That’s okay! A great life coach will start any coaching relationship by helping you understand and define the important areas of your life. You may discover you are doing great in one or several areas, and this positive feedback can be very motivating! You likely have a lot of gifts, talents and skills that will be useful to your coaching process, as you move forward in addressing areas where you want to build more positive momentum.

My coaching practice in Chicago will help you identify where you feel stuck.  Sometimes people come into sessions with one specific idea of what they want help with, but may discover they have several areas where personal growth has stalled.

Common areas for desired change include:

• Improving well-being: Physical, emotional, relational, mental, and spiritual.
• Health goals, such as smoking cessation, managing a chronic illness more effectively, or diet/exercise goals.
• Navigating an important transition, such as entering retirement, entering a new relationship or career transition.
• Relationship goals, such as practicing assertive communication or setting more effective boundaries in relationships. These skills can be applied in areas such as with your co-workers or employer; your parter; or problematic friends or family members.
• Spiritual connectedness, such as deepening a relationship with a higher power, or finding greater meaning or purpose in life.
• Clarifying values, so you can sort through your priorities in life more effectively.
• Improving your relationship with money and finances.
• Moving past blockages to dating and romantic relationships.
• Exploring the path not taken, and preparing for desired life transitions.
• Increasing fun and creativity in your life.
• Setting and moving towards desired career goals.

Therapy often seeks to resolve past experiences or treat current mental health symptoms.  Coaching in contrast tends to be forward-facing, helping you define desired goals and work backwards to create concrete steps towards these desired changes.

There can be some overlap between coaching and therapy, and this is where seeing an experienced psychotherapist for coaching can be especially useful.  Most coaches do not have access to the same wealth of psychotherapy tools that can be useful to a life coaching process. 

Life coaching is an ideal fit for people who don’t identify as having the problems therapy typically seeks to solve: depression, anxiety, or unresolved traumatic experiences, to name a few.

Many people don’t fit into the category of struggling with mental health issues, but still feel stuck or unresolved in various areas of their lives.  A good life coach will help you identify and name those areas, setting measurable goals and assigning homework to help you get unstuck.

The nice thing about having a life coach is you have an invested partner in your personal growth.  A great life coach starts by helping you unpack the issues that trouble you, sorting them into manageable areas for further exploration.  This initial part of the coaching process can help you feel less overwhelmed, as you develop greater insight into yourself.

If you are feeling blocked around personal change you want to make, you are ready for coaching!  You don’t have to tackle your problems on your own.

Coaching creates an accountability partner, breaking your longer-term goals into more manageable steps.  Progress is measured each session, to make sure you are on track to accomplish your goals.

Yes!  EMDR has gained a lot of visibility in recent years, with references in articles, podcasts and maybe your favorite T.V. show.  Although the stereotypical idea of EMDR is that it helps desensitize traumatic experiences- which is one of its’ important uses- EMDR can be helpful in many ways.

EMDR was originally developed for people with PTSD.  With that said, the protocol around EMDR can be applied to a wide variety of life problems.

The great thing about having an experienced psychotherapist as your life coach is that these more advanced therapy techniques can be woven into your change process.

EMDR is a terrific tool for identifying internal “blocks” such as negative beliefs or past experiences.  Many times, these blocks are inhibiting my coaching clients from seeing desired change.  One these blocks are identified, EMDR can be applied to help you resolve them.  EMDR then will help you move towards mentally, emotionally and behaviorally integrating your desired goals. 

This is a very individualized process for each of the coaching clients I work with.  Part of our process together will help you better identify what you want to change.

Common areas for improvement include:

• Improved health and well-being
• Feeling more relaxed and having more fun
• A better relationship with finances
• Stronger relationships, including self-care and self-awareness
• Strengthening a sense of life purpose, clarifying values and priorities, and deepening a connection to God or a higher power
• Solidifying a sober lifestyle
• Navigating a transition more effectively

Yes!  As a certified addictions counselor, I have a wealth of tools to help you deepen your sober lifestyle. 

It’s pretty common for people to experience a “pink cloud” in early recovery.  This euphoric feeling is attached to the early optimism of feeling the problems an addiction once caused are now cured.

As sobriety continues, many of life’s problems re-emerge.  Sure, you’re no longer using certain behaviors or substances to cope, but you might not feel “one hundred percent” in important areas of your life.  This can include re-evaluating your sobriety tools, recovery fellowship or self-care practices.  This can either place you at risk for a relapse, or just in general make you wonder what you got sober for in the first place.

A good recovery coach can help you identify the areas that are holding you back, and make meaningful changes to feel your best again.

Your life coach in Chicago will help you measure your progress each and every session, so you can see the momentum building over time.  You should come out of every session with a sense of moving forward, and actionable steps to keep you there.