What is Coaching?
Coaching is a partnership between a client and coach, formed for the purpose of helping the client access their own inner wisdom, and find the next right step.
I am a graduate of the Wayfinder Life Coach Training, through Martha Beck, Inc. Wayfinder coaching is a special kind of coaching, hoping to help clients find their own North Star and take action from that inside wisdom, rather than behaving according to outside expectations and norms. Wayfinder coaching is not centered on outside measures of success or achievement, but rather inner alignment and joy.
For me, the magic of a coaching session is incredibly simple. It is the very rare gift of time and space to complete a thought. To speak aloud whatever may come out, to be heard by someone with no agenda or desire to fix, and to have the chance to hear yourself in that space. I will hold that space, reflect back what I am hearing, ask questions, and sometimes offer a tool that could be helpful. I do not offer advice. I do not fix. I know that you have everything you need, so the space I hold for you is untroubled.
Coaching is not the same as seeing a mental health professional, nor is it mentoring or consulting.
It may help to imagine a mental health professional like a doctor, and a life coach like an athletic trainer. It is so important to make sure you’re getting the right kind of help.
“We believe that each person has the key to their own life right within them. Our job is to help them access and act on that information rather than offer advice about what we think they should do.”
Martha Beck
How do I know if I might benefit from life coaching?
Are you trying to make a difficult decision?
Are you in a moment of transition or change?
Are you feeling stuck or unsatisfied?
Do you feel like you’re not on the right path or perhaps just a little lost?
Are you trying to access your own inner wisdom, and would like a partner to help?
Would you like the opportunity to speak your thoughts out loud, with an impartial listener who has no agenda, who could offer thoughtful questions?
When we begin our time together, I will ask what you’d like to be coached on that day. You may know very clearly what it is, or you may need a little help being specific, in which case we’ll work together to figure it out.
After we know where we are beginning, I will ask you what outcome you’d like, where you’d like to be and/or how you’d like to feel at the end of our time together that day.
Once we know those two things, we will move forward, shaping our path together, with you always in the driver’s seat, and me always right next to you, holding onto the map and watching for signposts to make sure you can concentrate on your journey. I will ask questions, reflect what I’m hearing, and perhaps offer a tool that might be helpful. I will listen, and you may be surprised at how you can also listen, and what you might hear yourself saying.
At the end of our time together, we’ll check back in on the goal you set at the beginning of our time together, and see and feel where you are now. You’ll have a moment to reflect and gather what you’d like to take forward, and then we’ll end. We’ll do all of this in 50-60 minutes.