or job. The worst therapists did little more than listen to me complain.
What I was really looking for was a coach—someone skilled at listening, someone who is not judgmental and holds me accountable, someone who creates a safe space for me to explore, question, and dream, someone who is ready to challenge me to keep my word and honor my values, someone who helps me create plans to achieve my goal and champions me along the journey.
Can’t one session be enough?
Sometimes, but that is usually after you’ve already worked with someone for a while, and you come back for a “booster shot.” Coaching is effective because it happens over time. The benefits of coaching arise inside of a good working relationship. The rewards of coaching are cumulative. I have worked with many clients for more than a year, and they often return when a new challenge (job change, divorce, empty nest or retirement, etc.) arises.
More questions? Seriously? Let's just get started!
