Common Questions
What’s the difference between coaching and therapy?
In overly simplified terms:
Coaching is about helping you move from where you are in your life to where you want to be.
Therapy is for you to understand and come to terms with your past, help you heal trauma and move out of a crisis situation.
In reality, the lines are of course pretty blurry. Both coaches and psychotherapists focus on helping people make positive changes in their life and both can help their clients navigate difficult situations in their life. Psychotherapists often help answer Why questions such as “why do I keep doing this?” and “why do I feel this way?”, especially when clients are dealing with disruptive emotions or behaviors. Psychotherapists may also diagnose a certain mental health condition and work in tandem with a psychiatrist to determine appropriate treatments. While coaches can certainly support clients throughout a crisis, there are limits to the level of emotional and behavioral dysfunction they are trained to deal with. Their focus is on helping functional people “up-level” by working through questions such as “what has to change in order for me to stop doing this?”, “how can I best process this difficult emotion", and “what does the best version of myself look like?”
What are your qualifications?
I completed an intensive hands-on 120-hour training program with Seattle Life Coach Training with a focus on the students practicing the learned skills with each other in one-on-one coaching sessions. The program not only taught me the skills to guide my clients through a session but also helped me take my own personal transformation to the next level after many years of “doing the work”.
In short, I learned how to help my clients find the answers they are looking for inside themselves by asking them powerful, forward-moving questions. I was drawn to this particular program because it is grounded in spiritual principles while being applicable to the modern, materialistic world we all have to navigate.
What can I expect during a session?
Well, definitely a lot of questions - My job is to draw out your truth and then drill you down it so that you are clear on who you are, what you want, and how you can there. I’m not a consultant so I will not give you advice or tell you what to do. I will, however, ask you if you are willing to try certain things based on what I learn about you, help you come up with action steps and hold you accountable. I like to keep things fun so there may be some laughter (and potentially some f-bombs).
What are your areas of expertise?
Have you ever heard the line “turn your mess into your message”? The things that I can coach you best on are those that I have worked on transforming over the past decade or so (and am continuing to work on). That includes:
Overcoming people-pleasing patterns and setting boundaries.
Navigating big life changes (you know, like a rough divorce or life-changing injury) and turning them into an opportunity for growth and learning.
Figuring out what you (meaning your authentic self) REALLY want to do with your life.
Defining what a healthy lifestyle means to you and how you can live it.
Having healthy relationships - with friends, at work, with family, with your partner (spoiler alert: it’s all about the boundaries, baby!)
Decluttering / organizing your home.