What Does a private coach do?
What is Private Coaching, and Why is it Useful?
Private coaching is a complementary practice, which means it is NOT a replacement for mental health care or medicine, but very often can enhance the benefits you receive from medical and licensed mental health care. You should NEVER use coaching to replace medical care! Not only is coaching NOT a medical service, but in many places, it is illegal to suggest that it is.
That said, coaching can absolutely help you better implement the suggested actions of your medical health provider or licensed therapist. Has your doctor or therapist suggested increasing your physical activity or changing your dietary habits? Getting more sleep? Reducing stress?
A coach can help you:
Iimplement recommended health changes in a manner that is suited to you and your personal values
Incentivize those changes
Support you in replacing your existing habits with your desired habits
Improve your mindset and emotional state as it pertains to change
Identify your personal priorities and belief systems that increase the likelihood of successfully implementing change
Identify the belief systems and patterns that are currently holding you back
Build more supportive relationships—personally, professionally, and romantically—that will aid you on your path towards increased wellness
Improve Work-Life balance
Eliminate patterns of people pleasing and/or codependency that are causing you to put others’ goals before your own well-being
Carve out some time in your week that is ALL ABOUT YOU!
Often, the reasons someone seeks out a coach have nothing to do with medical recommendations, and are based more on a vague sense of wanting… Wanting something more, or something different, or to feel like their lives have some purpose beyond going through the motions on autopilot. Coaching is great for this!
Some common non-medical reasons that clients seek coaching are
Improving relationships (romantic, platonic, familial, and/or professional)
Feeling happier or more peacful
Shaking the feeling that they “should” be doing something else
Creating a deeper sense of purpose, connection, or fulfillment
Because they can’t seem to figure out WHAT they want, whether it’s on a personal or professional front
Taking the plunge on a desired major change (such as a career change or ending an unhealthy relationship, for example)
Learning to prioritize Self over the needs and/or wants of others
Feeling more Confident
Rebuilding after a major life event, whether planned or unexpected (such as a death, divorce, graduation, career change, new child, new marriage, major move, or tragic event, or any other major shake-up to your personal status quo)
How Does it Work?
Many people have things they want to do, or feel that they “should” be doing, but when it comes time to put thoughts into action and develop the new habits that will support their new way of living, they find that they fall short, time after time, in spite of their best intentions. The reality is, it’s easy to want something, and it’s pretty easy to say we’ve got a goal—but it’s much more difficult to follow through until we reach that goal. Life has a way of throwing curveballs and wrenches to disrupt our plans!
My job as a coach is to help you set a specific and actionable goal that’s important to you, and then I safeguard that goal on your behalf. I offer up proven tools, strategies, and supports to help you work toward that desired end. When life gets in the way and the goal maybe seems less important to you, or too far away, or you’re just lacking in the energy to give anything more of yourself, I’m here to remind you of what you’re working toward, why it mattered enough to you to invest your time and energy into it, and to help you remember the strategies and tools for how to turn your dream into your reality.
We start by identifying the things that you want for yourself (which very often begins with identifying some of the things you don’t want), creating an action plan with a specific desired outcome and timeline, putting in place micro-goals and strategies to keep you on track as you work toward that ultimate goal, and supporting the work through regular check-ins and coaching sessions. We work together to evaluate what’s working, what isn’t working, where challenges are popping up in your day-to-day life, and how to keep working in service of your goal when life seems intent on getting in the way. Utilizing evidence-backed practices,
Why “private coaching,” and not life coaching, or some other type of coaching?
Honestly, they’re one and the same… But for me, personally, the phrase ‘life coaching’ brings up a particular connotation that is all about feeling good and warm and fuzzy inside, taking deep breaths to tamp down unwanted feelings, and using crystals and meditation in place of focused strategies and actions. Is there a space in private coaching for those things? Sure! But my focus is on helping people honestly assess their lives, including their desires and goals and fears and limiting beliefs, and creating evidence-backed, results-oriented plans of ACTION to help my clients live a life they absolutely LOVE.
I like to tell my clients that I’m here to support your goals, not your feelings—so sometimes the feedback I offer won’t be packaged in pretty paper and bow and it may not always feel great to hear, but I can guarantee that it will ALWAYS be offered from a place of honesty and loving support of what you’ve stated is YOUR goal. Sometimes, it can be painful to see the ways we stand in our own way and the ways we hold ourselves back, but I believe that everyone has the innate ability and wisdom to change their life, and my job is to help you rediscover and utilize the power YOU already possess.
Is Private Coaching Right for You?
If you identify with more than two of the bullet points in the lists above, I recommend looking into coaching as an option. (Although, if you’re here, there’s a good chance you’re already doing that!)
Coaching is right for you if you are 1) desirous of some sort of change in your life, 2) committed to doing sustained work to bring about that change, and 3) open to the possibility that coaching may be the resource that will help you create success for yourself. If you want to live a life that you can be passionate about, reach out! I’d love to schedule a zero-cost, zero-commitment Mutual Interview so you and I can assess whether we would be a good fit for one another.
