"Are you ready to change your life?" This is a common question Coaches today will ask their clients. In the Coaching culture, this is a bit cliche' but it is a valid question as it pertains to the Coaching process; which, if embraced by the client, will bring about a life-changing experience - and you better be ready for it.

 

In the next few paragraphs, I will tell you more about who I am, Christian Coaching, and coaching in general - and then it will be up to you to decide if Coaching is what you are looking for at this point in your life; as well as if I am the right person to Coach you. First, in Christian Coaching, we agree that in all you do, you have first consulted with God about directing all aspects of your life; and that includes getting involved with Coaching and use me as you Coach. Then, after you have that direction from the Lord, one of the primary tenets to Coaching is that the Coachee (you) are in charge of your destiny... so it will be up to you to do the research... you are the Lord's hands and feet on this earth.

In regards to me personally and my educational and career journey, you can also read more about my work experience and education on the Resume' link above in the navigational bar.

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On a very personal level, I am a family gal - meaning I am married and have helped to raise a herd of kids. I have been a Christian for a few decades and enjoy blending my Christianity with the Coaching Process. As part of my Christian walk, I tend to be altruistic and have leaned towards working in the helping professions and volunteerism. I especially enjoy the Art of Discipleship - which I believe is linked closely to Coaching. This is also something I will discuss a little more later. Currently, I volunteer in Christian circles leading a Life Group and working with the "Surge" eKidz at my church, grades 1-4. They call it "eKidz" because I attend ECC or Evergreen Christian Center in Hillsboro, OR. You can find them at ​www.ECC4.org​​ Also, I can provide references upon request from my pastors and other folks.

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​Coming from having a private practice in Christian Counseling for many years, I developed a bias. I totally and unashamedly confess this up front so you can better determine if my reasoning resonates with who you are and where you are in life. This is called "disclosure" and is a legal term designed for consumers and others so they know what they are literally buying - or buying into on a philosophical level. You need to know up front that I am a Christian and therefore, my Coaching will spin from that pivot point. Every professional counselor, teacher and coach alike know that they need to set their biases aside and do their job. Still, when we call ourselves Christian Coaches - or Christian instructors, or Christian counselors we are alerting our potential clientele that we will be including Christian concepts in the materials and teaching opportunities. Clients will sign paperwork to this effect acknowledging they have been informed and that they agree to these terms.

 

Further, many Coaches, Christian and non, have gone a step further in their credentialing and achieved an accreditation from ICF or the International Coaching Federation. There are no specific laws stating you must achieve this accreditation to practice Coaching as there is for other industries. It just is another item to place on one's resume. There also are no laws stating that Coaches need to be Certified; however, in order to practice ethically, they need to be. I have chosen to not take the ICF accreditation and here is why: when I was a practicing counselor, we had many of the same accreditation we garnered from the schools we attended. So as an example, if I graduated from a Christian Bible College, that would give me the credentialing I needed to work within many Christian fields.  There was a time, however, that Bible Colleges had no accreditation; and so, eventually, Christian colleges finally developed accreditation for themselves. This has not occurred for the field of Coaching. The ICF, while a valued entity, does not hold my Christian world-view; and actually, holds many views that I am opposed to as a Christian. Therefore, this is a matter of conscience for me. I would also state here that I hold no judgement on those Christians who have chosen the ICF route. Sometimes God asks us to do or not to do things when He allows others to partake. So this decision is between me and God; however, as my potential client, I need to disclose this to you. Allow me to add, that in lieu of the ICF certification, I was Certified as a Coach at Transformational Life Coaching  and hold a Master's Degree in Psychology.​
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Truly enough about me. Let's talk Coaching! What is it and how does it compare or related to mentoring, counseling, consulting and discipling? What is mainstream coaching and how does it compare or is related to Christian coaching?

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Let's start with the last question. Just as there are counselors that embrace different faiths and beliefs, so do Coaches. We touched on this a minute ago, but need to emphasize that as a counselor, I have determined that if a counselee is a Christian, they need to work with a Christian counselor. It is not saying that there are not fabulous non-Christian counselors; I am saying that as a Christian counselee, it would be wise to select a Christian counselor. The reason being is that they will understand you on the spiritual level; and if you hold the Christian world view, you know our Christian piece is directly tied to all the other aspects of who we are. This way. you will get a complete "wholistic" approach - and a bigger bang for your buck. So that then extends across to Coaching as well. Remember, these two entities, counseling and Coaching, are dealing closely with your mind - and your "mind" is your heart when referenced in the Word. Plus, you will have the benefit of these leaders praying with you over your challenges and victories. That said, the Coaching tenets are largely the same in both worlds - Christian and non - as are the techniques and goals for our clients.
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So now, why Coaching? Didn't we already have Counseling, Mentoring and Consulting? What's the difference? So first, there is plenty of room for all of these categories. They all are valid and help achieve result. But we are looking at a specific set of results that Coaching can achieve that the others cannot. In fact, Coaching can achieve a result similar to the other entities; but by their own definition, they cannot duplicate the results of Coaching. So basically, the difference amounts to two simple things: first, what is our reason or motive for finding a Coach, mentor, counselor or consultant; and second, what type of results are you looking for?

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Counseling assumes a specific level of mental and emotional health to start; the therapist/counselor evaluates the client and the perceived result hopefully, brings the client into the realm of a "relative normal state"  devoid of any diagnosis from the DSM 5 (fifth edition due out May, 2013) or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the APA or American Psychiatric Association. Appropriate treatment is determined by the Counselor and is then offered and applied with consent.Treatment generally has a dictated end by insurance companies; and/or referrals engage the client in further and varied treatment. ​The reason here for finding a counselor was a deep internal struggle; and the result found was hopefully to bring the counselee into a place of normalcy. Whereas, Coaching assumes a "normal" level of mental and emotional state from the first session. The reason is to find success in an area of life;  and the result would be the same. Prior to this, the Coach offers a free consultation to see from both the point of view of the client and Coach, if their partnership will be a good fit keeping personalities, educations and practice focuses in mind. Collaboration between Client and Coach determines the choice of tools and resources to reach the stated goals of the client. The goal is determined by the Coachee and the Coach comes alongside to encourage and motivate the client until the stated goal is reached. At any time the stated goal can be altered by the client; and/or the client may choose to add on multiple goals. There is no end date unless the client determines so. ​The common illustration is that life, career, business or other veins of Coaching appears very much like the athletic coach guiding the team to success. As a postscript to this section, it is quite common for a licensed Counselor to add Coaching to their offered services; however, the Counselor should technically be certified as a Coach  because they will need the training which will provide the tools and resources needed to switch gears from using the Counseling skills to the Coaching skills.

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Mentoring generally assumes the mentor will be teaching a protege' what s/he knows until the time the mentee understands enough in scope and depth to handle the specific job solo. The reason seeking assistance is to gain early level knowledge in a specific arena and the result would be to master the arena well enough to do so without much further assistance. The Mentor has been the most used free-lance instructor archetype crossing every industry including non-profits. Very well known is the Christian Navigator's system of discipling using the mentoring model. Whereas, Coaching assumes the Coach can be a lifetime model and guide for as long as the client wants the relationship. Further, Coaching again is more of a collaboration between Coach and Coachee with the Client determining how and what they need to learn in order to be successful. This doesn't mean that the Coach does not offer options, because they do. From their base of expertise, the Coach will offer resources and tools and possible goals from which the Coachee to choose. As stated earlier, the client may choose to tweek their process and add multiple goals. Also, a skilled and trained coach could shift to the mentor model in some situations as in Executive Coaching used in the Corporate worlds. There would then be the baton hand-off so common in mentoring because Executive Coaches go into corporations to train the teams for the managers. That said, the Executive Coach desires also to "train the trainers" and then those managers will learn how to coach their teams effectively. Then it is this relationship, between Executive Coach and Manager/Coachee that can be on-going.
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Consulting is sort of a hybrid between Mentoring and Executive Coaching in that it is usually someone with expertise in an area that comes in to corporations to train and then leaves the client on their own. ​The reason for consulting is to gain more perspective in an arena one is already comfortable with - but needs to master; the hopeful result is mastering the subject. Whereas, a Coach will establish a deeper relationship with the client and look for ways to empower, motivate and encourage through multiple goals. And while a Coach could shift to consultant, why would they? The benefits of Coaching outweigh consulting.
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Discipling is interesting because a person can theoretically "disciple" using any of the modalities of Counseling, Consulting, Mentoring or Coaching. However, some modalities will work better than others and you likely see my bias here as well. Coaching comes the closest in thought and practice to discipling because it models the closest to how Jesus walked with His disciples. Jesus walked through the challenges of life with His inner circle and that is what Coaching does. Coaches just don't counsel or pass the baton or merely consult. Coaches step into a life and walk with the individual through through every challenge to reach the desired goal and be successful.

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I pray that this has helped you better understand my ideology and process. I pray for all my clients that His love, direction and purpose will revel itself through our time together. God bless you as you determine the next step. And by the way, are you ready to change your life?