Life Coaching is an evidence-based methodology for helping people make changes in their personal and professional lives. Generally Life Coaching focusses on goals that fall within the personal lives of the coachee rather than work or employment. The Life Coaching process helps clients with sustained cognitive, emotional and behavioural changes that facilitate goal attainment and enhance wellbeing.
Life Coaching takes a strengths and values-based, holistic approach to personal development and change by helping the coachee examine and evaluate aspects of their life and systematically make life enhancing changes with the support of their coach.
Key issues that are often focussed on in Life Coaching sessions include work/life balance, dealing with stress reduction, relationship enhancement, life transitions including career/life stage/lifestyle change, health and wellness and helping clients develop a clear sense of direction and purpose.
Theoretical traditions that underpin life coaching include self-directed learning, cognitive-behavioural, solution-focussed, humanistic and the person-centred approach and positive psychology. Life coaching has the following assumptions:
• People have considerable untapped potential
• Significant human change is possible
• The coaching client is resourceful (although might not be aware of his/her resourcefulness)
• There is absence of serious mental health problems in the client
• Life Coaching is not focussed on repairing mental health problems
• Life Coaching is goal focussed
• Change can happen in a short period of time
• The client is willing to do the work of change
Evidence-based Life Coaching when done by properly trained coaches like myself can contribute greatly to the wellbeing of an individual client and community and the positive development of people. Life Coaching is not a form of psychology and is not an approach to use for mental illness treatment but rather a systematic approach that works because the coach is trained to be a change facilitator. My Life Coaching training started in Melbourne over 10 years ago and involved learning the art and science of working with coaching theory and many hours of practice assisted by a supervisor. I have continued on to do University level training in Coaching and units in Career Coaching, Organisational Coaching, Life Coaching and Coaching Applications.
While Life Coaching focusses on personal life goals, career, leadership (executive) coaching focusses on professional goals in the business, workplace or organisation. There are not strong boundaries between personal and professional coaching, while people undervalue Life Coaching it uses much of the same methodologies as professional coaching approaches and they are all underpinned by the same human change methodology.
In private practice either online or in Camberwell Melbourne, I work with professional career or leadership coaching or personal life coaching clients. I usually combine the approach using personal and professional life coaching depending on where the client is and what areas they want to focus on. Career change, building confidence, relationship growth, personal wellness, work/life balance and purpose are some of the common themes I work as a Life Coach. I also specialise in stress management using mindfulness skills and reflective practice to change habitual patterns and discover new ways to navigate motivational energy to work toward the clients leadership, career or life coaching goals. You can find out more about my coaching programs here and I welcome you to give me a call. It's a good idea to have a chat and see if we are a personality fit and have a good connection and from there I will ask you to fill in my intake form and book in your first session. You can contact me via the website for more information on Life Coaching or one of the other approaches.
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