Life Coaching
Life Coach or Life Coaching seems somewhat of a mystery on the Internet. There are many schools to give training, but unlike my training as a Social Worker and Counselor, a Life Coach is not supervised by an experienced Life Coach while they are practicing in the field. Field experience under the guidance and support of a Life Coach Supervisor is essential for anyone to perform excellent Mental Health or Personal Training services. Essential.
What Is A Life Coach?
I have spent a significant chunk of time reading articles, blogs, and ebooks online, trying to find helpful and non-biased definitions of what a Life Coach is and does or what Life Coaching isn’t. Rather than trying to define something incredibly broad in its limits, I will share with you what it means to me.
I am trained as a Social Worker and Counselor, specifically, Holistic Counseling with youth, adults, couples, and families that have landed somewhere different from where they planned. I have worked in various capacities since 1993, serving those wanting/needing/forced into getting outside support and guidance.
I can support your innate need to be who you sense you are supposed to be and hold your hand while taking the steps to do so. I can help you discern who you are if that is a question you are struggling with. I can look you in the eye and tell you what you need to hear if that is what you need to get motivated to make the necessary shifts in your life or environment to begin to show the potential you know you have. Most of all, I will let you know when you are full of “it” and when you are speaking Truth. I will not let your ego run your life during our time together. I won’t stand for it. Hopefully, you won’t either when offered the choice. When not monitored, the ego can be insidious in its need for power and control.
What’s The Difference Between A Life Coach, Counselor or Therapist?
To make matters easier for you, I will place Counselors and Therapists together for this discussion, although there are definitely distinctions between them. When I think about a Counselor, I think of someone who is focused on supporting you through your life experiences, family, and cultural and social programming toward a brighter future. Counselors and Therapists often work with clients experiencing a continuum of Mental Health issues ranging from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to Addictions to Schizophrenia to relationships and dating. The extensive training and education that most Counselors receive have a Counselor ready to support your need for good health and care and direction to get there. My sense of Counseling and Therapy is wider than what most Life Coaches offer. I think a few Life Coaches are trained, experienced, and ready to work with you on serious trauma, mental health issues, and crisis intervention; there are exceptions, but that is my sense.
When I think about Life Coaching or Life Coaches, my sense of Life Coaching is geared towards working from this moment forward, which may or may not include working through childhood, traumatic or life-changing experiences leading you to today. Again, this is a broad generalization, and realize there are going to be many Life Coaches who are well-trained and experienced working with these kinds of personal obstacles to well-being. Life Coaches typically work with you for a somewhat brief period to meet your goals and intentions or seek support and guidance from a professional.
The confusion seems to be around the perception that Therapists and Counselors can’t do what Life Coaches do, and Life Coaches can’t do what Therapists and Counselors can do. I think there would be more overlap than expected if we could create a Venn Diagram of where they intersect.
Why Do Counselors, Therapists and Life Coaches Disagree?
Most trained professionals are taught that what they do is specialized, unique, and exclusive. It is a self-serving approach that feeds its own belief systems. A doctor trained that the only treatment for cancer is chemotherapy and radiation will cling tightly to that premise; otherwise, it would challenge their past and present failures. A police officer that believes that all ________ are criminals (fill in the blank yourself) will rarely see them as innocent. You get the idea, you’re smart and know exactly what I mean.
Other Definitions & Benefits of Life Coaching
Providence Holistic Counselor, Coach & Reiki Location and Rates
My office is in Warren, RI. I do not accept insurance. I offer a sliding scale fee ($95-$175) based on your own discernment of need. I accept cash, checks, Venmo, Visa, Master Card, Discover, American Express, and Pay Pal.
I invite you to contact me to see if we are a good fit to work together.
