Many people seek out life coaches for guidance in navigating a significant life change, such as taking on a new career. In plenty of cases, however, people turn to life coaches simply for help in building a happier, more meaningful life.

There are a number of indications that working with a life coach could be helpful for you. These signs include:

• Frequent irritability
• High levels of stress and/or anxiety
• Inability to break bad habits
• Lack of fulfillment in your social life
• Persistent feeling of dissatisfaction at work
• Sense of blocked creativity

In recent years, life coaches have acquired a considerable presence in the mainstream. Indeed, a growing number of creatives, executives, and entrepreneurs are now teaming up with life coaches to attain success in their professional and personal lives.

Some life coaches take a more general, all-encompassing approach, but there are also many that specialize and focus on helping people in specific areas. Some of the different types of life coaches include:

• Addiction and sobriety coaching
• Leadership coaching
• Career coaching
• Dating and relationship coaching
• Fitness coaching
• Family life coaching
• Financial coaching
• Health and wellness coaching
• Life skills coaching
• Mental health coaching
• Spirituality coaching

I take a more general, all-encompassing approach, but there are also many areas that I specialize in and focus on helping people in specific areas such as the eleven options listed above.

Although there may be some overlap in the benefits of working with a life coach and participating in psychotherapy with a licensed therapist, these professionals have distinct roles and serve unique purposes.

Unlike life coaches, therapists and other mental health professionals focus on healing, treating mental health conditions, and helping people work through trauma and other issues from their past. While working with a life coach may help you to deal with certain unresolved issues, life coaches cannot treat mood disorders, anxiety disorders, addiction, or any other mental health condition.

Therapists

• Can treat mental health conditions.
• Have a degree and are licensed in a field.
• Adhere to ethical codes.

Life Coaches

• Cannot treat mental health conditions.
• Do not need any formal qualifications or related academic training.
• Are not required to follow health privacy laws.

Therapists have a degree and are licensed, mental health professionals. They must follow an ethical code and adhere to regulations regarding the confidentiality and ongoing education.

Life coaches, on the other hand, are not governed by a board and do not have to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and its privacy rules that help protect your personal health information. To that end, a life coach should never be considered a substitute for a mental health professional.

If you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health problem (such as feelings of hopelessness, difficulty concentrating, sleep disruption, and mood disturbance), it is crucial to consult a mental health professional as soon as possible.

If you or a loved one are struggling with a mental health condition, Contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1 (800) 662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.

For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.

One of the main benefits of working with a life coach like me is the ability to gain a fresh, informed perspective on problems that you face. In addition to offering new insight into challenges, I can help you zero in on negative patterns that could be standing in the way of your success.

Many people view working with a life coach like me as a means of bridging the gap between your current circumstances and the life you would like to lead. The following are some of the positive outcomes that could result from joining forces with me:

• Better work/life balance
• Elimination of long-held fears and anxieties
• Enhanced creativity
• Greater financial security
• Improved communication skills
• More satisfying work-life
• Stronger relationships with friends and family

Additionally, people frequently pair up with a life coach like me in order to work through barriers that may interfere with finding a partner/mate. Many people also look to me for help in identifying their passion and carving out their ideal career path.

Since sessions typically take place on a regular basis over a prolonged period of time, I can ensure that my clients are implementing what is necessary to experience significant change.

For a great number of clients, accountability is one of the prime advantages of working with me.

Along with providing the support and motivation essential for maintaining momentum, I can observe when a client is stuck or needs to recalibrate their goals. As a result, clients often achieve those goals more quickly and efficiently than they would if working on their own.

My Signature Coaching Process helps eager individuals solve stress through finding confidence and purpose.
They start step 1 feeling and thinking overwhelmed, confused, stuck or demotivated.
Once finished, they will think and feel confident, motivated, purposeful, and equipped.
I will guide them through actionable material on Emotional Intelligence and Boundaries.
Once completed, they will have the confidence and structure to meet their goals and needs in order to thrive!

1. Capture and describe the problems to be solved.
2. Identify the skills required to solve the problem.
3. Get inside your head.
4. Put together the initial skills list.
5. Conduct external research.
6. Prioritize and group the skills.
7. Outline high-level learning pathways.
8. Brainstorm and finalize the learning paths.

I am a stress management coach. I offer coaching services to help people manage their stress through teaching them the following skills:

• Managing pressure, deadlines and overwhelm.
• Separating yourself from your thoughts.
• Setting boundaries and speaking up.
• Catching yourself when stress goes off and turning it off.
• Avoiding thinking traps and catastrophizing.
• Controlling anxiety and sleeping better.
• Building resilience to manage any challenge.
• Leaving work at work with work recovery strategies.

This path explains how it is possible through coaching to learn how to manage stress and avoid hanging on to it long after the triggering event has passed.

I am a resilience coach. I offer coaching services to help people manage their resilience by teaching them the following skills:

• Resiliency framework.
• Becoming resilient: Finding yourself.
• Becoming resilient: Time to regulate.
• Personal resiliency: Importance of creativity.
• Personal resiliency: Lead with what you are good at.
• Personal sustainability: We all need someone sometime.
• Personal sustainability: Expecting good things.

This path explains how it is possible through coaching to learn how to manage resilience.

While people may report subjective benefits after seeing me, there have also been studies that have shown that life coaching can be beneficial in a number of areas:

• One study found that both individual and group coaching was helpful in reducing procrastination and improving goal attainment.
• Another review of studies found that health and wellness coaching showed promise for improving self-efficacy and self-empowerment.
• Finally, a study found that coaching-based leadership interventions could be effective for enhancing well-being and improving functioning within organizations.

Research also suggests that life coaching can have a range of other positive effects, including improvements in personal insight and improved self-reflection. It may also help improve overall mental health and quality of life.

Life coaching sessions can take many different forms. For example, I have met with my clients in person, while some have preferred their sessions over the phone or online.

If you are thinking of working with me, keep in mind that it is up to you to decide what you would like to focus on in your coaching sessions. Each session should leave you feeling empowered and uplifted, so it is critical to find a path that resonates with you.

Before you see me, there are a few potential pitfalls that you should watch for:

• Do not expect immediate results. I can help you make plans, address problems, and work toward achieving your goals, but it is important to remember that these things take time. It may be helpful if you set some short-term and long-term goals to work toward.
• Consider if I am suited to your needs. Not all life coaches take the same approach to a problem, so what you get out of the process may have a lot to do with the type of relationship you have with your coach. Build a relationship with me that is suited to working with your personality type and approach to solving problems.
• Do not see me to address serious mental health issues. If you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety, you should talk to your doctor or therapist to discuss your treatment options. I can offer advice that can improve your well-being, but that does not mean I can provide mental health treatment.

As a formal field, coaching is relatively young, but it has roots in many older disciplines. It draws on areas that include the human potential movement of the 1960s, leadership training, adult education, personal development, and numerous areas of psychology.

Life coaching formally emerged during the 1980s and grew in popularity throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Some of the earliest life coaches focused on life planning, but the field eventually grew to encompass other life areas including relationships, finances, careers, health, and overall well-being.