What Are the Benefits of Life Coaching?
There’s a heated debate about the differences between life coaches and therapists. Simply put: Both aim to help clients better their lives. However, perhaps the biggest difference is how they help their clients. There are also many benefits of life coaching which we’ll cover in this article.
Okay, but what exactly is a life coach?
According to the International Coach Federation, one of the world’s largest organizations for this profession, a life coach works with clients in such a way that inspires the client to maximize his/her personal and professional potential. ICF further states that “Coaches honor the client as the expert in his or her life and work and believe every client is creative, resourceful, and whole.” Basically, this means that the client actually has all the answers within his own self, and the coach is there as a sounding board who helps the client unlock and understand his true potential.
Alright, but how can a life coach help me?!
Do you relate to any of these scenarios?
1) You feel stuck (in life, in your career, in your relationship, etc…)
2) You feel lost
3) You’re unhappy
4) You’re afraid (to take that next step, to change your life for the better…)
5) You’re happy and comfortable and safe in your designated comfort zone
If you can relate even a little to any one of these feelings or thoughts, then you might significantly benefit from coaching. All of these situations are merely roadblocks that everyone has the natural ability to face and overcome. Life coaches are like mirrors that help their clients see the potential he/she already has inside. As one article states, “Coaching can help you look at any situation from a different perspective to get you out of that paralyzing fear.”
Generally speaking, coaching is a combination of approaches.
1) Listening
Slightly different than a therapist, life coaches listen for the “structural components of what is being said,” such as the word choices that clients make when describing what they want from life and the reason why they’re not currently able to achieve it, or maybe what the client is saying that suggests a much larger issue (the coaching will help unravel the issue and make the goal attainable).
2) Thinking
This relates back to the different perspective approach that was mentioned earlier. Because the life coach is seeing the issue and their client’s life from the outside, the coaching will reach a deeper level because “the coach is not limited by the same thinking the client may be stuck in.”
3) Questions
By asking thought-provoking and maybe somewhat challenging questions, the life coach can get their client to think about the situation in a different way.
4) Neutral Point of View
One of the biggest benefits of life coaching is having someone who can ask certain question,s view the limiting beliefs, and the entire situation as a neutral observer. One of the cornerstones of the life coaching profession is that the coach views the client as “highly creative, capable, resilient, and powerful.”
5) Accountability
Rather than the client being held accountable to the coach, the goal is to make the client accountable to himself. Coaches act as catalysts that help the client take action.
Reap the Many Benefits of Life Coaching
The benefits of life coaching are numerous, such as “enhanced decision-making skills, greater interpersonal effectiveness, and increased confidence.”
Family First Therapy gives clients the best of both worlds: Steve is a licensed therapist as well as a coach. He has the ability to not only work through whatever may be holding you back while also propelling you in the way that only life coaches can. Take the first step today and start taking advantage of all of the benefits of life coaching.
Please let me know if you have any questions. I’d love to help you
912-421-9399
