• Services

    Coaching

“The hardest changes are those made in isolation. See what a difference it can make to have a coach in your corner.”

What do you want to do with the next month? The next 6 months? The next year? Your life? What’s your strategy for accomplishing it? Is your strategy working?

If you struggle to answer these questions or you don’t like your answers, maybe it’s time for a life coach. But what is a life coach, anyway, and how do you find a good one?

Most of us have to give ourselves the time and brain power to figure out what we want our lives to look like. The truth is, most of us will not take the time on our own to make these assessments; a life coach will ensure you do.

What is a life coach?

The International Coach Federation (ICF), one of the largest coaching associations, defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” Life coaches help people set and/or achieve goals through a variety of methods that often involve conversational tools and self-reflection exercises.

There are actually quite a few differences that you should keep in mind when thinking about if a life coach is right for you. To put it simply, life coaching is oriented towards the present and future. Coaching is proactive, so there will always be invitations to take action on your realizations and insights.

Why work with a coach?

Coaching is about having someone on your side. Someone with an outside perspective to bounce ideas off and get the encouragement and support that you need to ask more of yourself and to accomplish what you really want more easily. The focus is about what YOU want—not what you should want or somebody else thinks you should want.

Coaching helps you to focus, clarify, and act. It is an adult to adult relationship in which the coach supports you in being responsible for your own life choices. This includes supporting you in disregarding any of the coach’s suggestions or requests if you choose to do so.

Coaching focuses on taking appropriate action in the present time to create the future life that you choose. Coaching is not therapy although that can have a useful role to play at different times. If you are in a lot of emotional pain or caught up with past issues then you may like to consult a professional therapist.

Coaching is about supporting you in generating and implementing your own solutions. Coaching is not consultancy although that can also be a valuable tool and there is some overlap. Consultancy is appropriate if you want someone with specialist knowledge in an area to provide solutions and/or to implement them for you.

How to find a good life coach?

Before seeking help from a life coach, think about what areas of your life you’d like to change. A good coach will lead you through a series of exercises that can be compared to mental gymnastics but will ultimately ensure you are getting what you want out of your life.

All of our providers are out of network and do not participate with any insurance programs. Please contact your insurance provider – click here for a guide for How to Check Your Health Insurance.  Some clients have success advocating for out of network benefits – here is some information that you might find helpful about advocating for out of network benefits.

Appointments

To make an appointment with any of our providers, please call the office line at 410-979-2326. You can also email erin@cpeclinic.com or jennifer@cpeclinic.com.