Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between what you do and what coaches do?
A coach is not required to have years of training and supervision. Licensed psychologists in the state of California have at least 3,000 hours of supervised experience, at least 3 years of graduate school classes and are legally obligated to follow a strict code of ethics.
It is sometimes is said that coaches work with people who want to have better lives but who don’t have pathology, but psychologists work with people who have something wrong with them. While this may have had some basis in fact at one time, it is no longer true. With the advent of Positive Psychology, many psychologists, including myself, find it much more empowering for clients to work from and build their strengths in therapy. It is one of the most healing and educational things my clients and I do together.
What works in therapy?
It’s important that you genuinely feel your therapist can relate to you and give you meaningful feedback. Because of this, I offer a free 20 minute consultation for people wishing to explore if we might work well together.
When I first practiced as a coach before I was trained as a psychologist, I could listen. I could help my clients come up with plans for approaching their work and lives differently. I did not have the knowledge and experience for helping a person work with their past and present to change their emotional reactions in the present. I also didn’t have the training to work with the subconscious processes that profoundly affect all aspects of our lives. The more I learned about working with people in a depth-oriented way, I realized that I could be most helpful to people who want to feel better about their lives and jobs if I trained as a licensed psychologist. Coaches are not experts in helping people change emotional patterns, licensed therapists are.