What Is Coaching?
Coaching is a powerful tool for personal growth, helping individuals improve their wellbeing, achieve their goals, and fulfil their potential. Whether you’re looking to manage your mental health more effectively, build resilience, or explore other areas of personal development, coaching can provide the structure and support to get you there.
In this section, we will explore:
A summary of coaching
My approach to coaching
The flexibility of coaching
Looking for a deeper dive in to what coaching is? Check out my article on the details of how coaching works and what the benefit is, including practical examples and a case study:
Read more: What Is Coaching?
A summary of coaching
Coaching can be called the bridge between where you are and where you want to be. In the very simplest terms, coaching is a tool that helps you identify what you want to change, and helps you make that change.
I like to see myself as my clients’ very own GPS for their lives, helping them get to where they want to go. I’m not here to drive the car for you, and I’m not even here to decide the destination. But what I can do is help you make sure you get to where you’re going in the fastest, most efficient, and most empowering way possible.
Coaching is also primarily forward-facing. This means that, while it’s important to understand your circumstances, the focus of coaching isn’t to ruminate on the past. Coaching looks at where you want to go and puts together a plan to help you get there. It helps you to identify what strengths you have that will help you unlock your potential, and what barriers might be in the way of your success, and how you can overcome them.
This marks coaching out as separate from, say, counselling, mentoring or therapy. Each of these talking services can provide immense value, but they have to be utilised in the correct context. If you’d like to know more about the differences between coaching, counselling, mentoring and therapy, I have written an article on that topic.
Read more: Coaching vs. Counselling vs. Therapy vs. Mentoring.
If you’re looking to understand coaching in more depth, I have an article that explains the coaching process with real-life examples that goes in to more detail. You can find it here:
Read More: What Is Coaching?
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, check out my Services page to see my fees, or Contact Me to book your free, no-obligation 30-minute Discovery Call today!
My approach to coaching
In my role both for the NHS and in my private practice, I am what is called a “client-led” coach. In practice this means I spend time truly understanding a client’s circumstances, and understanding the importance of where they want to go. My experience has told me that by investing the time to make sure we understand what problems we are hoping to overcome, we are more likely to provide solutions that can stand up to scrutiny.
This, to me, is the most critical issue for us to overcome. Having the intent to change is great, but without follow through it can be at best misguided, and at worst demotivating. Any plans you put in place need to be exciting and motivating, but also realistic. There is no point in coming up with exciting plans that fall away as soon as life takes over. We have to build a plan that takes in to account your circumstances, your strengths, and your barriers. They are all relevant, and none of them are insurmountable.
It’s also important to ensure any plans we create will stand the test of time. Success for me is when my clients no longer need me. I’ll love helping you on your journey, but the most pride I will get is when you feel able to confront your challenges without me, safe in the knowledge that I am always here, always behind you, always ready to pick up again if things get tough.
If this approach sounds like it’d align with your needs, check out my Services page to see my fees and how to book an initial session. Read more: Services.
The flexibility of coaching
The great thing about coaching is how flexible it is. It can just as easily help you find a new job after a redundancy as it can help you to make new friends. It can help you gain control over seemingly uncontrollable anxiety, or it can help you learn a new language. The principles stay the same throughout; it’s about where you want to go, and how you will get there. It’s about what barriers are in your way, and what strengths that will see you through.
As a client-led coach, one thing I notice is how often people’s direction changes. Some come to me with a specific goal in mind. But after some reflection, they realise that what they thought was their burning issue isn’t as burning as they once thought. By identifying what is causing the biggest challenges, and importantly, what we have most control over, it may be that prioritise something different than we expected. And that’s a good thing! Following through on a plan that doesn’t speak to you is not a good use of your time or energy.
I also have plenty of clients who come to me without knowing where they want to go. They know that life isn’t where they want to be, but don’t know where to start. That’s where being a client-led coach can become so powerful, because we can spend time exploring your circumstances, your preferences, your habits, your barriers. We can put them altogether using an extensive range of tools to identify what it is that feels like it needs the most attention, and then work together to get there.
So if you think you need help but don’t know where to start, that’s no problem. I’ve helped clients with depression, anxiety, feelings of overwhelm, self-esteem, confidence, identity, patenting, relationships, finding a new job, getting a promotion, moving abroad, and many, many other topics. No matter how varied the topics are, the thing they all have in common is the desire to take control of a life that doesn’t quite feel right. As I’ve said throughout this site, coaching is about you. If you want to take back control of your life, we can do that, whatever it is.
If you think you’re ready to give coaching a try, you can check out my Services page for my prices, or you can get in touch using this Contact Form to discuss anything that might be on your mind.
