You too may be able to become pain free without surgery, drugs, or devices!
I still meet a lot of people who assume that life coaching typically involves stuff like yoga, astrology, and crystals. While I don’t do any of that, some coaches do. Things get a bit more sticky when I need to explain the difference between therapy – which I also don’t do – and coaching, because at times, there is a small bit of overlap.
Therapy and counseling are really focused on mental health issues, such as trauma and depression, while coaching largely focuses on achieving goals and empowering people to do so. That’s essentially what I do. I help people anywhere in the world who want to overcome chronic pain, tinnitus, and weight problems. I have also helped expats in China to navigate the sometimes complex challenges that come with living and working here, and I’ve helped others through career changes and academic challenges.
Therapy is often rooted in the past and the present, while coaching largely focuses on the future. There is some overlap in terms of the present, and I can see how that muddies things up a bit. Looking at another differences will help clear that up.
Therapy is usually directed by the therapist, who decides what direction a session needs to take. Coaching is very much client directed, because clients know what they need, and only they can be the experts of their lives. A good coach works with clients rather than directing them. You can think of coaches almost like a mirror that you can use to see parts of you that you ordinarily can’t see. However, this mirror asks questions that you may never have thought to ask yourself, and your own answers to those questions can often move you towards your goals faster than you would have otherwise moved. That mirror doesn’t judge, it’s your biggest cheerleader, and it will – occasionally and gently – cause you to see where you’ve been deceiving yourself.
When I first began training to become a coach, I was surprised to realize that I had already been doing a lot of coaching as a teacher. Early on in my teaching career, I thought I had to have all the answers. I had a great mentor who discovered this one day and told me, “You can’t possibly know all the answers, and no one should expect you to have them!” She then said that “I don’t know” can be a great teaching tool when followed up with something like, “Why don’t you look into that tonight and let us know what you found out tomorrow?” After doing that for a while, I realized that my students could and would find answers and solutions on their own, and they actually learned and retained more when they did. I then got into the habit of answering every question that they had with one of my own: “What do you think?” “How might you go about doing that?” “What do you already know about…?” Kids would propose wild, or simplistic, or even grandiose answers to questions, but then when asked the right follow up, they’d respond and in mid-sentence suddenly see something off that they hadn’t recognized, and then conclude, “Oh, yeah, maybe I should rethink that.” That’s coaching in a nutshell.
My struggles with chronic pain, tinnitus, and weight management challenges were often lonely experiences in that empathy and practical solutions were scarce from those closest to me, as well as from some healthcare professionals. As someone who understands not just the surface problems but the deep-seated battles that come with these issues, I now coach to offer the support I once desperately needed. These battles can be won, and sustainable change is possible. While I can’t guarantee success because that depends primarily on the work that you do in and beyond coaching sessions, you can expect that for the duration of our working relationship, I will be personally committed to helping you achieve sustainable goals that are important to you. Get in touch for a free consultation to discuss how we can work together!
