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There are currently no legal or licensing requirements for coaching. Anyone can call herself a coach. Some coaches have extensive experience in social work, counseling, or consulting. Other coaches have no experience or relevant training. Before you hire a coach, ask.
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Coaching as a profession is only about 12 years old. Certifying organizations and their professional standards are even newer. As a result, relatively few coaches have been able to meet the requirements for any organizations certification. Many excellent coaches are not certified, and hiring a certified coach is no guarantee that you'll be happy with the coaching. But, what certification means to you is that the coach has had formal training and has agreed to follow a code of ethics. If the coach is not certified, you just don't know. Dr. Stafford has met the requirements for certification with the IAC-the International Association of Coaches. He is on track to meet certification standards for Coachville and the International Coach Federation later this year.
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All clients hire coaches to help them breakthrough personal obstacles and achieve results the clients could not achieve on their own. Many people appear outwardly successful and yet feel isolated, frustrated, and even overwhelmed. Coaching helps these professionals cut through the clutter to focus on what's really important in their lives.
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Actually, when they see your increased enthusiasm, satisfaction, and joie d'vivre they'll probably be a little envious. People are also realizing that coaching is going mainstream. It's virtually universal for professional athletes, celebrities, and business leaders to have personal coaches. These people understand that if you want to play a bigger game, it's okay-even mandatory-to get help.
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Not at all. In fact, coaching is significantly different from therapy. Therapy involves the diagnosis and treatment of mental pathologies. Therapy looks at your past to understand your current situation. Coaching is forward looking. It is appropriate for mentally healthy, well-adjusted people who want a better future. These coaching prospects just need some help and support getting there.
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Good coaches inspire you to be greater than you are. They also work with you so that you can overcome self-imposed limitations. Here's an example: why does every professional golfer has his own private coach? Don't they already know how to hit golf balls? And, since they play 5-7 times each week, why don't they all win tournaments, or at least break par every round? Their coaches help them overcome obstacles to playing perfect golf. So, if you haven't achieved the perfect life, why not? Is it possible that you can't do it alone?
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We can't speak for other coaches, but Dr. Stafford uses tried and true coaching techniques to help his clients get results. He feels that coaching should be about more than just feelings. Coaching should have significant and measurable results in your life.
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We first coach you to decide what you really want for yourself.
Some people just aren't ready for a committed
relationship. Maybe they're in mourning over
a breakup, divorce, or death of a partner. Some
people just want to experience life to the fullest
as a single and not feel pressured to get serious.
Others long to find that special person to share
a committed relationship with. All these choices
are correct. Good coaching results in your getting
what you wants, not what society or your friends
or your family want. If a committed relationship
is the goal, the coach will help you find eligible
prospects, screen them for compatibility, and
be selective when it comes to choosing your
partner for life. Return
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Just for the discussion, let's divide couples into two
groups. The first group consists of couples
who are struggling. These couples feel like
they've lost the closeness and love they once
shared. There may have been some infidelity,
but there's always a sense of distance. Separation
or divorce may have been considered or acted
upon. The Relationship Coach first helps you
evaluate your current relationship, weighing
the good against the bad. The Coach then works
with you to emphasize the good while resolving
the bad. If that's not possible, the Coach can
attempt to help you to go your own way with
a minimum of anger and hostility. In the beginning,
the Coach can work with the partners individually,
later coaching with both partners together.
The second group is partners who are currently in satisfying
relationships. These couples already share
mutual respect, support, and love. They want
more. These partners want to create blissful
marriages and relationships and make them
as good as they can be. Just as a professional
athlete hires a coach to try to become #1
in his sport, these couples hire coaches to
help them create relationships that are peak
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For singles, we coach around dating skills. We work with
you to maximize the choices available to you,
and develop the skills you need to make better
choices. If you're looking for a relationship,
that means all your previous relationships
have ended in failure. You can find that perfect
partner; you just need to develop skills and
attitudes that will attract the man or woman
of your dreams.
For couples, we help you decide whether the relationship
is worth saving. Then, we work on communication
skills to create a better sense of intimacy
and connectedness. Or, we can coach you to
create a better life by asking whether you
would be better off as separate people. For
committed couples, we coach a model of committed
bliss where both partners thrive in a relationship
of love, respect, and growth.
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Coaching fees vary with the time and intensively of the
engagement. In-person coaching can get the fastest
results but is the most time and cost intensive.
For some, group coaching is a good cost-effective
method that also helps the client to develop
a support team for the future. Most clients,
however, choose tele-coaching which is accomplished
through periodic phone sessions. Consider that
the average wedding now costs $26,000, and a
divorce can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Whatever you would invest in coaching would
be far, far less than marrying a poor match
and then suffering the pain and cost of a failed
marriage and divorce. See our section on Coaching
Services for details.
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Some clients get what they want in just a few sessions. Most clients can expect significant change and improvement in 4-6 months. Some clients stay with a coach indefinitely. The important thing here is that good coaching is always client-focused. The coaching relationship should continue only as long as the client perceives value from the coaching.
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You should expect to see results that are meaningful to you. That sounds like a lot of double-talk, but it's not. If a coach were to set the agenda, then it would be all about his performance as a coach, and not your growth as a person.
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Dr. Stafford was a healthcare practitioner in private practice for 16 years. He has also earned AN MBA degree and a Master's degree in Healthcare Administration. In addition, Dr. Stafford is a Certified Healthcare Executive (and Diplomat) in the American College of Healthcare Executives. He has served as an athletic coach for more than 20 years for both teams and individuals. He has been a business consultant/coach for the last 12 years. Currently, Dr. Stafford is a faculty member for Coachville and is certified as a Life Coach by the IAC. Several years ago he and his wife Kathy began a coaching practice devoted to Relationship Coaching.
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If coaching seems like a fad, it may be because of the recent recognition of coaching by the media. Personal coaching is gaining momentum as the pace of change quickens and we realize that life is getting too complicated to wing it anymore. There is also a long-term trend toward self-improvement. Adult education is part of that trend. And so is coaching. Despite all our toys, most of us are starting to realize that we are not our possessions, and that our lives could be happier and more fulfilled.
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Personally, we like Coachville's definition: “Coaching is inspiring an individual or team to produce a desired result through personalized teaching, expanding awareness, and designing (supporting) environments”. The best coaching is client-centered and results oriented.
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Great question! Many times a client will deny her wants and feelings because of family expectations or a lack of self-confidence. A good coach can help a client sort through the clutter and see what is there. Then, building on the client's strengths and successes, the coach can usually facilitate the client's moving forward.
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None of the coaches we know tries to do this. Good coaches merely uncover what is already there. If it's real, it will feel comfortable to you.
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None. The client has to do the heavy lifting: the introspection, the self-discovery, and most of all, the growing. No honest coach can guarantee results, just as no basketball coach can guarantee that his players will make 100% of their free throws. In cases where there is a mis-match of personalities, Dr. Stafford will recommend after the first session that the client engage a new coach and will refund the entire fee for that first session so that there is no risk to the client.
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If they are on-site, the sessions are usually held at the client's home or office. All tele-coaching is held over the phone with supplemental emails or faxes.
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Wanting a difference in your life means you've already taken the first step. The next step is to go to our appointments page and schedule your first month's appointments. We recommend booking all 3 phone appointments at the same time to better get your preferred times. Clients also follow through more easily when their coaching sessions are scheduled at the same time each week, or nearly so. And remember, there are no long term commitments. Start any month; stop any month. Continue the coaching only as long as you are getting the results you want out of it.
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Absolutely. In fact, all coaching-in person, group, or tele-coaching-is always confidential between coach and client. Moreover, the fact that you've even hired a coach is not disclosed to family, friends, or associates unless you tell them. In short order, most people are so pleased with their results that they are proud to tell everyone about their coaching. But, whether or not to tell is always up to the client.
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Benefits of coaching
- Increased clarity into the meaning of YOUR life.
- Improved communications skills
- Improved relationships at work and at home.
- Better use of your time-time management
- Create more work/life balance
- Greater personal growth
- Greater professional fulfillment
- Reawaken your dreams
- Get more-more of whatever it is you want
- Increased self responsibility and self respect
- Reduced stress, greater sense of peace
- More wealth if that's your goal
- Remove blockages to achievement and success
- Recreate the joy in life
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The sooner you work with your coach, the sooner you'll receive the benefits.
Contact us today.
info@dearkathy.com
704-795-9596
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