We all have dreams and ideas of things we want to have in our lives or to accomplish in the future. You may have started out with big plans and find yourself in a rut or just working day to day with little motivation. Many people find themselves feeling stuck in the wrong job, in business, or just generally in life – even after having gone through therapy. They begin to think that their lives will always be that way. But, it doesn’t have to be that way!
It’s always impressive for me to see someone commit to healing and change in therapy. It takes courage to face down difficult feelings and it takes fortitude to change our relationships and the way we relate to others, to the world, and even to ourselves.
But what happens after therapy? How do you make those changes stick? Too many people have a surgical hit approach—they “do” therapy, they gain insight, and they move on.
Speaking as a Catholic therapist with over 25 years of counseling people, I can attest that many people do find healing and help through therapy, especially when they bring the faith into the process. But sustaining that change long term may require some additional help and strategy.
Or, maybe you have never gone through therapy but are lacking true human fulfillment and genuine happiness? We sometimes have an inexplicit sense of a need to take actions to effect important changes in our lives. How can we possibly begin to integrate the spiritual with the professional and social areas of our lives to find our fulfillment and attain inner peace?
How Coaching Can Help
Trying to make a lifestyle change on your own is possible but having someone to help you set realistic goals and to keep you on track with new insights, observations, and little tweaks along the way as you attain those goals can make a huge difference in your outcome. In fact, in many cases, a little Coaching may be indispensable when old thought patterns and habits are rooted in very deeply. Old habits do tend to die hard.
Think about it, every great athlete has a coach, every great opera singer has a voice coach, and every affluent business man has a mentor. Being successful rarely just happens.
Don’t your relationships, your marriage, your kids, and your own personal fulfillment deserve the same advantage? Do you really want to settle for mediocre…or worse?
Difference Between Coaching and Therapy?
The goal of therapy is to diagnose emotional, behavioral, or psychological issues and help the client to eliminate or learn coping skills to manage distressing problems, so a person can function better and find healing to increase their well-being.
Therapy focuses on such matters as:
- Work through depression, anxiety, disorder, an addiction or behavioral issue that affects your ability to function at home or work
- Recover from past traumas
- Marriage or Pre-marital counseling
- Explore why past relationships (business and/or personal) have been destructive
- Deal with life changing emotional issues, such as a divorce or grief over loss of a loved one
Coaching offers guidance for:
- Clarifying and achieving personal and professional goals
- Separating what’s important from what’s irrelevant, or a distraction to those goals
- Working to improve communication skills for personal and/or business relations
- Achieving a work/life balance
- Attaining balance in quality of life as a Caregiver for a loved one
- Developing better parenting skills
- Achieving financial independence and security
- Managing a new life transition
Coaching helps you to align your life with who you are and to figure out how to get to where you want to be in life. Although, Coaching will sometimes help you deal with problems along the way, the focus of the coaching sessions will be on finding new ways of thinking and functional plans that will help you reach your goals.
Many of the Catholic therapists on our site offer several types of Coaching
Life Coaching
Pinpointing your goals is one of the hardest things you can do when you’re trying to make a change and get started on something new. Life Coaching is great at helping you clarify your passions, aspirations and ideas, and organize them into tangible goals you can work toward that encourage real lifestyle change.
Relationship Coaching
Whether you’re trying to make a good or average marriage better, or you’re single trying to navigate the dating world, a relationship coach can help you learn strategies and communication skills that can improve any relationship. If you find yourself in the same patterns and getting the same results, having another pair of eyes to view your situation with the expertise to enable positive change can mean the difference between frustrated, angry and alone, and happy and fulfilled in a dynamic relationship.
Parenting Coaching
Let’s face it, parenting in this digital age is not for the faint of heart! So many new challenges that our parents didn’t deal with make it really hard to navigate. Teens can be particularly hard but relating successfully to young adult children can be a unique challenge given the current moral landscape. Engaging a parenting coach can be extremely helpful when walking those fine lines that are all too common today.
Stepfamily / Blended Family Coaching
Statistics show that “approximately one-third of all weddings in America today form stepfamilies”. But, forming a stepfamily / blended family is much more complex and difficult than most couples have ever imagined as statistics also show that RE-marriages with children from previous relationships are more prone to divorce than first marriages.
Couples are therefore very wise to engage in stepfamily coaching for assistance before the new marriage and after the ceremony. It is also best for the coaching assistance to be given by a Coach who is familiar with the experience of living in a stepfamily because of the unique challenges that stepfamilies face.
Coaching can help couples shift expectations, improve communication, anticipate step-parenting issues, and provide guidance toward the changes needed for their marriage and stepfamily to thrive.
Career / Vocational Coaching
Sorting through college options, choosing a career path for the first time, reentering the work force after a time of absence, or facing a new career path because of retirement/job loss are all equally overwhelming.
Having a coach can help you find out your strengths and what kinds of careers allow you to utilize those strengths most effectively, explore the variety of options that might be a good fit, and identify and develop career paths.
Caregiver Coaching
Being a caregiver of aging parents, disabled loved ones or young children can be very challenging and overwhelming. Issues such as stress, isolation, and fatigue can seriously affect the well-being of a caregiver. Coaching can help with learning strategies, confidently address and overcome challenges, and handle responsibilities with a healthy balance that prioritizes your life, so your caregiving leads to more happiness, freedom and fulfillment.
Additional Benefit of Coaching
Many states are more stringent with their licensing requirements about counseling over phone/internet – especially out of state. The additional benefit of Coaching is that it doesn’t have these same restrictions when it comes to offering sessions over the telephone or internet via online video.
If you are looking for a Coach who specializes in your situation and can’t find someone close by, or if you would prefer not to spend time travelling etc., consider inquiring about Coaching (even for those out of state) over the phone or by the online video conferencing option.
Jesus died to set us free, yet many constrain and limit themselves in countless ways. Enlisting the support of a Catholic therapist who offers Coaching can help you break out of self-imposed limitations, draw you nearer to the fulfillment of who God made you to be, help you find your passion and keep you on track and motivated to accomplish your goals and make your life truly outstanding.
Allison is also the Founder and President of www.CatholicTherapists.com, and CatholicLifeCoaches.com, which provide nationwide networks of screened and dedicated Catholic therapists and Catholic life coaches.
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