Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between life coaching and counseling, consulting and other professions?

Counseling is generally designed to look back at something that happened in the past with the intention of healing pain, dysfunction or resolving the conflict. Consulting is hiring an expert to come in to diagnose a problem and provide a solution. Coaching is focused on your future. The conversations are designed to help you gain clarity on what you want, what may be in your way of having what you want and then discovering ways to overcome those obstacles so you can move forward. While there are similarities in the two professions, no one is more of an expert on your life than you. Coaching is an equal partnership between the client and the coach.

How much does coaching cost?

Before answering this question, I invite you to consider: How much is it worth to you to free your mind of negative thought patterns & limiting beliefs that hold you back from having the life that you could have? Coaching is an investment in yourself. Once you hire a coach, your thinking will start to shift and that will positively impact all areas of your life. For new clients, I offer a low risk $297 Two Week Trial package. After this trial, Individual coaching packages, which run 1 month to 1-year range from $250 per month to $500per month. Group coaching rates are $150/month. Workshops, retreats and class rates vary depending on the length of the programs.

How does it work?

The first step is committing to a Two Week trial ($99). During that time, you will have an opportunity to try on my style of coaching to see if it works for you and I will be assessing your candidacy for coaching. Not everyone that desires to coach are a good candidate for coaching, which is why the Two Week Trial was designed—it gives both of us a chance to try each other out. At the end of two weeks, if we both mutually agree that we would like to continue working together, we will discuss longer packages—1 month to 1 year long. Individual coaching sessions are done over the phone, either weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Group sessions are either over the phone or in person. In certain situations, I may recommend a more formalized coaching or occupational performance assessment. After working together for a while, you will notice internal shifts in your awareness, level of confidence and your thinking. You will also likely observe external differences in your actions, level of productivity, improved relationships and bio-metric measures—weight loss, (sometimes) changes in medications, etc.) Coaching relationships can be short term or long term, but generally, the average is 6 months. After that initial period, most clients feel confident to move forward on their own. I have worked with over a hundred clients & have never once had a client need to re-hire me (which is bad for business, but it’s the reason people hire me in the first place—what I do works. It’s worth the investment.)

What can I expect in a coaching relationship?

Having a coach in your life is a very different kind of relationship. Life coaching is like having a “guide on the side” that helps you discover your own answers & next steps in your life. As a coach, I am friendly, but I’m not your friend. I may have had similar life experiences, but I’m not your sponsor or mentor. I will encourage you and celebrate your victories & successes, but I’m not your cheerleader. During a coaching conversation, you can expect a lot of questions, but no advice. I will make observations but will never tell you what to do or how to make corrections. I will offer curiosities regarding your options but will never criticize or condemn your choices. I will offer suggestions but never make a demand. Coaching is an emotionally engaging process of discovery and clarity that empowers you to make the best choices you can for your life. My role is to empathetically & compassionately listen to where you are in the process and support you with clearing the path forward to help you move from where you are now to where you want to be.

What’s the difference between a “Health Coach”, “Health & Wellness Coach” and a “Life Coach”?

First, be wary of anyone calling themselves a “health coach” that may simply be promoting a product—health shakes, vitamins, miracle juice, body wraps or other kinds of snake oil– These are all multi-level marketing companies that have well-meaning, but untrained people (usually other success story customers of the same product). The products may work well, but the sales reps are not required to be trained or credentialed health professionals or certified coaches. Most allied health care professionals (nurses, dieticians, personal trainers, holistic health nutrition coaches) and others that have further training & credentials and identify with being a “health & wellness coach” are really experts in their field that tell you what to do. They are often brilliant & have all your answers—I have used them myself & refer my clients to these professionals—they tell you what to eat, what not to eat, when & how much to exercise and tell you how to best manage your medical problems.

While the advice is excellent & often valid, the problem with this approach is: as human beings, we are hard-wired to resist when people tell us what to do. We naturally push back from any advice—even if it’s excellent advice. Even when we know what we should be doing, when someone suggests that we do it, we get angry or feel defeated, causing us to burrow ourselves further into the abyss of self-sabotaging behavior. We can also only see what we are ready to see and hear what we are ready to hear. And we only move into action when we are ready to move into action.

Life Coaching with a trained & credentialed life coach provides an effective & safe space for exploration that helps you work through all the resistance and obstacles that get in the way of making the best choices for yourself. I am trained to meet you exactly where you are in this very moment and stay with you during the entire process of taking zero action to be consistent with the actions you need to take in your life.

What is the difference between “Health” and “Wellness”?

Health is the state of your physical & mental wellbeing. It is an objective measure of how free the body & mind is of disease. Wellness encompasses all of the components (physical, spiritual, emotional, environmental, financial, social, intellectual, occupational) that lead to living a healthy lifestyle.

What do you bring to the coaching relationship that’s different since you are also an Occupational Therapist?

First, let’s take a quick minute to understand occupational therapy. In Occupational Therapy, “Occupations” refer to the everyday activities that people do each day to occupy their time. These are things that hold our interest & attention; things that we need to do, want to do and things we are expected to do: purposeful activities that bring value & meaning to our everyday life.

As an OT, I am trained at the master’s degree level to break down daily activities into their smallest component parts and then evaluate what it is that’s standing in the way of optimal performance. The “occupational performance” can be around any life area—I address the tools& skills needed for healthy behaviors & self-care, career satisfaction, or developing fulfilling & healthy relationships. I carefully observe the interplay between the context, process, and ability to perform the activities desired to enhance a person’s quality of life.

There are three main angles I address as an OT—this is something’s refer to as a “frame of reference”. It is the vantage point through which we view each unique situation. When I coach, I am looking at the client—that’s you(your thoughts, behavior patterns, beliefs, language, motivations, confidence, resilience,etc.); I look at the task itself (what it is you say you want and all the real& imagined obstacles that hinder progress) and last, I am curious about your environment (your literal physical environment and also—your social & emotional environment, spiritual environment, financial environment, etc. We grow or shrink in proportion to the environment we surround ourselves.

Lastly, as an occupational therapist, I am trained tosuggest specific purposeful activities that will move you to your goals. Theseare mutually agreed upon action steps, that facilitate internal shifts in your thinking& awareness or cause an external result.

What kinds of topics are most common for a coaching conversation?

These are just a few of the topics that can come up in aconversation:

Relationships
Career choices
Mindset, attitudes conversation
Clarification of values & what really matters
Behaviors & habits
Life choices & decisions; life roles (parent, spouse, etc.)
Work/life balance
Motivation/quality of life
Exercise/activity
Food choices
Stress management
Time management
Self-management
Assertiveness
Finance/money management
Life transitions