What exactly IS life coaching anyway?

If you enter a Life Coaching relationship with me, I am here to witness, reflect, and empower you to come up with your own answers. I will help you to achieve a goal(s) or to change, enhance, improve, evolve, and/or dissolve some areas of your life, such as Relationships with self and others, Identity, Creativity and Expression, Health, Balance in Life, Fun & Leisure, Rest, etc. Using a results-oriented and present-focus, I am here to help you develop a plan of action to move forward and also hold you accountable to follow through, supporting you through blocks and obstacles that come up along the way. We start with a 90-minute Discovery Session, in which you will uncover which areas you’d like to focus on, followed by a 60-minute goal-setting session in which you will get clear on the goals you’d like to achieve and what motivates you. The remainder of our time together is spent coaching towards these goals, recognizing and moving through blocks as you encounter them, perhaps learning some new skills along the way, reflecting on your progress and taking bite-sized action steps each week.

Great, so… what is spiritual coaching then?

If you enter a Spiritual Coaching relationship with me, I will be here to help you explore and enhance your spirituality and integrate it more fully into your everyday life. I will help you find your own path and direction, and to find the answers to your spiritual questions within yourself. If you are searching for a new spiritual belief or practice and attempting to leave behind or heal from previous spiritual communities or practices, I’m here for that. If you feel solid about your spiritual path and are wanting to deepen, integrate, and align, I am also here for that. Just as with life coaching, I am here to assist you in setting goals and hold you accountable to put into action spiritual practices, beliefs, and values, as well as taking other steps to integrate spirituality into your everyday life. I am not here to preach or coach you using one religious or spiritual lens - I am here to meet you where you are at in your own journey, to learn the language and practices that work for YOU.

Ok so that’s cool, but how is all of this different than therapy though?

I’m so glad you asked. While life coaching does allow for some processing of and expressing emotions as they arise, coaching is more results-oriented, helping you move from what is happening in the present to a future goal. Therapy often focuses on deep-seated patterns and trauma, and can often involve examining and revisiting the past in order to heal. I am trained to hold the coaching container in as much of a consent and trauma-informed way as I possibly can, and highly recommend that you also have a therapist or other therapeutic relationship in your life in which to process any deeper emotional blocks that might arise during our time together. I will also hold this boundary and refer folks out to a therapist if I find at any point that what you are needing is beyond my scope and might benefit more from therapy.

Will you give me advice about my current life situation?

In short, no. As a coach, I am here to witness, reflect, and empower you to come up with your own answers. If there is an opportunity where I might share some wisdom I have on any relevant topics, I will ask your consent first before sharing. It might go something like this, “Hey, I noticed that you’ve been struggling with figuring out what to say when you’re in conflict with your partner. I know a technique that might help you when conflict arises. Do you feel comfortable if I put on my consultant hat (and yes, I might actually put a hat on!) so that I may share this with you?”

I’d love to lose weight - can you help me with this?

I am Fat positive and accepting, and because of this I have a firm boundary to not coach people seeking to diet or come up with a weight loss plan, but I will support people interested in general health involving food, nutrition, and body acceptance.

What if I’m a white person and want to try out some different spiritualities to see what fits - will you support me with this?

I will honor your spiritual practices as long as you are not appropriating a spirituality or culture that you are not a part of. I can support you in any shifts you'd like to make in finding spirituality that better aligns with your own culture (ex. If you are a witch that uses white sage and are not Indigenous, I will support you in finding alternatives and practices that are from your own ancestral traditions, but will not support the continued use of white sage, which is a sacred medicine).