Psychodynamic Coaching:
"Psychodynamic Coaching" is an approach utilizing the very best techniques from the realms of psychodynamic psychotherapy coupled with those from the world of coaching.  Each concept and subsequent technique has been chosen only if demonstrated to be an effective change agent - meaning it works!

I believe that many of the "issues" people come to either a therapist or coach for help ameliorating run along a continuum of human experience.  So much of the coaching world steers coaches away from dealing with the history and emotions of the client - almost afraid of "opening a can of worms".  Thus, in my experience most coaches really only address the very tip of the iceberg regarding what may be holding people back from realizing their true success.

On the other hand, having been immersed in mental health for over 15 years, I too often see psychotherapists focus only on the historical and emotional underpinnings of peoples suffering, sometimes without providing them either full resolution or ways of getting the most out of their lives even with significant challenges.  Therefore some therapists may do a great job of addressing parts of the iceberg submerged under water, but not in guiding the client towards living a successful life out of the water.

The psychodynamic coaching approach is utilized in both counseling and coaching relationships.  The key difference is where we spend a majority of our focus.  With counseling we will spend more time in the past, making sure we understand the historical underpinnings of your struggles/behavior/choices/belief systems.  That new understanding will serve as the foundation upon which you create a new course for yourself.  The coaching relationship will spend more time zeroing in on the relative here-and-now aspects of your struggles and deal sparingly with historical underpinnings.

Each process, counseling or coaching, has a distinct time commitment derived from my many years of experience.  I have found most counseling clients to benefit most from an intensive approach within the first eight weeks.  This is usually where people are within the crisis stage and most amenable to guidance and taking action.  Motivation is very strong.  After eight weeks the initial chaos has diminished significantly, and most clients benefit from a less intensive approach stretched out over longer periods of time between sessions.  Where during the initial eight weeks I will likely see a client at least once each week, after that we typically meet from every other week to once a month, in a solidification or maintenance process.

Coaching clients usually enter the relationship with similar motivation and energy, but can sustain that a bit longer than in counseling, primarily due to the diminished emotional intensity of the coaching process.  Therefore, my coaching clients commit to a twelve week initial process.  Often times this is sufficient to ameliorate their difficulties and our relationship ends.

The overall goal of this approach is to allow myself the flexibility, given my experience and level of expertise, to truly approach each client with the tools that will most benefit you.  I am able to use a much larger amount of collected knowledge and techniques to guide you through the learning process, so in the future you may be able to help yourself.  Not being hindered by any one theory base allows me the agility to truly respond to you as a complex, multilayered human being.