Coaching FAQ

What is Coaching? Coaching is a powerful methodology designed to take you from where you are today to where you want to be. The speed and ease with which you can reach your goals and grow in life is accelerated when you work with a coach. Coaching can create a deep, structural shift in the basic premises of thought, feelings, and actions. It's a shift of consciousness that alters our way of being. Such a shift involves our understanding of ourselves and our self-locations; our relationships with other humans and with the natural world; our understanding of relations of power in interlocking structures of the world; our body aware-nesses, and our visions of alternative approaches to living; and our sense of possibilities in work, finance, relationships, wellness, peace and personal joy.

How is coaching different from counseling and therapy? Counseling and therapy tend to look at the past. The primary focus is on healing and completing the past. Coaching, on the other hand, is a very forward-looking practice. The emphasis is on creating and manifesting. Although healing is not the primary focus, being creative and in action in your life can create a powerful space for healing to occur. Both practices are useful in their own rite and in some cases it may work well to work simultaneously with both a counselor/therapist and a coach.

How is coaching different from consulting? A consultant is an expert in a given field that provides advice based on their own training, knowledge and experience. Coaching sees you, the client as creative, intelligent and resourceful. It draws from the belief that the greatest expert on your life is you and that all the answers you seek are within you, waiting to be discovered. Both approaches are useful and complimentary. In addition to offering coaching services I offer consulting on entrepreneurship, marketing and the effective uses of technology for sales promotion and business communication.

How do I choose a coach? Coaching is a straight-forward process, but it can be challenging, which is why you will want to consider partnering with a trained and experienced coach. If you want to create a partnership with a professional coach, consider the following: Experience: How long has the person been a coach? What kinds of people or organizations has he or she worked with before? Can you get referrals? Ask the coach to describe an ideal client and see how you compare. Connection: How do you feel about this person? Is this someone you can grow to trust? How good is your communication? What is the quality of your connection? Location: Interestingly, your coach does not need to be nearby. Most professional coaching is done by phone and with phone rates so low, it pays to find the right coach no matter where he or she may be.

What geographic areas do you coach in? Since coaching is done over the phone I work with people anywhere in the world. Most of the clients I work with are in western US and Canada.

How do we begin coaching? Generally we begin by having a complimentary conversation over the telephone so we can get to know each other and see if it is a good fit for both of us. We can then initiate the coaching relationship, taking care of details and scheduling upcoming sessions.

How long do we continue coaching? Change can happen in an instant, but it takes time for things to unfold as they need to. In order to embody the change, most people will generally coach for three to six months.

How much does coaching cost? The rates vary depending on the needs of the client. We discuss rates during the initial consultation in the context of co-creating the coaching alliance.

What forms of payment do you accept? Payments are made via credit card by Visa or MasterCard.

What if I have something that needs to be addressed between sessions? Most agreements include what I termed "open access communications" which are concise conversations about what is happening in the moment either via phone or email.