What is life coaching? (and what happens in a coaching session?)

The coaching industry has exploded in recent years and sometimes it seems like everyone is becoming a life coach. But the truth is, despite an increase in popularity there is still a lot of confusion around what life coaching actually is.

Today I’m going to share some of my thoughts around this and give you a little insight into what I do everyday as a life coach.

So what is life coaching? Well, essentially any form of coaching, is the process of getting you from where you are now to where you want to be. That could be in your business, relationships, career, or any area where you are navigating a period of transition — it’s all about getting from where you are to where you desire to be.

What does a life coach do?

The coaches role within this process is really to create the space for you to explore what it is you actually want, what’s standing in the way and to support you in breaking down those blocks that are holding you back. All the fears, limiting beliefs that you might hold about yourself, patterns or cycles of thought or behaviour that aren’t serving you.

What the coach is not here to do is to fix problems for you, give advice or tell you what to do. That’s thegreat thing about the coaching process — it’s based on the belief you already have all the knowledge you need to move forward, you just need a little support in clearing out all the clutter so that you can really listen to your internal guidance, your intuition.

Coaching is different to therapy although there are similarities. But unlike a therapist a coach won’t usually focus on what’s happened in the past, the focus is more on getting you to where you want to be.

Who does a life coach work with?

Every coach is different but for the most part, life coaches will work with anyone going through a transition, anyone looking to make change. Some life coaches work with a very specific group of people or area of life — so they might work with teenagers or working mothers, they might work on relationships or careers.

Personally, I find that my clients tend to fall into 2 camps — the first group are women who have an idea of what their dream life looks like but they don’t know how to make happen. Usually it’s because they are held back by fear or negative thoughts patterns. We’ll do a lot of work to really dig in and break down that fear and to cultivate positive perspectives, so that they can create life by their own design. These are clients who dream of starting their own business, writing a book — doing something that seems big and bold to them.

The other camp of clients, are women who know that life doesn’t feel quite how they want it to but they’re not sure what needs to change. Coaching helps them to gain clarity, to visualise what they want life to look like, and more importantly, feel like. What I’ve found with this group is that they have often gone through life making choices based on what they believe is expected of them. So suddenly they find themselves in this place where they have achieved a lot of success but something feels missing, because the life they are living is not in alignment with who they are and what they really want for themselves.

What happens in a coaching session?

Another question I get asked a lot is why I only offer longer-term programs. My signature program is 4 months long. Again every coach differs in what they offer, but for me I think it’s important to take a holistic approach — so instead of just focusing on one area (your relationships, for example), a holistic approach involves looking who you are as a person, as a whole. The reason I take this approach in my coaching work is because I believe to create lasting change in your life you need to start with the inner work. We need to get our thoughts, emotions and behaviours in line with the life we want to cultivate.

It’s really important to me that my clients feel fully supported in this, which is why I only offer in-depth programs that allow deep work to take place.

So what does a coaching session look like? Again, every coach operates slightly differently but for the most part, the coaching relationship will start with some sort of initial session where the coach can gain an understanding of where the client is currently and where they are aiming to get to. Then the coach will tailor the rest of the program to fit the specific needs of the client. I meet with my clients over Skype and the session will start with a little recap of what’s been going on for my client, what progress they have made since the last session and then we’ll usually work through a particular area that is challenging for the client. Before the end of the session we’ll agree on an action for my client to take that will help move them closer to their ideal life. In between sessions I’ll often give clients additional resources — workbooks, meditations etc to help them further.