Coaching

What Is Christian Coaching?

Coaching is first and foremost a focused, personal relationship with a set goal or set of goals between two people. Coaching from a Christian perspective means that coaches will bring their full skill set of theological, theoretical and practical expertise to help an individual analyze their current position and set measurable goals within the parameters of a life that follows the teachings of Christ. Our coaches seek to take steps based on the Word of God and through conversation with the person, use guided inquiry to diagnose problems and set an actionable plan for growth and development.

Los Angeles Christian Counseling offers Christian Coaching where professional coaches partner with individual clients, applying their training and experience to accelerate positive change in which clients are inspired to set goals, work towards the desired change and ultimately achieve personal and professional growth.

What Are The Goals Of Christian Coaching?

Christian coaching seeks to offer spiritual guidance to clients looking for direction and yearning for personal change. The goal-setting is focused on living in a Christ-centered way in every aspect of life. This set of parameters guides our desire to be salt and light in our daily lives. The way we act and think is a reflection of our Creator and has a powerful influence on our ability to impact others. With a coach, you are empowered to take steps to transform both your inner and outer world. Our coaches work to expedite change, assist with the transition process, and pave a new way to help with the building of God’s Kingdom. Coaches act as encouragers creating space for vision casting, the management of change, and active action planning.

There are 3 core focus areas of our coaching services:

Action – this is the process of planning, executing and analyzing goals

Accountability – the partnering that happens during the processes of change and evaluation of desired outcomes

Follow-through – after the implementation of any action steps, a full review and continued assessment of goal achievement

Here is a sample of the questions you might be asked:

• Do you know what your vision is?
• What is your mission for now and the future?
• Is organizational thinking something that you feel is important?
• Can you think of some realistic goals that you can achieve in the short and long-term?
• What trajectory does your life have at the moment?
• Is this where you want to go with your life?
• If you close your eyes, what does your future self look like?
• Can you think of past successes that you would like to achieve again?

Once we have your feedback on these questions, your coach will then come up with a framework to help you with working towards actionable goals. They will continue to be available to offer feedback at regular intervals, as well as offering input if there are areas where you might be struggling. These two factors will increase the likelihood of a positive outcome for your goal achievement.

Coaching differs from therapy primarily due to its focus which is forward moving and looking toward the future. This differs from therapy which deals with issues from a person’s past and seeks to resolve those. In general, the focus of coaching is not on resolution of psychological concerns such as anxiety or depression, but rather looks towards a desired future. The focus is on personal and professional achievements.

Coaching looks at goals and the full achievement of potential, where therapy is more concerned with the processing of painful and/or harmful past circumstances that are affecting the person today.

The focus of questions that we ask is likewise different. A therapy-based question might be “Why did this happen to me?” where coaching would be more concerned with answering “What are we doing today that will set us up for the future that we want tomorrow?” or “I know the Lord has plans for me, what doors is He opening right now?”

Is Coaching For Me?

Are you dissatisfied with where you are right now? Do you feel that the Lord has more for you? Do you think that by setting and achieving measurable goals that your life would improve? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you would benefit from a one on one coaching relationship.

It’s not always that there is something “wrong” in your life that kick starts a coaching relationship – but rather the underlying desire for more of what God has planned for your life and the need for some support to help you achieve those plans.

What are the Benefits of Christian Coaching?

The numerous studies that have been done on the impact of coaches reflect the effectiveness of having this one-on-one support. Coaching has been positively linked to increased well-being at work, higher personal accomplishment, improved quality of work and a sense of connectedness with colleagues. Additionally, you will find that your level of knowledge increases through the coaching process as well as the development of underutilized skills and your attitude to change.

What is Executive Coaching?

Executive coaching is based on taking leaders to the next level. According to LifeCoach.com, “Many of today’s most successful business leaders, professionals, executives, entrepreneurs,and CEOs use the services of a life coach to take their lives, careers, or businesses to the next level.” (http://www.lifecoach.com/what-is-a-life-coach)

Professionals asking questions such as the below should consider executive coaching:

• What direction should I be taking for my career?
• What steps can I take to better manage my time?
• Is my work-life balance good, can I improve it?
• Are there actionable steps I can take to grow as a professional?
• What skills can I develop to reduce my level of stress both professionally and at home?

If you have asked yourself these questions in the past, you’re ready to start your coaching journey.

Coaching is first and foremost a one-on-one conversation between two individuals: the coach and the client. The first session will be focused on the assessment of the client’s current situation with the time taken to identify challenges and opportunities. From there, the coach will take steps to define the parameters of the coaching relationship, draw up actionable goals and talk through the desired outcomes.

The coaches at LA Christian Counseling will:

• Outline a framework for the establishment of goals
• Assess the current situation and diagnose opportunities and challenges
• Work with the client to agree on the diagnosis
• Set an action plan in conversation with the client
• Materialize the plan
• Review and give feedback on the plan and whether the desired goals were achieved.

There may be tasks set between the sessions for the client to complete in order to make achieving the goals a reality

How Long Does the Coaching Take?

This depends on the individual’s needs and preferences and may be impacted by the types of goals that are set and the timeline for achieving them. Other factors that affect the duration of the relationship include the frequency of sessions and the manner in which an individual prefers to work.

At Los Angeles Christian Counseling, we want to help you achieve your goals through developing your strengths, helping you to maximize opportunities and achieve results that will have a positive impact on you and those around you.

What is the Next Step?

If you’re ready to take the next step and get started with our coaching services, please give us a call at (949) 386-7182 or contact us online. We’re looking forward to helping you on your journey!