The nuances between a traditional therapist, life coach, and a holistic life coach are unclear to many people. A life coach is not a therapist, and a life coach differs from a holistic life coach. I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify the distinctions for everyone.
Engaging with a therapist is a longish-term process where a client works with a healthcare professional to diagnose and resolve challenging beliefs, behaviors, and feelings by focusing on past traumas and issues. The goal is to change self-destructive habits, improve relationships, and work through painful feelings and memories to create a happier future.
A life coach is a trained but not healthcare professional. They work with clients for varying terms to clarify goals and identify obstacles and problematic behaviors in order to create actions to achieve desired results. The present moment is the starting point for moving forward. Life coaches help people evaluate their lives and take actions to refine them towards their desired goals.
There will, at times, be overlaps between the roles of a traditional therapist and a life coach. However, the right practitioner for a client depends on their needs as outlined above.
A holistic life coach uses an integrative approach that considers a client’s mind, body, and spirit. It is believed that fine-tuning each of these areas that impact each other ultimately improves a person’s level of holistic well-being. Every holistic life coach has their own unique philosophy and approach to meeting these objectives.
My approach, Integrative Solutions for Modern Life™, is influenced by the following:
Natural Health Remedies: Lessons from shamans located across the globe taught me how critical it is to detox and balance our physical body. In order to achieve homeostasis, my system taps into natural remedies including nutrition, movement, nature, stress management, and energy work.
Positive Psychology. This scientifically rooted approach to well-being emphasizes self-awareness. It explores a client’s values, strengths, weaknesses, and resilience. Well-being is believed to consist of PERMA: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. Research has shown that these five elements are the best approximation of what human beings require in order to thrive.
Eastern Philosophy, Quantum Physics, and Metaphysics. My extensive studies have led me to appreciate the combined value of Eastern philosophy, the scientific study of matter and energy, and other belief systems. Our culture encourages rational, linear logic over inner seeking. I believe that we need to blend the two.
Intuition. I work intuitively. Although we may have an agenda for a session, that plan will be subject to change if I am pulled in a different direction. I confirm my intuitive hunches with Muscle Testing (aka Kinesiology), an assessment tool used to tap into your subconscious mind to access answers about your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. This is where trusting and allowing comes in. 😉
Financial Services Career. My decades-long career as a Managing Director for several premier NYC-based private banks makes me strategic, goal-oriented, skilled at understanding people, and demanding of myself and my clients. You can consider me to be a hybrid of practicality meets spirituality. Living your best life demands both.
The best holistic life coaching approach for you depends on which one lights a spark within you.
I invite you to sample Integrative Solutions for Modern Life™ by booking a 1-hour Zoom Breakthrough Session.*
* Available in person by request.