So, what is coaching?

Coaching helps you bridge the gap between where you are, and where you want to be. 

How?  As a coach, I help identify your strengths and motivations, looking at what has helped you be successful in the past, examine what matters to you, what you are passionate about, what obstacles or challenges you are facing, and most of all - where you want to be.  Collaborating together we determine a plan of first steps, and as you take action, I provide support, accountability, troubleshooting and encouragement!

Studies show that people have greater success in creating positive, lasting changes when they have the support and guidance of a professional coach. Coaching improves the efficiency of your journey and ensures a greater outcome achieved. Coaches are trained in "how to create change" and equipped to help you navigate roadblocks and challenges along the way to where you want to be.

Coaching is not counseling, although sometimes similar tools and language is used. Whereas counseling deals with the pathologies, the past and processing, the focus of coaching is present and future oriented, and it’s action oriented. 

My hybrid approach incorporates ALL of you- mindset & emotional health, spirituality & finding meaning, grief & loss as well as mindfulness based practices combined with a holistic, life-style based functional medicine approach to health!  Read on to learn more....

Mindset coaching is a type of life coaching that focuses on coaching clients to overcome limiting beliefs and assumptions and broaden their mindset to adopt a new way of thinking- which frees them to approach life in a different way.    

Utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Techniques (CBT),  a Mindset/CBT coaching orientation focuses on a  clients’ existing beliefs and patterns of thinking and creates space to recognize, question, and revise unhelpful patterns of thought.  

Cognitive processes happen both consciously, meaning  we are aware of them,  and  unconsciously,  meaning they happen automatically,  without our awareness.  It is important to make sure our unconscious thoughts are taking us in the direction we actually wish to go!

Through CBT you will learn how to:

1. Identify the sources of negative, limiting, destructive thinking. 
2. Develop awareness of the emotions and beliefs associated with the negativity.
3. Develop the ability to catch negative thoughts in the act, reframe them, and choose an empowered thought.
4. Practice processes and behaviors to develop positive, rational, empowering thought processes and coping mechanism that you can apply to real life events. 

Mindset coaching is incredibly powerful!   It teaches us how to become aware of and then   overcome  negative,  destructive  thinking.  limiting beliefs, false assumptions.  But,  it’s not  just positive thinking,  it’s logical,  clear-minded, healthy thinking. 

For those complex, chronic conditions or who are on a long-haul journey, part of the mindset work may be challenging negative thinking, over-generalizations or jumping to conclusions.  This is not discounting what is happening, but also not allowing it to steal today's joy and tomorrows dreams.  It's time to write a new  chapter in your story- one oriented towards  resilience, hope and healing!

Grief coaching is a specialized approach to help people who experience grief and change after a loss.   Grief is a normal human experience and not limited to the death of a loved one- in fact non-death losses (health change, job loss, major life transitions) can create a significant change! It is a normal and necessary process that is fundamentally a journey of the heart & soul. 

Grief support can restore emotional balance, hope, and happiness, and support transitions.  Understanding of the grieving process, grief coaching recognizes the individual's ability to heal and take action, and helps them plan their changed life in a meaningful way. Grief coaching is unique when compared to other types of coaching...there more reflection and being with the client, and not as outcome focused or oriented towards action.  

Grief coaching helps clients transition, adjust & plan their changed lives. For some, grief can feel paralyzing or suffocating. For others, a franticness sets in as you try to figure out what life looks like now. Living with grief can take an enormous amount of emotional & physical resources.  Many try to avoid or sidestep the emotional pain of having to adjust to unexpected and unwelcome events.  For the those coping with complex chronic conditions, spending this precious energy trying to keep pain or emotions at bay, ends up sabotaging the healing process. 

Compassionate listening is the first (and sometimes most powerful) thing I can offer my clients. Having someone bear witness to the struggle, the loss, the pain and allowing you to unpack your story,  can be incredibly empowering for a client who has felt overlooked, gas-lit, or invalidated.