|
|
Kansas City Home and Garden
May 2008
Linda Dickens felt lost and
directionless as she anticipated her last child leaving for college. After
an intense legal career, she stayed at home with her children for 16
years. Linda toyed with the idea of donating legal services once her nest
became empty but hadn’t gotten much further. Then she took a four-hour
workshop with life coach Marilyn O’Hearne, MSW, which included
individual pre- and post-coaching sessions.
“I feel like I have direction, vision, excitement and energy,” Linda
says of the result. “I have three essential parts of myself I need to
include — artistic expression, interaction with people and providing
legal services to the right [nonprofit] organization. Marilyn knew how to
lead me from thoughts to a practical, written plan and gave me the
confidence to do it. For each idea I wanted to develop, she asked,
‘What’s the first step for you and when are you going to do that?’
then she’d point out roadblocks and inconsistencies in what I was
saying.”
Marilyn was a psychotherapist and served as an adjunct college professor
before she learned about the life coaching profession in 1998. It still
excites her a decade later. “This, to me, is the most effective and
exciting way to work with people,” she says. “The excitement is
working with people who are pretty healthy but maybe have lost their
vision — what you want to be doing in the world — and want to make a
big change. Your vision is where the excitement and energy is [in your
life].”
Life coaching is designed to help people maximize their personal and
professional potential and develop their unique gifts and abilities.
Marilyn encourages and supports her clients but also challenges them to
change. “I listen and feed back to the client,” she says. “Coaching
is partnering in a way that is creative and inspiring. You can’t start
with no energy and make any progress.”
Amanda Nogle of Future Focus Life Coaching has offered life coaching
services (in addition to working as a speech pathologist) for three years.
She helps clients figure out what they really want and how to get there in
all areas of life, from changes in marital status to dealing with an empty
nest or elderly parents, business start-up and growth, or progression
within an existing career. “A coach is not the expert about your
life,” Amanda says. “We help you develop your own plan.”
How it Works
Both Amanda and Marilyn say their clients are most often middle-aged and
facing a major life transition. Marilyn typically sees clients for about
six months, although some leave after a month and some stay for 18 months.
She most often starts with a three-month contract, but clients might leave
sooner if they believe they’ve reached their goals. A monthly fee
provides a client with two to four face-to-face meetings of half an hour
to an hour, with phone and e-mail contact between sessions. “I keep my
client in mind all the time,” says Marilyn, who e-mails helpful
materials to a client as she runs across them.
Amanda most often works with clients for approximately three months and
conducts most sessions by phone. “A lot of coaches coach over the phone
because we can focus better on what you’re saying without
distractions,” she explains. After her initial meeting with a client,
Amanda sends out an extensive welcome packet with paperwork to complete
before the first regular session.
A professional life coach should be ethical and provide a place of safety,
where clients feel their confidentiality is secure and can freely express
themselves. Coaches should be skilled listeners who offer direct feedback,
ask powerful questions and assist clients in creative brainstorming.
Certification is a plus. Marilyn is a Master Certified Coach through the
International Coach Federation, and Amanda is certified through the
Institute for Life Coach Training, an organization for people who have
previously worked in another helping profession.
The Cost of Professional Support
The cost for life coaching varies, depending on the scope of each
individual agreement. In most cases, a client pays at the beginning of a
month for the entire month at rates of $330-$350 and up. Amanda charges
$120 for a 50-minute session and requests pre-payment for each month.
“I work with clients three times per month with one week off so they
don’t become totally dependent,” she says. “I ask clients to stay
with me for at least three months because that’s when we begin to see
changes. I charge in half-hour or hour increments, and I try to work with
people on price and keep a couple of slots for pro bono.” Some coaches
offer a free initial consultation, as both Marilyn and Amanda do, while
others charge a separate assessment fee. “I offer complimentary
telephone coaching consults to see if we would be a good coach-client
match, and for the potential client to experience coaching,” Marilyn
says.
Finding a Life Coach
Linda is a church acquaintance of Marilyn’s, but there are other ways to
find a life coach. The International Coach Federation website, www.coachfederation.org,
offers a coach locator with information about each coach’s experience,
background, age and fees. The Institute for Life Coach Training, www.lifecoachtraining.com
is another source.
“Whatever [people] want in life, they can find a [life coach] to help
them get clear and achieve that,” Marilyn says.
Back
Marilyn O'Hearne, MSW
Master Certified Coach, International Coach Federation
COACH, Trainer/Speaker, Writer
Breakthrough Executive/Life/Transition Coaching
Want MOre PEP?
(Performance, Effectiveness,
Profitability and/or Peace, Energy,
and Prosperity?)
Renewing Your Spirit Workbook Author
marilyn@marilynoh.com
7111 W. 151st Street
Suite 171
Shawnee Mission, Kansas USA 66223
913-327-0611
|
Master
Certified Coach
|
|
|
