What is the difference between coaching and therapy?

Coaching is focused on helping you address your current challenges and setting goals, whereas therapy is often focused on analyzing the past. I am not a licensed therapist, but I am a certified coach through Northwestern University's OLCC program.

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​We will spend time on past experiences, root issues, and understanding how your mental models and assumptions affect thinking, feelings, and behaviors. This is crucial for sustained success and meaningful change. But, we will be current and future-focused, turning insights into actionable plans.

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What will I get out of a coaching engagement?

You decide what that is. You define what success means in a coaching engagement. I will ask you: "When we are done working together on this engagement, what will success look like?"  Different people have very different goals/ideas/needs in their coaching. For some, it's quite clear and concrete ("I want to switch careers into x industry in x role"). For others, it is a more general need for change, and we work to unpack that and get specific with your goals ("I need more balance, but I'm not sure exactly where in my life or how").​

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How long does a coaching engagement last?

• I offer 3, 6, and 12 month coaching packages.

• We meet every two weeks, and I offer unlimited calls, texts and support in between our sessions.

• In addition to the initial complimentary hour (discussed below), we kick-off with a 45 minute session to discuss expectations, communication style preferences, and answer any questions.

• The remaining sessions are either 60 or 90 minutes, depending on the package.

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How do I know if this coaching practice is right for me?

There are many wonderful coaches in the world who bring different experiences, areas of expertise, and coaching styles. A crucial key to success is finding the right fit and chemistry. We will spend a complimentary one-hour session together to assess if we are a fit for one another, discussing your goals, preferred communication styles, and any important background information. We will have time to reflect on the fit before committing to working together. My goal is to ensure that you feel a sense of confidence, trust, and partnership with me. If I am not a fit for you, I am happy to recommend someone who might be!  

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Is it confidential?

Yes. Everything we discuss is confidential. My notes remain confidential and secure on a password protected computer and private network. Even if your work is sponsoring our coaching engagement, the specifics of our conversations are not shared. 

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Why should I work with you, Sarah?

Not every coach is a fit for everyone. I bring a unique style and set of experiences. What makes me, me? I have a mix of P&L operations experience (I have actually led large teams) and talent consulting experience (I have been in the talent space for 10+ years, particularly with recruiting, career switching, and helping companies align their strategic needs with talent needs.) I also have a Master's from Northwestern in (adult) learning and change management. 

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I bring a positive psychology (learn more here) approach to my practice. From me, you will experience high energy, positive praise, and I can also be direct and push you when I disagree or want to dig a little deeper.

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I focus a lot on why. I believe that we can absolutely work on tangible, tactical skills and goals, but I will also ask you to reflect and get to root causes. If you don't want to spend time reflecting and uncovering some of the why, then I might not be the coach for you. 

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I will ask far more questions than provide direct answers or advice.

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How much does it cost?

Please contact me directly to discuss pricing packages. There are different rates for different engagement packages.

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What's your approach?

The tools and content of each engagement are different, but I have four fundamental guiding principles in my approach:

• Define success - what do you want to achieve? I will ask that at the beginning of our overall engagement and in every session together. It is ok to not know! Sometimes, we spend our time taking a general idea or need and define and narrow it into the right, specific goal or desired change.

• Determine the pathway - how do we get there? I will not prescribe methods and action plans. Sometimes we will co-create, but mostly the "how" is determined by you. My job is to listen intently, ask curious questions, help you question assumptions, and empower you to decide what the right pathway is to achieve your goals.

• Empower your agency - create motivation and confidence that the path will get you there. You can only be full of hope and motivation to achieve goals if you believe you can do it. We will work through many mindset exercises to help empower you. We will reframe, reflect, and focus on what is in your control.

• Create accountability - how do we measure success? We will stay focused on the goal or change at hand, being clear on what defines success, and then how to measure it. Some refer to these as SMART goals. While we will create specific, measurable goals, we will also have accountability on the pathway to that goals. For example, what are the weekly "small wins" that you want to be accountable for in the next two weeks? 

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Didn't see your question answered here? Please contact me directly!

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