CTC - Personal development coaching more information

What is personal development coaching?
Personal development coaching is a process in which you are supported and guided in making changes in your life. It involves regular meetings (or telephone calls) with a coach the aim of which is to move you forward. That might mean identifying action to be taken before the next meeting, or gaining insight into what is holding you back. It might mean deciding that you need to do less rather than more.

Generally the coach helps you to find the answers by asking questions and taking you through exercises so that you gain new insights. The coach may make suggestions and give feedback, but you decide what is right for you.

See personal development coaching programmes for more information on what is involved in particular programmes and what a typical coaching session involves.

What sort of people is personal development coaching for?
Personal development coaching is not a quick fix. It is for people who are committed to learning, growing and getting the most out of their lives.

What will personal development coaching do for me?
The aim of personal development coaching is that you identify what you want, discover what is holding you back, formulate a plan and implement the changes that you want to make (or at least start to do so). It should lead to greater understanding of yourself and what really matters to you.

One aspect to appreciate is that it takes time and commitment to make changes. You may gain insights during the course of a coaching session and things may suddenly change. However, very often change happens more slowly. It is a process of building up new habits and sometimes the change is not obvious until you look back and reflect. That is why coaching involves regular sessions so that you can review progress over time. Also you are permitted to change your mind as you go along. It is not a question of having a plan which is set in stone (unless that is what you really want, of course).

The benefits of having a coach are that:

You do not have to do it on your own
You get honest feedback from an impartial source
You get guidance and support
You can be yourself

What sort of issues are suitable for coaching?
You may be thinking about coaching because you:

want more balance in your life
would like to improve your relationships
are considering starting a business or a change of career focus
feel vaguely dissatisfied with your life
are stuck in a rut
have low energy
need support through a difficult period
don't know what you want
just don't know what to do with your life

Coaching can help with all these things and more. Essentially coaching is appropriate if you want to make changes to aspects of your life that are within your control. However it is not a substitute for counselling, therapy or medical advice.

How can personal development coaching help?
Coaching is an effective way to achieve long lasting change. The ongoing relationship with your coach helps you to consolidate the changes so that they are sustainable in the long term. Change happens more often on an incremental basis as a result of a series of small steps than as a result of one significant breakthrough. The regular coaching sessions keep you on track . Most importantly of all, your coach is there to give you unconditional support and encouragement.

What results will I get from coaching?
A coach will hold you to your highest standards and keep you focused. You can expect to develop greater awareness of your own thought processes and how you come across to other people. You should find that you are living more in alignment with what really matters to you, and that this results in increased overall wellbeing and personal satisfaction.

Some of the possible benefits are that personal development coaching enables you to:

Identify what you want
Develop a plan of action for achieving your goals
Understand what is important to you
Stop trying to be what other people want you to be
Create more time and energy to do what you really want
Set your sights higher and achieve more
Have greater self esteem and self confidence
Improve your personal and work relationships
Develop habits that promote health and wellbeing

What is the role of the coach?
Well we have all seen the coaches on TV who faced with a particular problem prescribe a course of action to be followed at all costs (think Supernanny and the naughty step, for example). Actually that's not what we do at all. So if you want that look elsewhere.

What we do is to help you find your own solutions. We may make suggestions but we do not tell you what to do. We are experts on the process of change, not on what you should do. Having said that of course we will give feedback and tell you what we think. But we won't be upset if you don't agree with us.

Our role is to encourage, motivate, support, challenge, guide and above all to be interested in you.

What is your style of coaching?
Our style of coaching is to be direct, forthright and to find the right mix of being supportive and challenging.

Our approach is that change starts with understanding of where you are now, not with rushing to move to somewhere else. That means we start with finding out what you want and what sort of person you are. You also get to tell us what sort of coaching works for you and we work out a plan together.

How is coaching different from counselling or therapy?
Coaching is about moving forwards and making changes rather than delving into the past or analysing the psychological basis of behaviour. Coaching is oriented to setting clear outcomes, using specific tools to clear blocks, focusing on what works, and building on that to move you forwards.

The similarities with counselling and psychotherapy are that they all involve a confidential and supportive relationship where the client is really heard and encouraged to make the changes that they want. However coaching is not counselling or therapy, and if we feel that these alternatives would be more appropriate we will let you know.

How can I find out more?
You can contact CTC by telephone or e-mail for an informal discussion.