Questions?
What is coaching?
“Coaching is an interpersonal process that helps people achieve positive change and growth. By harnessing innate strengths, uncovering intrinsic motivations, and asking empowering questions, coaching fosters self-generated insight, vision, and goal clarity.” - Harvard Medical School affiliate, McLean Hospital/Institute of Coaching.
Are you a therapist?
Simply, coaching is not the same as therapy and I am not a therapist. Coaching does not explore or attempt to navigate emotional unrest, treat illness, or heal trauma. Only a licensed therapist or psychiatrist should work with patients to do this. While coaching does take past experiences or medical issues into consideration, coaches are not qualified in the treatment of mental illness or healing of trauma. For example, I may have a client who wants to receive coaching to aim for a promotion at work. This client may also have a medical diagnosis of generalized anxiety. The work my client and I would focus on would be self-exploration, designing a vision, setting goals, creating accountability and executing steps to fulfillment. All the while, acknowledging my client’s anxiety as a factor to better inform our work together. However, we would not be working on coping skills for the anxiety itself. For clients who need a deeper level of emotional guidance, I have the benefit of working closely with several qualified therapists and am happy to provide referrals when necessary. I take a team approach to my coaching practice and encourage all clients to seek help wherever they need it.
Who do you work with?
Everyone! The science behind the methodology I’ve studied and can be applied to a myriad of situations. While the term “life coach” seems to imply the notion that we only handle people’s personal lives, it is incorrect. As a life coach, I can work through all sorts of scenarios. If it’s happening in your life, then we can tackle it together! My goal is to help you with the parts of your life that need a little guidance. What’s more, is I believe the answers are inside you! My role is to help bring those ideas out of you and turn them into action! I've studied Coaching through McLean, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, and Leadership Management at The Wharton School. Both prestigious institutions are at the forefront of excellence. Those educational tools work in a wide variety of scenarios dealing with yourself, at home, at school, in the workplace, and in personal relationships.
Do you accept insurance?
Insurance companies are starting to realize the important connection between mind and body. But we are not totally there yet. Coaches across the industry are pushing for insurance companies to include coaching in their mental health offerings. Currently, I am unable to submit claims to insurance companies on a client's behalf. However, many clients have had success submitting session receipts to their insurance company for reimbursement. I am happy to provide receipts upon request.
While insurance companies may still have work to do on adequately funding mental health, there are other options! I am able to accept HSA and FSA payments. I also accept PayPal, Venmo, credit and debit cards. Cash is also welcome.
*Any client wishing to purchase 5 or more sessions upfront will receive a 5% discount.
Where do you work?
I have an office in the Naperville area where I see clients in person 2 days a week. Now, with the introduction of zoom, I can now work with people all over the country, and even internationally. When I first began coaching online, I was very skeptical of its effectiveness. I was worried about the ability to truly connect with people over the internet. However, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it worked extremely well! And in some cases, even better because the client felt that there was a bit of separation for those more taboo subjects. It fascinated me how this was possible, and after diving deeper into my studies, I learned why. Albert Mehrabian, Ph.D., a graduate of MIT and longtime professor at UCLA, a known pioneer in the study of nonverbal communication, developed the 55/38/7 model for effective communication conveyance. He theorized that effective understanding is made up 3 critical pieces: 55% visual, 38% tone, and only 7% words. Adding the visual (screen) component made a substantial impact vs previously standard conference calls! Very interesting stuff.
Still have more questions? Get in touch and I’ll be happy to answer them.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new.