Life Coaching Session

As a Counseling graduate student, I feel that it may be beneficial for me to go through some counseling to work out some of my own issues and to actually have first hand experience in a counseling relationship. This has been something I have been debating for some time but I honestly cannot afford having the monthly weekly/biweekly co-pay.

Anywho, I recently participated in a monthly contest from Cathy Parker over at Trust Your Voice, and I won a 30 minute coaching session. I was super excited to see what it was like and to discuss a topic that has been on my mind for awhile now. My self-esteem and weight loss journey. While 30 minutes wasn't enough to really discuss everything it did give me some insight into the way I feel about myself and how I talk to myself.

Cathy spoke to me about my Gremlins. Yes, I said Gremlins. Those are the little voices inside your head that tell you that you "shouldn't do" something, that you're stupid, that other people think you are stupid, and just helps cycle all of the negative thoughts inside your head that make you self-conscious and doubt yourself. This is definitley an area that I need to work on. Amber actually pointed this out to me at work. Whenever someone second guesses my work, I generally go right to "Am I that terrible of a person to need to be second guessed?" Or if someone gets added onto a project that I was working on alone I go to "Am I that incompetent that I need someone else to help me?" Both could be completely false. My homework for the first session is to recognize my Gremlins so that I can recognize and hopefully learn how to ignore and fight against them. Right now, I would say that my Gremlins control some things that I do; I am very self-conscious about what others may think of me. (Hence, blogging under an alias until recently.)

My homework at the end of the session was to recognize when I am being swayed by my Gremlins and email Cathy and let her know how it goes. This is definitely something that I am looking to combat in this upcoming year. Overall though, I think the session was beneficial and I wish that we were able to continue. I may contact her to see about pricing so I can continue since coaching is something for everyone, versus counseling where the therapist is asked to diagnose the client with a problem. In coaching, every client is seen as being unflawed and whole, without needing improvement, but maybe some guidance to get tap into their "ideal self". I like that.