It’s an hour long, done remotely via phone or a video chat platform. The best way to answer this question for yourself is to experience it. Please try me out! Take me up on my offer for a free session. This is your chance to experience what working together is like and where it might take you. It is also your opportunity to interview me - ask me about my approach, background, training and philosophy. As we interact, pay attention to your own bodily cues. Notice the connection you feel or don’t feel with me, observe whether I’m judgmental and critical, or compassionate, accepting and open. Am I someone with whom you can build trust and feel that I am being guided by your best interests? No need to blindly trust me until I’ve earned your trust - I invite you to be dubious and skeptical. And please don’t make me another authority figure in your life. That role is reserved for you.

No. Coaching does not fall under the purview of the medical model - a treatment for a diagnosable mental illness or disorder - and so is not covered by insurance.

It’s a bit eclectic, based on my own background, experience and training. Yet it’s tailored to what I sense will best serve you in your desire to grow, in partnership with your input and consent. I will throw some concepts and ideas at you and see what resonates. I recognize your individuality and want to remind you to honor it, reteach you how to trust yourself. For example, I am deeply familiar with themes common to those who struggle with disrupted eating, body image, and weight issues, but how we craft and implement effective tools and strategies will be different for each person. The magic is always in the implementation. And this is steeped in my background in brain science, infused with change psychology and stress physiology, and informed by the ways in which our stress response patterns our nervous systems. I love the flexibility coaching provides to customize the approach to each client. This is more puzzle cracking than problem-solving, more experiential than theoretical, more personalized than formulaic.

See my Coaching Philosophy.

It’s a discovery process, so it can work in mysterious ways, both expected and unexpected. Coaching encourages self-reflection and self-awareness. The end goal, whatever the specifics look like, is to help you be yourself more fully, finding peace and freedom in that, and allowing that acceptance to open the door to more. Coaching guides you back to yourself, slows you down, brings awareness to your habits and behaviors, and enables you to see patterns more clearly. Together, we practice being fully grounded in the now because that is the seat of your power.

Furthermore, coaching is the best antidote to dis-/mis-information I’ve found. It’s a way to fact-check yourself, and re-learn self-authority, to dismantle the cultural credos we’ve adopted, the stories we’ve allowed to curate our lives. Many of us have given away our power to outside experts and authorities, and I want to help you reclaim it.

See 10 Reasons to Hire a Coach.

This has been hotly debated for years. Truthfully, there is some degree of overlap between the two professions, in that both provide support to help people “in their efforts to grow, master their problems, and become more effective in their lives (-Michael Bader).” Processes can look similar and borrow from each other, but there are some key differences:

Training & Education:

Therapists: A psychotherapist requires an advanced degree with supervised training and a state license to practice.

Coaches: Training and education vary by coaching program. Coaches are not required to have an advanced degree or supervised training. However, momentum is building toward a centralized governing body for coaches, in an effort to be a recognized profession with defined standards.

Accreditation & Oversight:

Therapists: State governing boards establish standards for licensure and are responsible for issuing licenses, handling complaints and enforcing regulations. Therapists can only practice in states in which they’re licensed. Continuing education is required on an annual or biennial basis to maintain one’s license.

Coaches: Coaching is not regulated by the government, so there are no state or federal laws that govern coaching as a profession or define its scope of practice. Coaching doesn’t require a license or continuing education, nor is there centralized oversight for addressing complaints or enforcing regulations. Additionally, coaches can work nationally and internationally. Currently, there are two professional associations at the forefront of guiding the profession and providing oversight - the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and International Association of Coaching (IAC) - but it is not regulated as strictly or comprehensively as therapy. Different coaching programs may have their own governance or align with one of the two dominant coaching boards.

Confidentiality & Reporting Requirements:

Therapists: Therapists are legally required to protect client confidentiality. Laws exist that govern the release of private/confidential information, such as mandatory reporting when a client poses a threat to himself/herself or others.

Coaches: Coaches are not legally required to protect client confidentiality. However, most explicitly agree not to reveal any personally identifying information, unless a client poses a threat to himself/herself or others.

Role of the Medical Model:

Therapists: Therapists are considered experts who assess, diagnose and treat mental health disorders. Therapy is considered a diagnosis-driven treatment to fix a medically-based pathology. This is why it is typically covered by insurance.

Coaches: Coaching does not fall under the purview of the medical model. It is not defined by pathology, so no medical diagnosis is required to start. Coaching seeks to optimize so you are functioning at your best, not normalize to a population-based average. Typically insurance doesn’t cover it.

Take advantage of any offers to experience a free session or a sample session. This is your opportunity to ‘try them on.’ Some practitioners offer this while others don’t. Your support person is a highly personal choice, which is why your friend’s recommendation may not suit you. Interview them about their approach, areas of expertise, background, training, etc. Ultimately, choose the person you feel that you have a good connection with, rather than the one who looks perfect on paper. A good personal connection means: you can be open and honest about negative emotional responses without feeling judged; you feel that this person has your best interests at heart and is rooting for you even when they challenge you; trust, caring and mutual respect form the basis of your relationship; and you can communicate your needs and goals clearly with each other. Studies show that the therapeutic relationship is the most important predictor of success, over and above any specific approach or modality that is practiced (CBT, DBT, ACT, etc.). ¹

¹Martin DJ, Garske JP, & Davis, KM. Relation of the therapeutic alliance with outcome and other variables: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology. 2000; 68: 438-450.