Folks seeking help always ask me the same question. “What do you do? How is your practice and therapeutic coaching different from counseling, regular therapy, or life coaching?”

I usually get this question from people frustrated by a doctor or therapist who has prescribed some sort of medication (e.g. antidepressants or Ritalin), but fails to provide ongoing, useful, one-to-one support. People who are depressed, anxious or struggling need practical help. Their daily life needs to be monitored more closely than once a month. They need, want, and deserve specific guidance or approaches to life to try on for size. They know that medication alone can’t help sort out the daily struggles.

Even informed health care providers need to be educated about the benefits and advantages of therapeutic coaching. While therapeutic coaching is widely accepted as commonplace in states like Massachusetts and California, and countries like the UK, here in Connecticut, we are behind the curve.

So, here’s a brief sketch of the advantages of therapeutic coaching. For a more complete description, visit this topic on my website.

Therapeutic Coaching:

• Is short-term therapy. We work together to clarify your immediate goals and practical solutions.
• Focuses on the root cause of you or your child’s particular challenges while suggesting immediate, do-able behavioral changes.
• Is outcome based. There can be small, short-term transformation as well as long-term sustainable change.
• Centers on active interaction and dialogue between coach and client with an emphasis on mutual feedback throughout the process.
• Provides regular “homework assignments” to try out new ways of thinking, feeling, behaving, helping clients to look ahead instead of replaying the past.

While therapeutic coaching is widely accepted as commonplace in states like Massachusetts and California, and countries like the UK, here in Connecticut, we are behind the curve.

Whether you need help with an unhappy relationship, a child with Attention Deficit, or have family problems, a therapeutic coach may be just what your doctor should order!