accredited
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accredited
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Christopher
J. Coulson, MAHPP
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Debra
A. Benton's Questions and My Answers
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In the above book, Debra A. Benton poses 13 questions that you should
ask of any coach you are thinking of working with. These are my answers
to Debra's questions, along with one I've added for myself.
What can I expect to achieve working
with you? The answer to this question is constrained by your own goals and ambition
and by our joint ability to form a strong partnership. If you approach
our collaboration with motivation and the widest sphere of reference,
the results experienced by my clients show that over time you can expect
a transformation in your business and personal life. This literally means
you will enjoy life more and achieve more of what is truly important to
you. How do we take advantage of what I already
do well? We use it in many ways. To start with, one thing you do well is the kind
of research that has led you to this point. We use your motivation to
change and improve as a primary driver. Other abilities are used as examples
of your true competence and as touchstones when you step off into trying
new behaviors. What mistakes will you help me avoid? I don't see myself as your protector. I believe people need to make their own 'mistakes', though I see them more accurately as 'discoveries'. However, I will frequently drop quite substantial hints to you so that you can assess situations for yourself and learn to recognize the internal signals that tell you to take care. I believe this is how we learn things for ourselves and build confidence in our own judgment. Life's 'mistakes' tend to be rooted in faulty patterns of behavior that
are often embedded in our unconscious. As a life coach who was also a
psychotherapist I can help you perceive such situations. For example,
when you are unconsciously following a pattern that has failed you before,
you will almost certainly hear me say: "Doesn't this sound a bit
like that time when . . .?" Or, I might encourage you to examine
more closely the true nature of an emotion that is driving you to act
in a certain way. Would anyone be working with me besides
you? Absolutely not. The most effective life coaching relationships have deep
connections and understandings that are unique between the life coach
and client. They are true partnerships, unlike, say, training relationships
where all that is sought is a mechanical exchange of information. Prospective working relationships are really covered on the Telephone
or face-to-face? page. Suffice to say here that I will work with you
to create a working format that meets your needs. All the information and wisdom I have to offer, delivered with as much
skill as I possess. This will quite often mean your hearing things you
had not expected, and being challenged to look at things from a new and
perhaps discomforting angle. Hopefully I am skillful enough to do this
with you without driving you away. Because it unites three passions with a - for me - ideal life style. The passions are:
I very selfishly want the world to be a good place for me and the best
way to achieve that is to surround myself with happy healthy people. Hence
I devote myself to helping others find health and happiness. Why should I elect to work with you? There's one main reason I can think of. It's because you've done an evaluation
of a number of life coaches and you've decided that I am the one who can
go with you further and more comprehensively than the rest. Otherwise
you'd be wasting your time and money and probably be building up to an
angry departure. I am not a life-coach-for-everyperson. My clients, just
like other coaches', have recognizable characteristics in common. When would we be able to start? That depends on coordinating my schedule and yours so we would need to
discuss it over the 'phone. I like to get started immediately, however. What is your schedule/volume? Will
I have the time I need with you? I don't commit to working with someone unless I know I have the time
I say I have. The work is very intense and demanding so I keep client-hours
down to a sustainable number. It all depends. It is possible to do something useful in as little as
six sessions if your goal is to work through a transition or something
similar. It is far more valuable to think in terms of a life-changing
relationship that will last some years. It is for you to determine how
much of your time and money you want to invest in an initial commitment.
You can end our work immediately you think we are not meeting your needs. How do you charge for your services? The full answer to this is on the "Fees
and ethics" page. My pricing strategy is based on a single rate
for fifty-minute sessions. Thus a fifty minute telephone or face-to-face
session would be charged at that rate, or a twenty-five minute coaching
session with email and shorter telephone call support would be charged
at the same rate. I typically require payment monthly in advance. Clients
do not pay for sessions when I am not available. Do you have a track record of helping individuals reaching
their goals? Very much so, otherwise I would do something else for a living. My clients'
triumphs are very much part of what makes my working life enjoyable. I
have proved myself at enough more-lucrative occupations to know I do this
because I love it. Part of loving it is knowing that I am good at it.
(And the question I would ask me is . . . ) What makes you worth 'n' thousand a year of my money? It's not just me and my qualities that have to justify your expenditure, it's the results of our joint collaboration. You aren't renting an hour of my time to ask questions, you're investing in an ongoing partnership with an experienced partner. The returns from this partnership are different for each of us. I get
my fee, my pleasure in working with you, and satisfaction in your success.
You get all the rewards implicit in your situation and your potential. |
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