These past few weeks, several people have been taking the time to read my latest entries, and I am truly grateful. I hope it has given you a sense not only of what I do, but why I do it; who I am, what I value, and how I strive to show up in our world.
In conversations and messages, I’ve received some questions about my coaching and credentials, and I thought providing answers here would serve the most people.
I did my Life Coach training with Martha Beck, through her Life Coach Training and Master Coach Training programs. Martha Beck is a bestselling author and speaker, and has been a longtime contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine. She has earned three degrees from Harvard University, including a PhD in sociology; worked as a research associate at Harvard Business School; and has been a leading life coach for more than two decades.
I crossed paths with Martha’s writings when I was at a crossroads in my life. I was working a lot but was not passionate about my career. I was a good problem solver, and I excelled at the “soft” skills of customer service and team building; but I didn’t feel I was meeting my potential or living my purpose.
I had always done well in school, in Math & Science curriculum as well as Writing and Creative Expression. I thought of myself as a Poet-Scientist, maybe some kind of lost philosopher.
At this stage in my life, my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Throughout the several years of his decline, I discovered that having the right answers never helped the situations my family faced. And most of our problems really weren’t fixable.
This is when Martha’s books entered my life, and her writing offered a combination of research and humanity that spoke to me. A way to look at life as less black and white, and as more of a journey of discovery. As I tried to find a new path forward that would lift and fill my heart, I serendipitously encountered two people who both felt I had the spirit and capacity of compassion for life coaching.
After my dad passed away, I knew I needed a change. In 2012, I went through one life coach training, but was left feeling inadequately prepared. So, in 2013, I enrolled in the MBI program, returning to the source that had provided my initial spark. This was an eight-and-a-half-month program that instructed us on Martha’s coaching system and strategies, and it taught us the use of her life coaching tools. At the completion of the course, I went through the certification process and passed, earning the title of Martha Beck Certified Life Coach.
I opened Sunrise Journeys Life Coaching, and coached clients for the next few years, building my experience and tracking my hours in order to apply for Master Coach Training. The beginning of 2017 I applied and was one of just ten people accepted into the program.
Master Coach Training took life coaching to a whole new level. It was clear early on that we were going beyond the tools we had learned in LCT, to now tap into our deeper skill set of intuition and deep listening, to allow us to receive what the client was sharing, even when they weren’t saying it. We were learning to trust what we were sensing, and to trust our instincts.
This put me deep in the Land of Vulnerability. I discovered that to be a really good Life Coach, I can’t hold back. I can’t try to people please. I can’t worry about being right.
I must be open to receiving, both from the client and from my own intuition. I am not “in charge” of the session or the conversation—it is an artful collaboration, and I strive to remain in perpetual creative response.
Most of all, what I learned in Master Coach Training was that I did not need to learn how to be a coach like Martha Beck, but that I must continually strive to bring my whole self to my coaching.
Late October of 2017 I attended the MCT Final Retreat, and I’m proud to say that at the end of the retreat, I was awarded my certification as a Martha Beck Certified Master Coach.
One of the core beliefs of my training is that no one can know or understand a client better than they know themselves. They hold the answers that they most need. My goal and purpose are to help them discover, uncover, or recover that knowing. Their truth. Their purpose.
To those who continue to read my postings, I am grateful. And to the ones who have written me, or signed up for a Strategy Session, I have truly appreciated connecting with you. Thank you!
Does this resonate with you? If so, take the next step and click on this link to schedule a free Strategy Session, and Let’s Talk!
Recent Comments