I often get asked, “What is Life Coaching?” First, it may help to understand that while there are similarities, it is not therapy. Life Coaches do not diagnose mental illness. Coaches also don’t focus on the past as much as therapists. It focuses much more on the present and future. In coaching, we want to uncover the thoughts that we may be having that we are not even aware of, but that drive us to feel and then act in certain ways. As we bring these thoughts to light, then we can consciously decide whether those are working for us and if we want to continue them. Thoughts that we aren’t even aware of are often causing us a lot of stress and pain. Always emotional pain, but often they even cause us to have physical pain and discomfort. Stress hormones like cortisol affect other hormones and areas of our bodies, so as we do the work to uncover what is happening in our brains and take control, we are often surprised at the benefits to our physical symptoms as well.
It’s important to know that a coach doesn’t solve your problems, but a coach does some "heavy lifting” by helping you see where your best work can be done, offering strategies to get the work accomplished, and accountability to keep you moving in the right direction.
When you live a life with awareness, you are living a life of power and possibility.