Coaching and therapy share some common ways of working, including even some specific techniques and methodologies. At Creating Lasting Connections Therapy Center, both therapists and coaches strive to create a client centered, collaborative partnership to help you reach your goals and your fullest potential. Regardless of the services you choose, we ascribe to high ethical and professional standards and strive to practice only within the scope of our training and effectiveness.

While there are many similarities, there are some differences as well. Psychotherapy typically focuses on how past events in a client’s life may have created or impacted their current challenges. Coaching on the other hand, focuses on the present situation, finding solutions and actions the client can use to create powerful and lasting changes. This is done by utilizing each client’s unique strengths and gifts to help them deal effectively with change and to create and attain reachable goals. Coaching focuses on present-day action, and NOT on the individual’s emotional or family history, unresolved issues, on repairing of emotional wounds, or on resolving the past issues. Coaching focuses on the problem solving in the now and on creating the future.

One unique aspect of coaching is that because clients invest time and money into the process and agree to be accountable for taking action, he or she immediately demonstrates a commitment to change. With the help of a results-oriented professional, people do make powerful, measurable, and sometimes miraculous changes that last.

Coaching can help you bring about balance, harmony, and fulfillment in all aspects of your life. Areas of primary focus are usually personal development, career choices and decisions, health and aging, spiritual awareness, romance and intimacy, family, finance, and social/community involvement and relationships.

• To help you identify insights and understandings about yourself so you can pursue and reach your goals. It is your coach’s responsibility to maximize your time in person and on the phone, to help fine-tune your understanding of you and your abilities.
• To hold you and your family as a highly valued, healthy entity at all times.
• To be open for brief troubleshooting phone calls between coaching appointments.
• Your coach will not provide therapy! Rather, the approach will be action oriented with an emphasis on improving present life and reaching goals for the future.
• Your coach will work with you on a change plan to support positive change, and also work on life goals (e.g., relationships, work, etc.), and specific tasks pertinent to your case.
• Your coach may collaborate and coordinate care with third party providers (i.e., electronic and in person communication with the school, your therapist, regional center, or other support service professionals) with signed release of information in order to provide comprehensive care to you or your family.

In order to get any benefit from this process, you will need to commit to a minimum of 4 appointments/sessions for the first month we work together. This is a process and commitment. Be prepared to follow through with the process until you truly obtained your goal. We believe in you and our work together.

Confidentiality is a central part of the coaching process and mirrors the standards established in psychotherapy. Nothing we discuss will be shared with anyone else without your request that we do so.  Anything we process in our coaching sessions is confidential and privileged information.  Likewise, it is our obligation to keep all confidential information belonging to you absolutely confidential and protects its release to anyone. We will gladly discuss with you potential limits of confidentiality.

The coaching relationship more closely resembles a partnership between the coach and client. The length of coaching sessions depends on your goals and desires. Typically, the relationship is a minimum of three months, but could be shorter or longer as desired by the client.

Sessions can be done exclusively through, or in any combination of, face-to-face contact (at one of our office locations, in-home, or outside the office), phone, or via videoconferencing.