Coaching usually happens over a few to several sessions, often every other week, and is focused entirely on you. You can think of it like hanging out with an old friend who wants to hear about what's going on in your life but doesn't need to talk about themselves. They know when to jump in to ask thoughtful questions and help clear your head about a thing, big or small, that's been weighing on you.All of our coaches have or are completing the Brown University/ACT Leadership Performance Coaching Certification Program. This program starts with the assumption that you, the client, are creative, resourceful, and whole, and we're just there to help clear the muck away so that you can decide where you want to go next.("Muck" is LTM's word, not official ACT language, as you might suspect)

You are not alone! Here's the quick distinction:Therapy comes from a medical mindset and generally focuses on how the past influences the present. You'll work with a trained professional in mental health, and they'll walk you through something like a treatment plan.Mentoring comes from personal lived experiences that you're interested in, and generally focuses on advising you on next steps. You'll talk with someone who has more experience or expertise, and they'll share their perspective on what you should do/think about next.Coaching comes from a client-focused, exploratory mindset and generally focuses on helping you understand your relationship to the topic. You'll talk with someone who has training in best coaching practices, and they will co-create an exploration of a topic of your choosing.

Every session will have a three part arc:Checking in on how you're doing right now and clarifying what you'd like to talk about today. Ideally you'll have a topic, something you want to talk through or even celebrate, and an idea of what you'd like to take with you when we finish your session. The good news is that you can show up with no idea of what you'd like to talk about, and we can still help you make progress even if it's just finding the topic for next time. Talking about "the thing" or what's around the thing. This might involve metaphors, asking you about how the conversation feels in your body, what you can imagine about the thing, or even imagining your future and then working backwards. This part involves creativity, active listening on our part, and curiosity from both of us. We'll spent most of our time here, hopefully helping you feel empowered and freer so that you can stop reacting and start choosing your path forward. Closing out our conversation with something more defined and, ideally, an accountability plan for how you can support yourself going forward. This doesn't need to be anything massive; you might leave our time with a plan or with a small post-it note to remind yourself of a mindset. This is entirely dependent on what you want to take with you going forward. This is your coaching conversation, and you set the agenda in all things, including how we finish.

That's really up to you. The most familiar you get with coaching as a practice and your specific coach, the more effective each session will be. Most clients plan for 5-10 sessions to make progress on something, but you're in charge of your time and your goals. We would recommend starting with the initial consultation (15 minutes) and then three 50-minute sessions, and then seeing where you want to go from there.

The Coaching Exchange is a list of coaching individual who have also been through Leadership Performance Coaching Certification (LPCC) with Jenna. Finding a coach can be tough, but coaching is awesome. Jenna built this exchange to make that part of life a little easier. Each coach operates independently and is not officially affiliated with LTM Group in any way.