Frequently Asked Questions…
What is life coaching?
There are a lot of life coaches out there nowadays! It is currently an unrelated industry, meaning you aren’t required to have a specific set of credentials or certification to call yourself a coach. However, the most widely recognized organization is the International Coaching Federation, which requires in-depth training, observation, and assessment to obtain certification. Their definition of life coaching is:
“Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
And they also go on to say:
“The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership.
We all have goals we want to reach, challenges we’re striving to overcome and times when we feel stuck. Partnering with a coach can change your life, setting you on a path to greater personal and professional fulfillment.”
So what does this mean? It means we’re here to help you work through challenges and problems, work towards your goals, and come up with solutions that are totally customized to you, the client. By using techniques such as active listening, empowered questioning, collaboration, goal setting, visualization, mirroring, and much more, coaches can help their clients work through issues and blocks and create action steps/plans to move forward in one or more aspects of their lives.
Often, they help bring awareness to mental blocks you didn’t realize you had, and help you shift your mindset and overcome those limiting beliefs in order to approach your problems and life in a new way.
What does a life coach actually do?
It depends on the coach, your agreement, and the things you want to work on. Your coach is there to listen, ask thought-provoking questions, provide support, help you create steps and take action toward your goals, and provide accountability.
Coaches meet with their clients on a regular basis, often for extended periods of time (anywhere from 3 months to 18 months), and some will provide support and be available for “spot coaching” between sessions as well.
How the session is structured varies by coach as well. Typically, sessions will last anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on your agreement, during which time you might discuss your goal, emotions that are coming up, things you’re struggling with, your progress, any beliefs, blocks, or issues that come up, solutions or mindset shifts, how to move forward and break your desires down into achievable steps, and a plan for holding yourself accountable to the action steps. Your coach will probably have a set structure for their sessions that you can discuss.
But the bottom line is that they are there to help you transform your life.
Why hire a life coach?
Working with a life coach is very different than simply having someone to talk to. Whereas you may be able to confide in friends and family and ask for advice, they all have their own biases, whether they know it or not! A good life coach is trained to listen actively and ask deep, thought-provoking questions to help you come up with your own answers and solutions. It’s their job to show up for you with curiosity, and without judgment or personal agenda. That is a very different type of support and resource than anyone else in your life, and the benefits can be amazing.
When you work with a life coach trained through the International Coaching Federation (ICF), we are trained to listen and ask deep, thought-provoking questions to help you think differently and get to the root of the problem. This kind of coaching is incredibly powerful, because we can point out patterns and behaviors you may not be seeing that are holding you back, often leading to many a-ha moments and breakthroughs. We also partner with you to co-create action plans and talk about accountability measures (depending on what kind of goal you’re working on or challenge you’re working through), so that we’re working together to create solutions that work specifically for you in your life - and empowering you to build trust in yourself.
Depending on the specific type of coaching, the results can include:
Clarity in your life purpose
Increased confidence and self-esteem
Improved relationships, both romantic and not
Implementation of new healthy habits
Shifts in your mindset and how you approach problems
Having someone in your corner to cheer you on and celebrate your accomplishments, big and small
Having someone who can help you stay on track with your goals and hold you accountable to the steps you set for yourself
Having someone who will listen to your biggest goals and dreams without judgment
Having someone who will take the time to co-create a plan with you to set yourself up for success in whatever goals you decide to pursue
And depending on the coach and area you’re working on, so much more!
How much should a life coach cost?
There is a wide range of pricing in the life coaching industry, but most coaches charge anywhere from $50 to $300 per hour, with ICF-trained life coaches typically charging on the higher end. The majority of life coaches will charge per package, rather than per session. This means that they are offering coaching programs that include a certain number of sessions (for example, a three-month program with 12 sessions), and may include additional resources as well. Because the life coaching industry is currently unregulated, it’s entirely up to the coach to determine their own pricing and may vary greatly depending on their qualifications, experience, and length/type of coaching program they are offering.
I offer a coaching package that is 4 months in total of working together with each client, with different options for pricing. My sliding scale pricing has the option of either 3 coaching sessions per month for $300/month with an implementation week in between, or 4 sessions per month for $400/month, with the additional choice to pay in full for the coaching package, for a slightly lower amount overall.
How is a life coach different from a therapist?
There can be some overlap, but life coaches are not the same as therapists. Life coaches are not qualified to make diagnoses or treat severe mental illnesses.
They are future-focused, meaning that while sometimes events or issues of the past may come up, they help guide you to move forward from them. Whereas, your therapist would be the one who would dive deeper into your feelings and the underlying issues from your past, helping you to process them in depth.
Sometimes, people who have seen or are seeing a therapist will also meet with a coach. It can be an amazing combination because (just as one example) a therapist can help you prioritize your mental health and process trauma or underlying issues, and a coach can help you to move forward with your goals.
If you have mental health conditions that deeply affect your everyday life and aren’t allowing you to move forward, it’s encouraged for you to see a mental health professional.
What should I look for when hiring a life coach?
Not all life coaches have certification (and there are some great life coaches who aren’t certified), but I highly recommend searching for a coach who has had training under the International Coaching Federation (ICF). This is the most widely recognized life coaching organization in the world, and they have very high standards in terms of respecting and empowering the client (you). Their philosophy is that the client has their own answers and it’s the coach’s job to act as their guide, providing support, powerful questions, a safe space, accountability, and resources to help empower you - NOT just tell you exactly what to do.
Along with some sort of training, a coach’s energy and presence is also important. If you are going to be working with a coach, whether it’s 1:1 or in a group setting, you want to make sure you feel comfortable and safe with them. While your coach may ask challenging questions at times when you work together, you should always feel respected and supported. Most coaches offer consults or discovery calls to meet with you before you commit to working together, so that you can ask questions and get a feel for who they are and how they show up. You can also get a feel for them based on their content and what they have put out into the world.
Hiring a life coach is exciting! Trust your intuition and don’t hesitate to ask questions if you’re not sure.