Every month the associates at Aspire Too will answer your questions in our “Ask the Counsellors Feature”. Please submit your questions confidentially to [email protected]
Question: Hi there. I am interested in exploring life coaching, as well as some possible career counselling in the future. I have been through personal counselling in the past, which I have found extremely helpful. However, I am now at a place in my life where I am generally happy, but I feel I could use some extra support in taking my life from good to great. Can you tell me how life coaching is different from counselling, and what I can expect if I decide to access life coaching services through your company?
Kerry (not her real name)
Answer: Life coaching differs from counselling in that it focuses more on the present than the past. They do not diagnose or treat mental health concerns. Most people who seek life coaching are in a relatively healthy place in their lives, but are looking for improvements or changes in specific areas. Individuals and companies access life coaching for various reasons, such as, improving relationships at home or work, healthy lifestyle changes, maximizing output, career changes, retirement goals, etc..
A life coach is a trained professional who will help you to create positive changes, identify new possibilities and create a plan together to develop steps in reaching identified goals and objectives. Work will be done together on minimizing weaknesses, distorted beliefs, and negative habits which impede successful outcomes and maximizing on the strengths of the client. The focus is on imagination, visualization and keeping you on track towards conceptualization. Through Aspire Too, we have trained and certified professionals who will help you to move ahead by learning new strategies and ideas increasing overall productivity in whichever area of your life you identify. We will define goals and objectives, look at what has and has not worked for yourself in the past, teach patterns of positive thought processes, and help you to create a plan to reach your goals. We then continue to work with you through any pitfalls that occur and will celebrate your success in reaching your goal. If career planning is part of the process, we have staff trained in various career assessments that will guide you to areas of interest for further study, training or change. Life coaching can then be utilized in implementing any identified career goals. Life coaching is a process developed together through several sessions. You may contact our office and talk to myself or any of our knowledgeable staff for more specifics around particulars as well as we offer the option of packages on life coaching sessions. Thank you for your great question!
Sincerely,
Leanne Leedahl, BSW, RSW, CLC
Clinical Social Worker and Certified Life Coach