What is and isn't Life Coaching?

Life coaching is a practice of assisting people to determine and achieve their personal & professional goals. Professionally trained coaches will use a variety of methods, tailored to the individual client, to move through the process of setting and reaching their goals with an over all intention of achieving fulfillment and balance throughout the process.

Life coaches are not therapists or psychologists (although some therapists have also gone into life coaching). It is not the coach's job to "fix" you. Life Coaches work from the assumption that people are naturally creative, resourceful and whole, and that most of us deep down inside, know what we want and / or need to do to be happy.

Sometimes, we just need a little guidance to find out what those things are and a nudge or "kick in the butt" in the right direction. A coach will also hold you accountable to do the things you commit to doing, not from a place of judgment or blame. but from a place of wanting to see you grab the brass ring of your desire and know that you have earned it.

It matters far less why you are where you are now than it does to discover where you would most like to be, what steps must be taken to begin following that path and what is in the way of taking those steps. The coach is not there to "solve your problems" for you.

A coach is there to sit beside you and guide you to discovering who you are when you are your "best". Your coach wants to find out what you are truly passionate about and what your "higher or future self" truly wants and needs.

Once we know what it is that your heart desires, we will explore and discover what is in the way of you taking steps along that path to happiness and fulfillment in all areas of your life.

What's the Difference Between Coaching and Therapy?

There are many differences between coaching and therapy. The following table, adapted from CTI's Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching Series, provides a sampling of these differences.