Individual Coaching and Therapy for Women
Women seek therapy and coaching for all sorts of reasons.
And it doesn’t have to feel weird or taboo. And if you’ve tried therapy or coaching in the past but things didn’t get better, press past your skepticism and keep reading!
You may want to talk to someone unbiased, non-judgmental, and will keep things private (with a few exceptions, such as posing an imminent and violent threat toward yourself or others).
Or maybe you want support in a particular area of your life. It feels like you have no time for yourself. You have to take care of other people before yourself – your kids or your partner. You over-commit by telling everyone ‘yes.’ You have such a hard time saying ‘no’ that it gets to be overwhelming.
Perhaps you’ve had other therapists or coaches in the past. You’re interested in going with one who can bring both a clinical and a psychospiritual orientation to bear on these challenges.
Or maybe you’ve been trying to feel better on your own, but things aren’t “just getting better.”
Living life as you are right now is draining.
It’s tiring. It’s like you’re chasing behind everyone to make sure they’re all okay and taken care of. Everyone around you is ungrateful for you or doesn’t appreciate you. You’re fed up.
You’ve noticed that you’ve started drinking (maybe several) white claws during the daytime. Sometimes you buy clothes that you don’t wear or need. You hop from relationship to relationship to cope. Or you over-eat to cope (or lose your appetite and don’t eat at all). Or maybe you’re not really doing anything at all to cope.
You’ve been having thoughts like…
“What’s the point of this?”
“What’s my purpose?”
“Maybe I’ll die alone. I’ll never find my person.”
You are feeling hopeless, lost, frustrated, confused. Deep down inside, you know that you want to change, but your behaviors and choices still stay the same on the outside. Or it feels like somehow you always end up in the same situations over and over again.
For example, even though you date different people, somehow it’s like you end up with the same person or same type of person over and over again. You feel like you’re always ‘the giver’ in every dynamic.
Or anxiety consumes your day-to-day life. To the point, it gets in the way of you getting things done. You think or worry a LOT about the future. So much so that you’re beginning to feel like you obsess about it.
I have been the person whose anxiety overrides everything and takes over. I have experienced the rollercoaster of emotions and not having any idea of how to manage them. I’ve also been the person who had a hard time being by themselves, to the point where I filled the hole in my heart with alcohol, drugs, and unhealthy codependent relationships.
So not only do I have professional experience, but also personal experience. To truly ‘get it.’ You’re not alone in how you feel.
Let me clarify what’s “coaching” and what’s “therapy.”
Alike: Coaching and therapy are alike in that they both work to solve the problem at hand. The difference between them is their approaches. Sometimes challenges can be ‘surface-level’ (lack of inspiration/motivation in getting daily tasks completed, feeling overwhelmed and unorganized) – this would be great for coaching. However, other times issues can end up a little deeper than ‘surface level.’
These issues can have to do with things like patterns, relationships, underlying beliefs, and behaviors. We won’t know until we start getting into a rich, meaningful conversation – where we can determine and uncover which direction to take.
My work does not take a path of ‘one or the other.’ I like to combine coaching and therapy to produce results and outcomes for my client.
Coaching is a space to explore your breakdowns in a supportive, non-judgmental way deeply. Breakdowns are the times when you wanted to ‘do better’ or ‘do differently’ and didn’t. Somehow you fell short of making that healthy decision. Or you ended up saying “yes” when you really meant ‘no.’ It’s almost like ‘I knew better, yet I did it anyway.’
It’s a space to become aware of the patterns serving you and the habits that are not serving you in a solution-focused way.
With coaching, you’ll feel as though you can get organized in your life, communicate better to people around you, change unwanted habits, and improve your relationships.
Therapy is a space to get introspective and gain insight into why we do the things we do. That insight lets us cope with and move through our life challenges with a little more ease.
You’re going to like meeting virtually. Let me explain…
I am just as present with you virtually as if we were meeting in person.
I’ve always been someone genuinely curious. I’m not here to give you advice. I instead ask curious questions to guide you in coming up with your own decision(s) that you feel would be in the very best interest of yourself.
I notice body language. I pay attention to when you pause and take that deep breath. It’s like I’m right next to you or in your pocket. I encourage my clients to sit somewhere quiet, private, and comfortable. Light their favorite candle or incense. And let’s get tuned in.
Sometimes it isn’t easy getting to a therapist’s office – whether it’s due to a busy work schedule or being a parent with kids. You may still want a quality therapist – someone who connects with you and understands you – without having to compromise traveling to an office.
You can feel confident in having someone who is attentive and modern. Someone who can have empathy yet still holds you accountable and call you out on the things you know you probably shouldn’t be doing.
You may have concerns about doing coaching or therapy virtually because of past unpleasant experiences.
I get that. Maybe you had a therapist or coach in the past who wasn’t paying attention, who you couldn’t connect with or relate to. Perhaps you felt awkward talking to someone over the internet. Perhaps in the past, you had a therapist or coach who you felt dismissed your thoughts and continued to impose their own beliefs on you.
And you can’t beat the convenience!
Some of my clients like to have sessions in their car, bedroom, or bathroom… wherever feels safest and most comfortable for them. They also love that it’s private and easy.
Other reasons to consider online coaching/therapy include not dealing with the stress of driving somewhere and finding parking. My clients love making their spaces comfortable and sacred – they light their favorite candle nearby or their favorite incense. They can put on comfy clothes. Some of my clients like having their pets nearby too.
After our initial discovery session (which is free to you!), most clients go out of their way to say they felt more comfortable talking to me online than being in front of a coach or therapist in an office!
Here’s how coaching will improve your life…
During coaching sessions, we look at the root of your problem or challenge. We’ll identify where you have a break down (the places/things you’re unhappy with). We’ll explore your day to day routines and work on improving your schedule and daily living, so it reflects what you’d like your ideal day to look like.
We’ll create morning/evening routines that support you in getting intentional and laser-focused on achieving the goals you have. In working together, you’ll start to spot more easily where you’re having your trouble(s) in getting to where you’d like to be.
And this is how therapy will get you where you want to be.
We’ll look closely at what’s working, what’s not working, and how to manage unpleasant emotions and thoughts better.
Maybe you’ve already tried therapy or coaching before. Perhaps you’ve talked about your problems, and you’re aware of the problems but have no idea how to begin to solve them. Or where to even start.
You’ve been thinking, “I don’t even know where to begin. I just know I want to feel better.” When we work together, we’ll get you to a calm state of mind and determine what you really want.
We’ll also explore if some of your issues have to do with subconscious beliefs, past trauma, or underlying problems not easily resolved through coaching.
The way we do one thing is the way we do everything. As human beings, we have a slight tendency to do the same things over and over again, expecting different results. Sometimes, we’re in the situation we’re in because we haven’t revealed our blind spots. You haven’t discovered why you do the things you do.
You’ll learn how to manage when you’re feeling overwhelmed, how to cope with other more challenging emotions, and how to set boundaries with others instead of always saying “yes.”
You always feel the need to please others or make sure everyone around you is happy, satisfied, or pleased. Over time, this can be draining and overwhelming. It can also be hard to manage and deal with other challenging emotions like anger, loss, low self-esteem, sadness, or anxiety.
In our time together, we’ll look at building up your relationship with yourself through goals and affirmations. We’ll bridge the gap between your shadow (the side of you that experiences the unpleasant emotions) and the you that wants a content, joy-filled, fulfilling life.
Goals like managing anger better – not snapping on others or feeling like you want to blow up. Learn to feel fulfilled without the need for other people or things. Enjoy feeling good in your own company, not needing to be in a relationship with someone else to feel complete. Feel confident communicating how you think and feel – not feeling bullied or bulldozed by other people’s opinions and needs.
Working together, we’ll get you to where you can confront, address, and resolve/overcome your issues by developing your strong sense of self. Building you up to feel comfortable and confident in your skin.
This looks like recognizing the thoughts that contribute to your anxiety, sadness, anger, and fears, from recognizing them to identifying and naming them. To befriend it. To develop a relationship with it.
This relationship turns into a dynamic where you become a master at managing it and handling it to get the things done that you need to get done!
I know you’ve been looking for something. This could be the start!
Change can be scary. As weird as this sounds, sometimes we hold ourselves back from creating the life of our dreams because, underneath it all, we don’t even feel like we really deserve it. You might already know what to do but just need the extra support and accountability in getting there.
Or maybe you don’t know at all what to do and have no idea where to begin.
Either way, stop standing in your way! A life where you feel fulfilled and happy is one click away.
Send me an email today. Let’s talk about where you are, where you’d like to be, and if we’re a good fit to work together over your complimentary 15- to 30-minute discovery session video chat: Dani@DaniLaBarrie.com.