Life coaches helps with changes in life

There are sports coaches. There are career coaches. But what's a life coach?

"It's easier to be a coach than it is to talk about coaching," Rebecca Johns of Bigfork says.

Rather than offer a precise definition of what life coaching is, Johns prefers instead that people think of a close friend. Consider how that person offers support and suggestions, how that person listens, how that person recognizes your weaknesses and strengths, Johns says.

That's coaching.

Life coaches work with people who are looking to effect changes in their lives, whether it's making career changes or finding the balance between work and family.

Life coaching shares some similarities with therapy and the two approaches can complement each other, but they are not interchangeable, counselors and coaches stress. Coaches do not work with people to resolve psychological problems or disorders.

Instead they help clients by listening, being objective, making suggestions, offering support and helping them set goals and priorities.

"What brings most people to coaching is a desire for change," Johns says, "and a genuine desire to make a change in a meaningful way."

Take Janet Cahill as an example.

Cahill is changing careers, shifting from being the director of the Violence Free Crisis Line to taking on consulting work. Cahill is a friend of Johns who offered to serve as a sort of guinea pig for Johns to practice coaching on.

"What she has done for me," Cahill says, "is allow me to become clear and take action to do what I've always wanted to do."

Johns helped her identify her goal then lay out a strategy for making it happen, she says. Johns moved into coaching after a career in public education. She's been coaching for three years.

Coaches typically work with clients during phone calls that last about an hour. Some coaches communicate via e-mail or meet face to face.

During the sessions they talk with clients about what goals they want to set and devise action plans for accomplishing them. The focus is on what the clients' current situations are and what changes they want to make to affect their futures.

"What I do is help people reframe their problems," Whitefish coach Carrie Bowes Bowman explains.

For instance, one of Bowman's clients was very angry with her ex-husband and seemed to be focusing on her feelings toward him. Bowman, who came to coaching a few years ago after a career with corporations and nonprofits, determined from listening to the woman and from her questions that what the client actually wanted to focus on was making other changes in her life.

Listening is a major part of coaching. People might express certain ideas, but their word choice and tones often convey to coaches other concepts that need to be explored.

Often when Johns talks with clients about making career changes, she asks what's stopping them from quitting their jobs or starting new ones.

"People say things like, 'Well, that's just the way it is,'" she says.

A coach hears that kind of logic as a clue to explore why clients feel stuck.

"I'll ask questions they haven't thought of," Bowman says.

That line of questioning often helps clients discover their core values.

"They're tired of doing what they 'should' be doing and they're ready to do what has meaning for them," Johns explains.

That meaningfulness might be a career that's emotionally rewarding but that a client initially resisted because it would mean a pay cut.

"The authentic self" is what Bowman calls the concept of abiding by what has personal meaning rather than doing what's expected. People often are frustrated with components of their lives that aren't in line with that authenticity, which is frustrating but might not be recognizable to the individual.

"Most people are so in their life that they can't see their life," Johns says.

Friends often have the same problem, coaches say. They don't have the objectivity that a coach offers.

"As a friend we can say we're not judgmental," Whitefish coach Dru Jackman says, "but there are certain things we want for our friends."

Coaches often don't know their clients before they begin coaching them, so they have no personal interest in what particular goals their clients do or do not set, Jackman says. Coaches also see trends among clients, such as wanting to slow the pace of their lives, and witness what strategies do or don't work. Friends might have a more limited knowledge of such situations, she says.

Jackman also runs a company that helps people organize their homes and businesses. She meets many of her clients through that service so most of them are local. Bowman and Johns have local clients but also work with many people out of state.

Clients typically work with coaches for a few months or longer. Some clients consult with a coach only when they are about to initiate a change, or during a transition; others uses coaches on an ongoing basis. Clients guide the frequency of their sessions and the duration of their coach/client relationship.

Most coaches prefer not to publish their fees or they create fee schedules based on a client's income level or location (so someone who lives where coaching is common such as California might pay more than a small-town client). Coaches often are flexible on what they charge.

Bowman, Johns and Jackman periodically deviate from the one-on-one setup and teach classes or workshops on coaching. Sometimes they're hired by companies to give presentations to employees. Other times they host classes open to the public.

Coaching is a relatively new trend compared to established disciplines such as counseling and psychiatry.

Many coaches, such as Bowman, Johns and Jackman, have studied coaching with various schools or programs. However, coaching is not regulated in the same way that therapists and counselors are.

For more information, contact Johns at 837-2029, Bowman at 862-3796 or Jackman at 862-2400.

Reporter Camden Easterling can be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com