A Personal Life Coach is someone who is qualified to support, encourage, challenge, and motivate you to achieve your goals. A coach is a good active listener that can pick up from your voice what you are really thinking and will facilitate you to take actions to move yourself towards your goals. They will celebrate your successes, help you discover how to overcome obstacles, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and enable you to move forward at a far greater pace than you could achieve on your own, with the ultimate aim of you achieving your goals and discovering a much happier life.

Life Coaching works because it focuses you on exactly what you want to achieve and gets you there faster. We go through life constantly busy "doing things," but very rarely do we stop and consider our future and where we want to be. A Life Coach helps you to do just that with dedication to you and your future. We will listen, encourage, support and motivate you. A Life Coach is able to keep you locked in and through their experience and expertise, you will be able to identify options available to you, that you may not have ever considered.​

During each session, we will recap on the actions set and achieved from the last session and look at general progress and successes. We will then set a ‘session goal’ to clearly set out what you want to achieve by the end of the day’s session. We then explore where you are at the moment with that particular goal; what you have tried; what has worked and any obstacles you have come across along the way. We then explore all the possible options in achieving that goal, using lots of techniques to extract options that you hadn't considered. Lastly and most importantly we look at what actions you want to set yourself from the list of options to achieve that session’s goal.

Coaching sessions last approximately 50 minutes. These sessions can be weekly, fortnightly or monthly-- whatever best suits your life and the speed at which you can take actions to achieve your goals.​

This depends on what you want to achieve with coaching. Most people come with a life-changing goal in mind. In order to achieve this, we look at smaller goals, that need to be achieved each session to move you closer to your overall goal. For some people, this may take as little as 6 sessions. For many, it will be more. It is a very personal decision based on your individual goal.​

In the majority of cases, the coaching will take place via video conference. This has proven to be the most convenient way for individuals to fit coaching into their busy lives. Other than a computer, tablet, or smartphone, you will need a quiet room with no distractions to totally focus on the conversation. Face-to-face coaching is available, upon request for clients in the Myrtle Beach area.

Coaching and counseling are similar in the sense that both counselors and coaches ask the client questions, sometimes requiring a lot of soul-searching. Neither a counselor nor a coach will give advice but they will listen to what you say and direct the conversation with further pertinent questions. However, whereas the typical counseling session will be dealing with emotions and issues in the past affecting the present, the coaching relationship is focused on the future and deals with optimizing the opportunities in your life for you to ultimately achieve greater happiness.

If you are interested in working with one of our professional coaches, please schedule a free consultation today. We will gather pertinent information, conduct an assessment, and learn your expectations for the coaching relationship. We will then discuss the different services that may benefit you and connect you with the best coach that fits your needs.

Sessions last 45-55 minutes. Most clients are seen once or twice per week in the beginning, then, as treatment progresses, less frequently. The number of sessions depends on each person’s needs and can be discussed openly with your therapist.

Of course, the length of treatment varies with each person, the nature of the problem, and the agreed-upon goals. Some discrete, clearly defined issues can be resolved in 6 to 10 sessions, but many people find value in continued self-discovery and consistent support of long-term treatment.

Office fees depend on the type of service you request and your insurance benefits. Our highly trained staff will work hard to help you determine your insurance benefits, co-pay amounts, and guide you through methods of payment. We also accept individual/private payment and encourage you to call the office (866-528-2682, Ext 102) and let us help you with your specific questions. 

Please note: Insurance does not presently cover the cost of professional coaching.

Below are 5 ways that coaching differs from counseling:

Past vs Future

In counseling, the emphasis is often on the past. You may revisit your childhood or a former relationship or an old wound in order to move forward in your present life. However, coaching puts the emphasis on the future.

You may imagine a different future or consider upcoming possibilities or dream about achieving spectacular goals. While counseling remembers the past, coaching envisions the future.

Healing vs Progress

The goal of counseling is often healing and recovery. It is bringing the client to a healthier state of belief and function through the appropriate therapy. However, coaching is more about progress and development.

While probably everyone could become healthier in some way, coaching assumes the client is healthy enough that no unhealthy area will hold the client back from forward progress. While counseling focuses on healing and recovery, coaching focuses on progress and development.

Wounds vs Strengths

In order to heal from past wounds, you may have to do difficult work around your wounds. You may have to revisit and acknowledge and get angry and forgive. Only then may you be free from the restraining power of the wound.

However, coaching focuses on your strengths, which are your means of making contributions in the world. In coaching, you may do focused work around your strengths in order to release the power of the strength. While counseling works on wounds, coaching works on strengths.

Licensing vs Certification

In counseling, there is a licensing process to become a licensed professional counselor, which includes educational courses, examination, supervision, and experience hours. The requirements for licensing are upheld by the local government. On the other hand, there is no professional coaching license.

Instead, professional coaches are certified by a coaching institution. Although there are no governing authorities for coaching, a widely honored authority for certification and standards is the International Coach Federation. While professional counselors are licensed, professional coaches are certified.

Steady stream vs Rising Tide

For years now, the profession of counseling has been widely accepted as an important means of healing. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 140,000 mental health counselors employed in the United States in May 2016. Counseling has been steady and constant.

However, coaching is more like a rising tide. According to the 2016 ICF Global Coaching Study, there were 53,300 coaches worldwide in 2016, which is 12,000 more coaches from their 2012 study, and the next report will show even more. While counseling is a steady stream, coaching is a rising tide.