Transitions Individual & Couple’s Counseling: Harrisonburg, Virginia — Make Changes that Last

Coaching-Focused Counseling

One does not have to be in distress to benefit from counseling. My Coaching-Focused Counseling is a subset of the counseling services I offer that emphasizes the stages of growth which are more focused on building on existing strengths, setting and achieving future goals, etc. (as opposed to stages of growth that are focused more on bringing healing to places of pain). All of my counseling includes aspects of coaching, but Coaching-Focused Counseling is especially appropriate for those who are not experiencing any significant distress, but who have various life or vocational goals they are wanting help in reaching.

Brief History of Coaching

The field of Coaching (including Life Coaching, Wellness Coaching, Executive Coaching, etc.) originated partly as a reaction to some negative aspects of the counseling field. Some approaches to counseling had become cold and impersonal, with a heavy emphasis on pathology (i.e., looking for what is “wrong” in a person). Clients of these approaches would feel a bit like they were being examined and operated on, and they did not feel understood or helped on a relational level. In contrast, coaching approaches seek to look for and build on client’s strengths. However, because many coaches are not trained as counselors most coaching approaches usually avoid going too deep or touching anything emotionally weighty in the client’s life. This is where my Coaching-Focused Counseling differs the most from many coaching approaches: I are able to help clients address areas where there is pain, as well as the areas where they want to make a good experience even better.

My Unique Approach

All of the counseling services I offer incorporate the benefits of coaching approaches. For example: I seek to emphasize and build on client’s strengths; I view clients as people, not a collection of pathologies; and I help my clients overcome obstacles to their growth regardless of whether those obstacles are deeply painful or mildly annoying.

A helpful analogy for how my Coaching-Focused Counseling fits within the rest of the counseling I offer is that of the physical therapist and the fitness trainer. When a person is physically injured (e.g., they tore a ligament in their knee) they go to a physical therapist to get help in healing the damaged muscles and ligaments. Their process of healing can involve getting a better understanding of how they were injured, help with the process of caring for themselves as they work toward healing, and finally steps they can take to minimize getting re-injured in the future. Once their body is back to healthy levels they might transition (especially if they are very active, or are a professional athlete) to working with a personal fitness trainer. Their work at this stage builds on all the work they have done previously and incorporates that, but the focus at this point is on continuing growth (i.e., building up muscle strength, endurance, etc.) and setting achievement-oriented goals for themselves (e.g., be able to run a marathon in a certain amount of time).

In this analogy Coaching-Focused Counseling is the “fitness trainer” phase. So beginning counseling with Coaching-Focused Counseling is akin to starting out with your own personal fitness trainer. The beauty of my approach is that if in the process of working on your goals you metaphorically hit an old injury I can help you work through that and get back to working on your original goals (whereas some coaches would have to refer you to a counselor because they are not able to work on deeper issues). In the language of the analogy, I am like a combined physical therapist and fitness trainer, so I can help clients with the whole range of the healing and growth processes.

Helping You Become More You

As I describe in my counseling approach, all of my counseling (including Coaching-Focused Counseling) incorporates my understanding of personality types. I use this knowledge to help clients better understand themselves, both in terms of how they can better build on their strengths, and how to better accommodate their weaknesses. In this regard Coaching-Focused Counseling (like all of my counseling services) is tailored to each person I work with as I help them to identify what they wish to change or improve in their life and assist them in taking the necessary steps to reach those goals.

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Coaching-Focused Counseling Topics

Just as each person is unique, there are a myriad of potential Coaching-Focused Counseling topics that could be listed. The below is a sampling of the ways I can assist clients.

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Personality Type & Career Resources

• Career Surveyor Assessment
• TypeFinder^® Personality Test
• Overview of Personality Types

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Location, Fee, etc.

Coaching-Focused Counseling lends itself well to my Distance Counseling option (though if you can come in-person to the Transitions Counseling Office that is still encouraged). As I describe elsewhere I predominately offer Distance Counseling via a secure, web based video conferencing service wherein we can see and interact with each other in real time.

I consider my Coaching-Focused Counseling to be a subset of my counseling services (basically a form of counseling). Thus everything regarding fee (including the 1^st session being half-price), how I handle insurance, methods of payment, etc. all apply. See the FAQ for more details.

I invite you to learn more about me and my counseling approach, and to peruse the Transitions Blog. Let me know any questions you have via the Contact Form ○.

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Explore more Counseling Topics and learn about my Counseling Approach. When you are ready, Schedule ▦ a trial session at half-price.