Life Coaching FAQ

What is a life coach?

I view life coaches as guides who empower and inspire their clients to live their fullest lives, and actualize their dreams/visions.

What’s the difference between therapy and coaching?

Typically, coaching is focused on present day and future possibilities, whereas therapy helps folks understand how their past informs their current experiences and patterns. Folks in therapy are usually experiencing an acute mental health stressor that is impacting functioning in one or more life domains. With coaching, while there may be struggle and stress, functioning is not impaired in the same way. Coaching is aspirational, therapy is healing.

What is your personal coaching style?

I fancy myself a feminist life coach, with philosophy rooted in an anti-oppression framework. Given my professional background as a trauma-focused clinical social worker, my coaching is also trauma-informed (though no therapy takes place).

What are your credentials?

Martha Beck Wayfinder Life Coach
Certified International Coaching Federation Coach (pending approval)
Masters of Social Work
Parent of four!

What brings you to coaching?

As a seasoned clinical social worker, I’ve spent the majority of my career working with adult and child survivors of domestic and sexual violence. I have dedicated my life to empowering womxn, striving ultimately to obtain gender equity in a system that was designed to do just the opposite.

This work demands an analysis of power and control, of systems of oppression - and of principles of liberation.

Over time, I heard the call to coach folks whose true selves had been buried over the years, succumbing to the demands of culture. I grew tired of seeing womxn play small, shrink themselves, water themselves down. I see coaching in this capacity to be an extension of my previous work, as it’s all connected.

I love coaching. My passion for this work comes through in both the meaningful connection I establish with each of my clients and in the results. I will inspire you, and in turn, you will inspire me. I will be here on the ground beside you, equipping you with tools I’ve found to be tried and true myself - through getting my hands dirty with experience.

I’ll meet you exactly where you are, and we’ll create the extraordinary future you know is possible.

What are some topics you address in your coaching?

The goals we set for each session will be unique to your needs. Here are some examples of things we might address during a coaching session:

Self

Investing in the dreams that matter most to you
Finding your life’s purpose (outside of your professional life)
Letting go of cultural expectations and aligning with your truest self

Family

Recalibrating to changes within your family, such as divorce, welcoming a
new child, or sending your youngest to college
Negotiating speed bumps in parenting
Deciding whether and/or how to grow your family

Work

Deciding who you want to be when you grow up
Navigating the pressures of a career change
Redefining your professional self

Relationships

Creating a network of people who lift you up, not keep you down
Identifying your needs and wants in romantic partnership
Building up the supports you need to live the life you long for
Putting down meaningful roots after a relocation