PERSONAL COACHING  |
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The spectacle
we see depends on the spectacles we wear.
--Paul
Watzlawick |
Sometimes
the lens we look through is a family heirloom.
-- Anonymous |
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| HISTORY AND BACKGROUND |
 Help for the difficult transitions of
life need not always entail a mental illness context or the violations
of privacy that often accompany the involvement of diagnoses,
treatment plans, and insurance gatekeepers that can authorize
or deny treatment.
In recent years, Oyster Point Psychological
has received an increasing number of calls from persons
requesting help with a major transition in life that
disrupts some combination of emotional, professional,
and financial well-being (e.g., major disappointments
and disruptions at work, difficult adjustments to post-divorce
life, and academic setbacks).
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| These inquiries differ from psychotherapy
inquiries in several ways: |
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the callers refuse to conceptualize their difficulties from
a "mental illness" point of view and describe themselves as well persons, who are going through difficult transitions; |
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they resent any construction
of "psychiatric scaffolding" around their challenges, and |
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they insist on the highest level
of discretion that includes an unwillingness to
have their difficulties discussed with third-party
insurance carriers and/or recorded in clinical charts and associated health
care databases. |
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| In selected cases, personal coaching breathes fresh
life into the helping endeavor and represents a response
to this request for professional assistance in a non-psychiatric
non-clinical environment. Persons who require psychotherapy are encouraged to obtain it, and a referral is offered whenever it is deemed appropriate to do so. Chesapeake Coaching of Oyster Point Psychological
approaches the personal coaching endeavor with
several assumptions: |
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All persons acquire
"software" (i.e., programming) during
formative years from parental figures, teachers,
and others in positions of considerable authority
and influence. |
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The "software" is often
flawed in significant ways and results in distortions
as to how we view ourselves and others. These distortions
cause people to be compromised in their personal
and professional endeavors (e.g., with students,
patients, clients, colleagues, supervisors, and
friends) but not to the extent that they require psychotherapy for an illness or condition. |
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Unrecognized opportunities to
re-invent oneself are often present, and these opportunities
can be discovered and acted upon constructively
in a personal coaching relationship of expertise,
sensitivity, and discretion. |
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| As is noted above, personal coaching does not entail the
treatment of a mental illness, although referrals for
therapy are made whenever the coach and/or the client deem it necessary. At the time of the
initial interview, this matter is discussed in detail
and in strictest confidence. |
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| WHAT IS PERSONAL COACHING? |
| Personal coaching provides an opportunity
for the client to: |
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Clarify goals (e.g.,
professional, economic, or interpersonal) that have
proven elusive and describe what success would look
like. |
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Identify the errors in the client's belief system that impede progress and acknowledge
self-defeating behavior. |
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Identify and vector personal
resources toward goal attainment. |
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Develop strategic tasks which,
if followed, may promote positive movement toward a
higher level of functioning and the robust consolidation
of gains. |
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Receive encouragement and, at
times, supportive confrontation, as the assignments
are undertaken, goals are established, and successes
are achieved. |
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| The coaching endeavor entails having a dedicated mentor and getting knowledgeable support and encouragement and
a new way of looking at things when you need it. If a
coach is nothing else, a coach is a master of implementation,
and a winning coach will impart that mastery to you. |
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| WHO MIGHT BENEFIT FROM PERSONAL COACHING? |
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A former partner,
who has sacrificially supported the educational
and/or business-building endeavors of a former spouse,
might benefit from post-divorce coaching while regrouping
and pursuing some combination of educational and/or
business opportunities as a new life is fashioned. |
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Anyone for whom there is a major disconnect between personal resources, effort, and accomplishments. |
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A student, who has reacted poorly to the stress and temptations of academic life, may benefit from academic coaching as the student reassesses aptitudes and goals and consolidates a new and robust position of accomplishment. |
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An executive may have been caught unaware as a reduction in force or reorganization/acquisition left her or him without a job. A painful period of personal reassessment, reinventing, and job hunting may be an excellent opportunity for a coaching relationship as a new life is fashioned. |
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A professional person, who is immersed in a scandal, might benefit from a coaching experience as a wave of disruptive embarrassment and turmoil moves through the person's life. |
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| WHAT DOES SUCCESS IN PERSONAL COACHING
LOOK LIKE? |
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Moving a personal
or business endeavor to the next level and enjoying
the associated autonomy, comfort, money, and status
associated with this accomplishment |
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Making partner or achieving tenure
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Enhanced discernment and accountability |
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Returning to school with enhanced
confidence, balance, and success |
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Living well in a faithful marriage
or being happily and successfully single |
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Managing those "applauded
addictions" |
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Reinventing oneself after a scandal
or reduction-in-force experience |
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| FEES AND OTHER PARTICULARS |
Personal coaching typically requires
a minimum commitment of 12 weeks with regularly-scheduled
one-hour-per-week appointments. Coaching is frequently
done over the telephone or via videoconferencing, which permits a busy professional
to select a coach without geographical constraints and
saves both time and money associated with commuting to
and from scheduled appointments. Videoconferencing, when
available, adds the visual dimension to the interactions
between coach and client.
An initial assessment of approximately three hours in
length includes a structured interview and the completion of a questionnaire. This
assessment permits us to address the coaching versus psychotherapy
issue and helps us make an informed recommendation as
to what type of service is most likely to be cost-effective
in promoting the client's needs and goals. This initial
assessment is conducted on a fee for service basis and
is required before any longer term commitment is possible. The potential coaching client agrees that this interview and assessment are not to be construed as a doctor patient relationship in any way.
Subsequent commitments for personal coaching services
are made in twelve-week blocks of time with non-refundable
fees payable in advance. Appointments are typically arranged
for the same day of the week and the same time of day.
Appointments represent a commitment of coach and client
to one another, and success is more likely when departures
from scheduled appointments are kept at a minimum. |
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| HOW DO I GET STARTED? |
| Individuals, who wish to discuss how
personal coaching might be of benefit, are invited to
call Chesapeake Coaching of Oyster Point Psychological at 804.435.6777 for a no-cost, no-obligation discussion
of their particular circumstances.
We look forward to working with you; call us today!
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Lost wealth can be recovered by industry. Lost knowledge can be recovered by study. Lost health can be recovered by temperence or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.
-- Samuel Smiles
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