Coaching
You might be
* considering yourself to be multipassionate and find this to be so confusing sometimes ("Do I need to choose?", "How do I blend several interests?", "How do I connect the dots between the many things I've done and want to do?")
* a mid-career professional at crossroads, no longer satisfied with what you are currently doing but unsure of what to do about it ("Is this all there is? Maybe it doesn't get better and I should just stay where I am?", "Do I have to abandon all I have built over a decade and begin from scratch?")
* a mom / caretaker or for another reason returning to the world after an extended "break", questioning your path forward ("Who I am now? What do I want to do next?", "How do I confidently talk about my break from work?", "Can I have a fulfilling career and still be able to take good care of myself and my loved ones?")
The end of the year and the beginning of the next is a great time to reflect and make some decisions about going forward. If you would like help with that, have a look at my 1:1 coaching offering.
What's included
5 hours together over the course of up to 3 months.
Depending on your goal, preference and the availability on both sides, you might choose to have an hour biweekly, or 30 min weekly meetings, or a weekend intensive e.g.
Before committing
(1) Get a sense of what my coaching approach is by reading this page carefully, as well as this article (it's an example from a client session) and if all resonates, fill in the application form. The application form will help me get an initial sense of whether I could help you.
(2) I will reach out to discuss next steps. In case you haven't had a 30 min gift coaching session with me yet, I will invite you to book one, so you can make your own experience of coaching with me. This is a real coaching session. Not an informal chat, not a sales meeting, not a strategy meeting.
(3) AFTER this meeting, you will let me know if you would like to sign up for 1:1 coaching with me. I am intentionally separating the decision from the meeting as I want you to take your time and act from a place of inner certainty. We will then discuss our potential partnership, the big goal of our work together, the logistics, and I will share the link to book the 1:1 coaching package before we schedule further sessions.
Here's my approach
I work intuitively and fuse practical embodiment coaching with aspects of cognitive coaching and creative tools working with metaphors, improv / play, visuals, design thinking elements and the environment (indoors and outdoors).
My embodiment approach is based on practical somatic non-athletic exercises that essentially lead to state and over time (with practice or immersion) trait changes, all with the purpose of increasing self-awareness, giving people better options to choose from and building a life practice that leads to real transformation, a change that sticks.
My cognitive coaching approach is based on the principles defined by ICF (International Coach Federation).
In whatever we do, YOU ARE IN CHARGE. This means that I will make invitations to try something out, and it's up to you to decide if you want to do it or not, and how you want to go about it (which is why we will constantly calibrate).
This might be for you if
- You are wondering what is next career- or business-wise, or want to move forward with an important personal project
- Maybe you have many interests and this can be so confusing sometimes
- You have been stuck in indecision for a while and are ready to move forward
- You are open-minded about new ways of doing things
- You love learning new things and you love insights, but you know that unless you actually take action on them, not much will change in your life
- You know that you know best what is good for you, so you are not looking for someone to tell you what to do (and you don't believe in magic bullets), you are looking for a thinking partner and guide to help you connect with a wiser part of you, to help improve your perspective and choices
What this is
In our kick-off call we will create the vision and the big goal for our work together. In other words, your island B that you want to get to. Don't worry if island B is unclear, I will help you flesh it out.
We will begin each consecutive session with a clearly defined goal for that session, which feeds into your island B goal.
What might we do in the coaching session?
E.g. I might ask you how you feel in your body about a certain question/topic. I might invite you to move your body in order to play something out. We might use metaphors that will make something more vivid and therefore clearer to you. We might create a vision board or an action board related to your goal. I might offer you a practice to take away that will be helpful to make the insight from our session more powerful by anchoring it to your everyday life.
Try things out and see what this experience brings you.
And be open to the possibility of your goal changing throughout our work. Maybe as you set out at sea you find island C, something you didn't know you wanted or that it was possible, and you decide to stay on it.
What this isn't
* This is not therapy, so we will not work with your past or trauma.
* This is not mentoring and so even though I have expertise in certain areas that might be helpful to you and I am happy to share if it serves you and you welcome it, it is not meant to dominate our sessions.
* This is not the kind of coaching where we talk about things a lot (have you noticed how talking about things a lot can actually trap us even more in our minds?). Instead we work with the whole body (not just what we perceive as the mind) and to achieve our goal we don't need to get into stories with details (we are actually much faster when we don't).
If you are not sure this is for you, let me know and we will figure it out together.
Stay in touch
Questions and answers
How about contact between sessions and spontaneous coaching options?
If it's something quick that takes me about 10 minutes to do asynchronously, please always reach out. If it's not a quick thing and/or you need a live interaction, let me know and if we can be both available, we will jump on a spontaneous zoom call (which would then count towards the 5 hours included in the package).
When and where will we meet?
We will have our regular slot, e.g. Fridays at 17:00 CET. Here are the currently available slots (check here for what this means for your time zone):
- Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays between 18:30-19:30 CET
- Wednesdays and Fridays between 09:30-19:30 CET
If none of these work, let me know BEFORE booking, I will see if I can swap something. I do have a bit of flexibility on weekends as well.
We will meet on zoom, but you don't have to be in front of the computer all the time. We can also do a walk&talk session with voice only, or you could dial in from a cozy place you found in nature with video on or off. Just try to give me a 24h notice whenever possible so I can prepare on my end.
Could we reschedule or shortly pause?
Of course. It might happen under special circumstances (Christmas holidays, an occasion like birthday e.g., or you might just need a break). Unless it's a last-minute emergency, just let me know 1 week in advance and have in mind that all of the sessions in the package need to be taken by the end of the 3rd month after the start of our work together or they will be forfeit. If the special circumstances are on my end, I will also let you know 1 week in advance, unless it's a last-minute emergency, in which case it will be impossible to give that long of a heads-up.
If I want to work with you, just not right now, when will you offer this again?
Sure, there will be other opportunities to work together 1on1, Conditions might change, though (e.g. what is included, what the price is). I will also be offering workshops and group coaching programs now and then. Join my email list to be notified of upcoming offerings, it's the best way to stay in touch.
Why don't you offer single sessions but a package to begin with?
Because even if one session is enough for a big breakthrough and that can be very exciting, usually real change doesn't happen just because we had a new insight. Real change requires that we do something with that new insight and I want to help you with that, be here for you for the journey. Also I can only work with a few people 1on1 at a time and so I need to be able to plan my commitments ahead of time.
Beyond that, I do offer a one-off 30 min gift session if we haven't had one already, so there is a way to get a sense of working with me without any financial commitment.
Is the gift coaching session truly free?
Absolutely! I want you to have the opportunity to experience coaching with me before committing. In fact, you won't find a direct purchasing link on my website, because I like to mindfully connect with each other first, to make sure it's a mutual fit. I am happy to gift you a free coaching session to help with that decision, and I mean an actual coaching session, not a casual chat or undercover sales call.
If the gift session has been incredibly helpful and you feel the need to give back, please look into making a small donation to your local birthing hospital or organization that helps premature babies. This is a cause so dearly close to my heart (my son was born early) and I would love for you to be able to support premature babies in your local community. This is entirely up to you, I never need to know about it.
What happens after the package is over?
Latest at our last session we will discuss if you want to have more time together and if it's less than another 5 sessions, we will look for opportunities to meet just one more time or a few more times instead.
Still have questions or concerns?
There is a field for questions in the application form, and if you are not ready to express interest by filling it in, please email me at denitsa@wholeselfliving.com. I'm happy to help.