Browse through Frequently Asked Questions. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, shoot us an email! 🙂
What is Life Coaching?
Life Coaching is a fast growing helping profession incorporating strategies, techniques, and ideas from philosophy, psychology, health, business, and athletics. The central idea of coaching utilizes the relationship between the coach and the client as a collaborative partnership to elicit creative goals, enhance self-confidence, find personal and professional success, and to generate positive, fulfilling relationships. Coaching can have life changing effects with a dynamic focus on the present and future.
What is the difference between therapy and coaching?
Psychotherapy and coaching while possessing similarities are different and separate helping models each with their own value and validity. Psychotherapy is associated with the “treatment” of a particular emotional or psychological issue. Coaching focuses on the client’s resources and strengths creating resolutions through personal growth, alignment of values, clear and decisive focus, and motivation. Psychotherapy is generally past oriented aimed at healing emotional wounds. Coaching is largely present and future oriented with the client’s optimal future as a visionary goal.
What are your fees?
Fees are based on an hourly rate and are subject to change. To view current prices go to: Packages
How are payments made?
Payments may be made by check, cash, or credit card online securely via PayPal by going to the Packages page. You may also send payment directly via your PayPal account, Venmo, or Zelle.
Do you take insurance?
I do not take insurance. I’m happy to provide receipts to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. Consult your insurance company for your counseling reimbursement rates.
Is this confidential?
Your privacy is our utmost concern. Everything we discuss is strictly confidential. The only exception would be if your or someone’s personal safety was in imminent danger.
What is your background?
My education and background centers around psychological counseling and health psychology. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California Irvine where I specialized in Health Psychology participating in several research projects and field studies within the School of Social Ecology. I furthered my education and training through the attainment of my Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology. I trained as a therapist, and found coaching to be wonderfully congruent with how I worked with clients. I founded the Life Coaching business, Step Stones For Life®, as a venue dedicated to helping others achieve their dreams and aspirations, work through difficult transitions, and create a positive, fulfilling life. I am a Certified Life Coach and continue to refine my education and knowledge with ongoing research and training.
I’ve never done coaching or counseling before, what is the process?
Step Stones For Life reflects the journey we will travel together – Your Path to Fulfillment.
Step 1: Consultation (20 min. phone consult)
Our initial consultation is Free. I offer this consultation to ensure coaching will be applicable to your individual needs, and that we are good match. I will only accept clients whom I feel will benefit from Step Stones For Life Coaching Philosophies, have a commitment to themselves, and are ready to work toward creating their ideal, preferred life. Client satisfaction is of utmost importance to me, I want you to succeed – in fact it is my job! We will then discuss details such as the frequency of sessions, estimated length of our journey, and collect your preferred payment in order to reserve your session time.
Step 2: Embarking On Your Journey
Many clients wonder, “What am I going to talk about?” Don’t worry, I will be your guide and help you uncover key issues, goals, personal qualities, and a course for our journey. Even though I follow the same techniques and philosophies with each client, every conversation and question I ask will differ from client to client according to each individual. We are all unique, and a big part of what I do centers around pulling strengths and assets from your own unique attributes and movement through the world. Often these talents and abilities remain covered for long periods of time, laying dormant from pressures of society, family, or our own denial of their importance. I truly believe we all have the strength to rise above our difficulties with our own resources. My job is to uncover those resources, reconnect their validity, and strengthen them.
During Session One I will ask you questions to assess the challenges and problems you face as well as your strengths and current resources. We will formulate our plan according to your goals. Sometimes individuals are very clear on what they would like to work on and have a clear vision of their ideal future. Great! We are ahead! More often though, the vision of what an individual would like to create is fuzzy, or not there at all. Many people know their life is just not working for them, they feel unsettled, restless, down, and discouraged. But upon thinking about what they would like to do differently, they have no idea. Creating Your Vision of a Preferred Life will be central during our initial sessions. After all, how can you move toward something, if you cannot even see it?
In our next Step Stones for Life sessions we will focus on moving away from the “problem” and toward Your Path to Fulfillment. Problems, challenges, and suffocating societal and social pressures will be “externalized” from your inner being leaving room for strengths, values, positive attributes, and your own voice to surface. Often during this period, clients report seeing “everything” differently, including those close to them. One client told me she felt as if she had been walking through life with dark sunglasses on, and now that she had taken them off the whole world seemed brighter. I like to describe this process visually to clients…Imagine your “problem” is like a dark, heavy, billowing cloud completely surrounding you. Through externalizing questions and exercises I am able to lift the billowy cloud up and away from you, and in the process your vision of life, yourself, and others becomes much clearer. Unthought of possibilities and resolutions to problems emerge with great strength and conviction.
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.”
~ Carl Jung
Our next Step Stones for Life sessions will focus on “cementing” strengths, defining actions to follow your Path to Fulfillment while continuing to focus and clarify your vision. Alignment of personal values with these actions is a key part of this process. Dysfunction occurs when a collision of internal values and how we express ourselves in the world differ greatly. I often see very intelligent and financially successful people simply fall apart. Upon investigation, I often uncover a drastic discrepancy between a person’s core values and how they work or conduct their personal life. Clients are often surprised to realize how completely their true self has been slumbering in order to make money, get there faster, and to just survive. Work, relationships, and personal success soar when this realignment of our core self takes place.
Celebrating, motivating, and reinforcing. Just when you thought you were home free – here comes your Life Coach. Now we have a plan, a vision, you have implemented goals and strategies, and are having great success. Are we done? No. My job is critical at this point. Problems can often resurface and creep back in. Through skilled questioning I able to “spot” trouble before it interferes and undermines your success. Reinforcing your newly acquired skills, strengths, and directions are extremely important at this point. Conflicts within society, work, and home can quietly convince us our happiness is self indulged. Even loved ones can sabotage progress because it is uncomfortably different. I am here to make sure you stay on track.
How do we know when we are done?
When the problem no longer interferes with your continued progress on Your Path to Fulfillment. When your Vision is crystal clear and your direction is lighted and comfortable. When you look back on your path and say, “Wow, look how far I have come.” And when you become the person you thought you could never be – truly you.
When our journey comes to an end … our paths will always cross in someway. There is not one client that slips my mind, and I absolutely love to hear updates and future success stories. I am always available for “Success Builder” sessions to further your actualization and momentum.
Begin Your Journey …