Psychologists have many years of supervised study and training in understanding all facets of human behaviour and working to Improve wellbeing and resilience to encourage personal growth and thriving. They are also registered with professional bodies.

Coaching psychology has emerged from a desire to bring positive psychology into peoples’ lives. The approaches have come out of the work done in the fields of positive psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, and positively focused psychotherapy. As a qualified psychologist, I’m highly trained in using skill development techniques, positive psychology, goal-setting and motivational processes, and working with blocks to progress. I understand how our cognitive processes and physiology interacts with our day-to-day thoughts, feelings and behaviour and use this knowledge to help people identify their strengths and develop skills so they can live a more fulfilling life.

People often fear seeing a psychologist as they think they must have something very wrong with them or that they will be made to explore childhood or other traumas. However, this is not the focus of the work we would do together. A Wellbeing coaching psychology session is a conversation with purpose, where you can gain a sense of perspective and clarity and develop some tools to improve your life and mental wellbeing. I am skilled and experienced in recognising mental wellbeing issues and knowing how to work with a client, including knowing when to suggest referral to a G.P. or therapist.

Training and teaching involve the transfer of skills and knowledge to the learner. The trainer or teacher is the expert. As a coaching psychologist, I will acknowledge you as the expert on your life, experiences, and perspectives. I will not give you answers, but will guide with the right questions. One size doesn’t fit all, so I will explore your present, help you focus on your goals and work with you to design your future path. This is your journey, and I will be asking you to work actively on this. The reward is that you will learn and grow during the process; it will certainly be worth the effort.

There are very few down sides to coaching. The focus is not on what’s wrong, instead it’s on what’s right, and how you can keep that in your life and make it better. There is always risk in everything, though. One risk is that you might feel awkward or uncomfortable as we begin to work on where or what you want to improve. However, finding your starting point is all part of the process and we can explore this together.

Sessions may bring up some things that you might want to avoid, or things that might be better served by medical or other forms of support. Avoidance is one thing that comes up a lot in wellbeing coaching; it’s easy to want to avoid change. That is something we can work on in the process of analysing blocks and obstacles.

Severe emotional distress, relationship problems, possible mental illness are things that need to be explored with medical support. If these issues come up in a session, I will advise and guide you on seeking this support.

No. As a Wellbeing coach and psychologist, I want you to be autonomous and achieve what you want. I will make it clear from the start that you are responsible for and own the results of the coaching process. Coaching works to make the client more self-reliant, personal strength aware and improve self-efficacy.

At the end of a session, I will encourage you to ask yourself if you have learned something new about yourself and gained clarity on your situation. While I would never claim that wellbeing coaching can lead to immediate epiphanies, I do believe you should feel like you’re gaining a bit more clarity on your situation with an initial or each progressive session. You should feel like you’re gaining a new awareness about yourself, to enable new actions and new results in your life.