WHAT IS FAMILY SUPPORT COACHING?
Are you willing to commit to DOING something about the state of your family relationship? Has parenting become difficult or overwhelming? Do you often ask yourself “what is going on here? What should I do?
Family Support Coaching is a series of calls or face-to-face meetings or phone calls between me, you and your family. These are designed to organically change and adjust to your current family climate. It is made up of specific, facilitated conversations and learning experiences, that will get you to the “heart of the matter”. From there, we are able to build on what we find, and create a learning experience with skills to practice that is tailored to the specific needs and desires of your family. It is intended to give you the concrete tools and insight to move forward with your family in an intentional and positive way, and leave old harmful habits behind. More connection and understanding is what we are going for. This is achieved by holding all members accountable for what they are putting into the family dynamic, when everyone learns and shifts, the whole system becomes healthier.
First, a member of your family gets in touch through my contact page. We schedule an initial telephone conversation (which is free of charge). This call determines if Family Support Coaching will benefit your family. Next, is an initial meeting with myself and all willing family members. This meeting takes place in your home (if we are in the same geographical proximity) or on the phone (through conference calls). There is a charge for this initial family meeting. Ongoing sessions can be in-person at your home, a combination of in-person and conference calling, or depending on the needs of your family and geographical location, solely over the phone or Zoom.
Family Support Coaching is not purely coaching, and does not substitute for individual, or couples coaching. The coaching focus may lead to some awareness and processing of individual topics, but the larger focus, is always family functioning and concrete parenting success. Individual coaching relationships can be maintained during the span of Family Support Coaching, and provide a richer personal awareness and experience.
IS COACHING CONFIDENTIAL?
Exactly like a therapist, confidentiality is paramount in my services and non-negotiable. I am bound by strict rules of confidentiality and the identity of my clients as well as the content of the conversations remain strictly confidential.
That being said, you get to share anything and everything that it said within a coaching session – at your discretion. You can choose to keep it confidential, or share aspects of the coaching conversation with others in your world. That part is up to you.
Youth Coaching involves some confidentiality intricacies. If you are a parent wondering about coaching for your youth, please note: we design a communication plan so you are “in the loop”, without violating trust or confidentiality. Everybody wins!
WHERE DOES COACHING TAKE PLACE?
Coaching with me, happens over the phone. One of the wonders of tele-coaching is the speed of which the richness of your life can be revealed. The anonymity and deep privacy of phone-to-phone contact is also very freeing. Coaching by phone, distills our conversation and connection into a powerful vehicle for targeted learning and listening, and there is less self-consciousness when talking about hard things.
Because we connect over the phone, we do not have to be in the same geographical area to maintain a coaching connection. We can connect and coach from any two points on the globe. Yes, coaching by phone is successful. Try it. While Zoom has really become a well used communication tool, for the purposes of deep coaching it creates visual distraction rather than deep connection. I learn and intuit more from what I hear, rather than what I see.
To maximize your benefits from coaching, focused attention without distractions is required by us both–so require it of yourself. You are worth this uninterrupted time to focus on yourself, and it will serve you in your discovery and forward motion.
ARE YOU READY TO WORK WITH ME?
In order to begin a coaching relationship with me, you need to:
- be ready to change
- be willing to get uncomfortable for the sake of your growth and development
- be curious about how to co-create a different life for yourself
- be willing to invest in yourself behaviorally, emotionally and financially
- be brave
- be clear that you are done “giving up on yourself”, or hurting yourself or others
- have reasons to start coaching that you want to tell me, and a few that you DON’T want to tell me
WHY COACH WITH LEAH?
My coaching philosophy is simple: Find You, Be You, Love You–and from this, all things are possible. I coach because I am passionate about you freeing yourself from whatever binds you. I want for you to discover and own your core confidence (your nuclear fuel). I want you to know your unique footprint, and put it to use in your relationships-work-life-world!
I am a “look in the mirror, like who you see, know how you tick, sort through what is in the way–with a good dose of GIDDY UP” coach. What we accomplish together will help specific areas of your world as you target them, and will also generate change that influences your entire life, and your outlook as a whole. You can set intentions, make plans, increase your satisfaction with all areas of your life, and get things done, if you get out of your own way, own your nuclear fuel, and know what your heart desires. I will help you get out of your own way—I am committed to that, are you?
I work to bring consciousness in core areas including:
- bringing greater awareness and clarity to your current circumstances
- identifying emotional blocks and patterns that impact forward motion
- crystallizing ideas into compelling plans for action
- encouraging experimentation with new ways of “being and doing” for the sake of feeling at home in your own skin
It is ok if you are afraid of the heart of the matter. I am patient, and I can be right next to you in whatever you want to explore. I will be continually encouraging you to be curious and brave.
I also have vast experience working with human healing and transformation (prior to becoming a coach), which means when you coach with me, you are choosing someone who has decades of experience assisting people to overcome hurt, embrace wellness and live a life they feel great about!
WHAT DOES INVESTING IN COACHING “GET” YOU?
You are investing in YOU. You are investing in a commitment toward change and ending pain and immobility. You are saying “no” to continuing to live the same life as before. You are investing in having an accountability partner who will love you, and insist on embracing discomfort for the sake of breaking through. You are NOT investing in some “neat conversations”. You are investing in a process that will (from the first call) change your mind, your thoughts, your actions, and yep—your life. Quality coaching has the ability to insist on ongoing insight and development, which fosters lifetime change. That’s what it “gets” you.
WHAT TYPES OF THINGS CAN LIFE COACHING HELP ME WITH?
Co-active coaching addresses your whole life. Regardless of the topic you bring to coaching (and it might be different each session), the outcome is something that can be applied to many areas of your life. No matter what you are currently experiencing, in any area of your life, it can be enhanced or investigated through coaching. We may talk about relationships, family, work, goal-setting, obstacle-busting or address what is at your emotional core. We can do it all. What coaching can assist with, is limited only by what you are willing to discuss. We will find your clearer vision. Each different topic we explore, creates a richer picture of what really matters to you, and from that you determine your actions.
You come to a coach like me, because you want more. There’s something you’re experiencing in your life that is unsatisfactory to you. Perhaps traditional counseling just isn’t getting to the heart of the matter, or needs some additional support.
I can be a powerful asset, and will work in a partnership with you, to help you determine where you want your life to go and hold you accountable for taking steps towards your vision.
HOW DO I KNOW IF COACHING IS RIGHT FOR ME?
Clients have said: “coaching helps get me unstuck”, “helps me see other ways”, helps me connect to my personal power”, “helped me regain my confidence”. Others have experienced contentment, direction, focus, and a release of old stories that were getting in the way. Co-Active Coaching highlights your own personal balance between who you are BEING in the world and what you are DOING.
Can you see or feel that there are things between you, and what you want to be and express in the world? You don’t need to know what it is, but need to WANT to know. Are you ready to see where you are now, what’s in the way, and what you want? if yes, then coaching is for you!
Could your life use a coach? The best way to know if coaching is right for you is to try it. Have a sample session with a coach or multiple coaches to determine what personality and communication style works for you. Coaching is better “felt” than described, and you will know if coaching and the coach are right for you.
I offer a free 30 minute sample session for just this purpose. Contact me to get started.
HOW DOES COACHING DIFFER FROM THERAPY?
Co-active coaches believe that their clients are naturally creative, resourceful and whole. You don’t come to coaching because you are broken and need to be fixed. You come to coaching to enhance and learn from and expand things that are going well, and realign things that are not. Coaching is different than therapy or counseling, as it provides a dedicated space for self exploration that is possibility driven, and focuses on your experience NOW, without the need to go back in time and collect history
Results in therapy are not often immediate. With coaching, you can start to see results very quickly. It’s your agenda, and feeds off your commitment to your own personal growth and change. YOU decide what you discuss in coaching, unlike most therapy where the balance of power resides with the therapist. A life coach is a partner, an ally in fact, and you get to direct the conversations, and I will weave them together for you, so you see a deeper picture. You decide what is most pertinent for you– now, and whatever it is, it is perfect, and I will be with you to be curious, guide and illuminate. I use my skills and knowledge for the sake of moving you forward, and opening the door for insight and intentional change.
Coaching and counseling-type interactions can, and do, overlap for me (as a result of my previous experiences). Whatever you are experiencing in your life right now, no matter it’s magnitude, can be explored through coaching (either solely, or as an additional resource). I help you make courageous choices that can result in a sense of healing and new strength.
WHAT IS COACHING?
Coach (as we use it here) is defined as: a trusted role model, adviser, wise person, steward, or guide – who works with emerging human and organizational forces to tap new energy and purpose, to shape new visions and plans, and to generate desired results. The coach is someone trained and devoted to guiding others into increased competence, commitment and confidence. (Frederic Hudson, in Handbook of Coaching)
Coaching is a deliberate conversation between you and I that motivates and inspires you to identify and create the life you want. The conversation focuses on you and your current experience, what you want more of, and what you want to realign. Coaching conversations can look many different ways depending on your needs in that moment, and may include celebration, goal-setting, exploration of self-imposed barriers and acknowledgment of your emotional spectrum.
I practice Co-active coaching – a powerful alliance designed to forward and enhance the lifelong process of human learning, effectiveness and fulfillment. This coaching philosophy is a forward-focused change experience, that enhances your abilities related to conscious choice. Coaching helps you get reconnected to who you are, what is important to you and creates a contagious environment for personal growth and expansion. The answers to forward motion and getting “unstuck” are already contained in you, and through Co-Active coaching, we will find them!
The efficacy of coaching is also supported by neuroscientific research. Coaching supports and encourages the brain and the human, as new choices and actions grow neural activity in the brain. Doing things differently (and thinking differently) is hard in the beginning because those pathways in your brain are not well established. Coaching was built to support you as you permanently integrate new ways, and over time your brain is able to support those new ways independently. cti coaching and neuroscience. CTI is working together with The Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, to bring the art and practice of coaching together with the science that continues to support its efficacy.
As your coach, I am a sounding board, a cheerleader, an accountability partner, and a flashlight that directs your attention to places begging illumination. Coaching conversations are fundamentally different than any other type of conversation, and are better experienced than discussed (read: trying it will answer more questions that I could ever answer here).
Life coaching is really an expansion of your curiosity, the things you wonder about: “why is it going this way, what could be different, what is my role here, what if I do it differently”? What if…
HOW DO I REFER A FRIEND?
Once you’ve had a meaningful coaching experience, it often becomes a gift you want to give to others. It’s like your heart is speaking to theirs and you want this journey for them. If you have a friend or family member that you would like to refer to me – please feel free to forward the link to this website, and have them contact me through the contact page on this site, for their free 30 minute sample session. This provides an opportunity to feel what coaching with me is like. You can also connect me with your friend (with their permission) via a three way email, and I'll take it from there!
If you have questions about the suitability of referring someone, drop me a line through my contact page. The coaching relationship is unique to each individual and each person will have a different experience with me, based on what is needed. It is important that your friend or loved ones have a sample session with me to determine if I am the right fit.
