The Process
Before our first session: the life audit
My new clients complete a Life Audit questionnaire before we first meet.
This is really where our work begins. This online form will ask you to consider different aspects of your life, and give you the opportunity to reflect on how things are going and where you’d like to improve. Many people have never had a chance to reflect on their life in this detail, and it will often trigger new thoughts and feelings and kick-start the coaching process.
You’ll arrive at your first session with much clearer thoughts and questions, and I’ll have a lot of background information so we can get to work quickly.
The form takes at least 30 minutes, but the longer you spend and more information you can provide, the more you will get out of it, and the better prepared I can be for our first session.
Your first session
We will meet, online or in person, and we’ll have 50 minutes of intense, focused conversation about how you feel, what you’re facing and what holds you back. You might arrive with burning questions and a clear idea of what you want to explore, or you might feel a bit lost and unclear about where to begin. Either is absolutely fine. We’ll discover stuff together, explore solutions and begin the coaching process.
Often, I will identify your challenges in our first session, and I’ll be able to tell you what our work will look like.
You will leave the session with a clear sense of whether this process is right for you, and a bunch of new insights and ideas.
Early sessions always involve finding common language and understanding the landscape, so the coaching process is one that deepens and grows in effectiveness over time. That said, even your first few sessions will be deeply supportive and motivating.
Once you’ve experienced the process and you have some idea about where we’re going, I’ll invite you to book in for a course of sessions. You can find all my prices on the Courses & Prices page. If you want to solve a specific problem, you’ll see a course for this. If you’re looking for deeper answers, a lot more clarity and some massive personal growth, then that will be a longer commitment.
Not sure if counselling or coaching is better for you? I wrote a short article about this.
Homework
You're going to leave most of our sessions with homework to do
Every piece of homework is carefully tailored to your exact needs at this time.
A lot of people have their biggest breakthroughs while they're working on tasks I've set them. They arrive at their next sessions bubbling with energy, excitement and new ideas.
For a lot of my clients, homework becomes their favourite part of the coaching experience.
The role of homework in coaching
I will often be able to look ahead and see what your next steps and challenges are going to be. I'll set you homework that will end up being exactly what you needed.
Build upon the exciting ideas and threads that we've discovered in our session. We want to steadily build on these ideas, not lose the momentum.
You'll need time to practice the techniques and skills we've explored in our coaching sessions, with more time to really explore them and embed them into your life.
I will ask you to devote time and energy to your homework. It won't be more than you can handle, but you will need to set aside time to get the most out of your coaching experience.
What happens in sessions?
There are different types of sessions:
Sometimes our work will focus on immediate, pressing problems. We'll talk them over, come up with plans together, set deadlines, and you'll leave with a clear course of action.
We will usually have a longer-term set of goals or challenges, so some sessions will involve updates on progress, brainstorming new solutions and keeping you focused and motivated.
In other sessions we will find ourselves going much deeper and talking about why your life has taken the shape it has. These conversations tend to create the biggest long-term changes.
There will be other sessions when life gets in the way, it happens to everyone. We will expect to talk about one thing, but you will arrive angry, or upset, or exhausted. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and in my experience these often become the most memorable session that lead to your biggest breakthroughs.
Short term wins
In our first months, you will solve problems, gain clarity and get moving in good directions.
This might be everything you’re looking for, and I would love to coach you through this process. I’ve helped many clients sort out short-term chaos or difficult situations.
Making big life decisions
Tackle immediate problems like personality clashes at work, preparing for interviews, exams or presentations or short-term communications problems in your relationship
Getting things done: becoming more effective
Practical skills like time management and running your finances
Stop going round in circles by getting a dispassionate, outside perspective
I will be your ally, your guide, and a positive, encouraging companion to help you stay focused as you overcome obstacles.
The deep dive
You may feel ready to go deeper and embrace a bigger challenge, to deal with the things that have always held you back, to open up new possibilities by redefining who you are.
This is the highest and greatest gift I can offer as your coach. For those who feel ready, it’s an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s challenging, frightening and inspiring to experience your life and yourself from this perspective and with this clarity.
Eventually, for those who choose this journey, the chaos begins to clear and you have the life-changing opportunity to step into your true self, your true identity and your true life. I have seen people do this many times, and it’s always breath-taking and inspiring to watch someone launch an entirely new chapter of their lives.
After the work
Many of my clients surge forwards into amazing lives. Once you’ve made some big changes and things feel better, clearer and more satisfying, you won’t need to see me so regularly.
I will continue to be here if you decide you want to talk. Coaching sessions can be some of the most powerful and touching moments of your life, and that forms a deep bond of trust between client and coach.
A lot of my clients will continue to see me infrequently, every few months, to get a boost, to focus on a new challenge or a new aspect of their personal growth, or to get some help if old patterns resurface in new situations.
It's like having a familiar and deeply trusted companion who knows you really well and only wants the best for you.