If change were easy, we would always handle it well and have whatever we desire. One unique aspect of coaching is that when the client invests time and money into the process and agrees to be accountable for taking action, he or she immediately demonstrates a commitment to change. With the help of a results-oriented professional, people do make powerful, measurable, and sometimes miraculous changes that last.

Psychotherapy typically focuses on how past events in a client's life may have created or impacted their current challenges. Coaching on the other hand, focuses on the present situation, finding solutions and actions the client can use to create powerful and lasting changes. This is done by utilizing each client's unique strengths and gifts to help them deal effectively with change and to create and attain reachable goals.

Professional coaching is a distinct service that focuses on an individual’s life as it relates to goal setting, outcome creation and personal change management. In an effort to understand what a coach is, it can be helpful to distinguish coaching from other professions that provide personal or organizational support.

Therapy. Coaching can be distinguished from therapy in a number of ways. First, coaching is a profession that supports personal and professional growth and development based on individual-initiated change in pursuit of specific actionable outcomes. These outcomes are linked to personal or professional success. Coaching is forward moving and future focused. Therapy, on the other hand, deals with healing pain, dysfunction and conflict within an individual or a relationship between two or more individuals. The focus is often on resolving difficulties arising from the past which hamper an individual's emotional functioning in the present, improving overall psychological functioning, and dealing with present life and work circumstances in more emotionally healthy ways. Therapy outcomes often include improved emotional/feeling states. While positive feelings/emotions may be a natural outcome of coaching, the primary focus is on creating actionable strategies for achieving specific goals in one's work or personal life. The emphasis in a coaching relationship is on action, accountability and follow through.

Consulting. Consultants may be retained by individuals or organizations for the purpose of accessing specialized expertise. While consulting approaches vary widely, there is often an assumption that the consultant diagnoses problems and prescribes and sometimes implements solutions. In general, the assumption with coaching is that individuals or teams are capable of generating their own solutions, with the coach supplying supportive, discovery-based approaches and frameworks.

Mentoring. Mentoring, which can be thought of as guiding from one’s own experience or sharing of experience in a specific area of industry or career development, is sometimes confused with coaching. Although some coaches provide mentoring as part of their coaching, such as in mentor coaching new coaches, coaches are not typically mentors to those they coach.

Training. Training programs are based on the acquisition of certain learning objectives as set out by the trainer or instructor. Though objectives are clarified in the coaching process, they are set by the individual or team being coached with guidance provided by the coach. Training also assumes a linear learning path that coincides with an established curriculum. Coaching is less linear without a set curriculum plan.

Athletic Development. Though sports metaphors are often used, professional coaching is different from the traditional sports coach. The athletic coach is often seen as an expert who guides and directs the behavior of individuals or teams based on his or her greater experience and knowledge. Professional coaches possess these qualities, but it is the experience and knowledge of the individual or team that determines the direction. Additionally, professional coaching, unlike athletic development, does not focus on behaviors that are being executed poorly or incorrectly. Instead, the focus is on identifying opportunity for development based on individual strengths and capabilities.

There are two main reasons so many people are looking for life coaches. First, because coaching is a growing field, the existence of more professionals is creating an awareness of their availability. More and more people are realizing that it just makes good sense to have the assistance of someone who is non-judgmental, a good listener, and capable of thinking "outside the box," to help make their lives more manageable and enjoyable. The second and most important reason is that coaching works!

Once you have decided to make this powerful choice for yourself or your teenage child, you can either call 973-736-6558 or email coachrandy@ypcoach.com. After your message is received, you will be contacted to set up an initial complimentary telephone consultation. At the consultation we will discuss what brings you to coaching, what your needs are, and whether or not coaching would be the right fit. The complimentary consultation is also an opportunity for us to meet each other and determine if there is a sufficient trust and comfort level to move ahead into a more formalized arrangement.

The majority of my work is done by face-to-face with email as an added client support. However, telephone coaching is available and allows clients to be coached from the relaxed environment of their home or private office.

The role of the coach is to provide objective assessment and observations that foster the individual’s or team members’ enhanced self-awareness and awareness of others, practice astute listening in order to garner a full understanding of the individual’s or team’s circumstances, be a sounding board in support of possibility thinking and thoughtful planning and decision making, champion opportunities and potential, encourage stretch and challenge commensurate with personal strengths and aspirations, foster the shifts in thinking that reveal fresh perspectives, challenge blind spots in order to illuminate new possibilities, and support the creation of alternative scenarios. Finally, the coach maintains professional boundaries in the coaching relationship, including confidentiality, and adheres to the coaching profession’s code of ethics.

The role of the individual is to create the coaching agenda based on personally meaningful coaching goals, utilize assessment and observations to enhance self-awareness and awareness of others, envision personal and/or organizational success, assume full responsibility for personal decisions and actions, utilize the coaching process to promote possibility thinking and fresh perspectives, take courageous action in alignment with personal goals and aspirations, engage big picture thinking and problem solving skills, and utilize the tools, concepts, models and principles provided by the coach to engage effective forward actions.

Usually once a week, forty-five minutes for individual and one hour for couple, parent, or family coaching. The frequency and duration can be altered depending on the client’s style. This model works well for building support, momentum, and accountability. For returning clients, coaching is available on an as-needed basis.

The initial commitment is three months. However, following that it varies from a few months to several years. Generally, people work for however long they are getting value from the coaching. The value is measured by clients moving forward and taking action in their life.

That’s fine. I offer a complimentary session to give coaching a test drive.

All coaching sessions are paid monthly in advance by major credit, debit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover), check or cash.