Life Coach

Title page

Life coach

Life coach session

Description of client

William was a 19 years old boy who was undergoing extreme depression and had suicidal thoughts. The problems experienced by the client include persistent feelings of sadness, lack of interest and negative feelings. The client felt helpless and worthless and alienated himself from the society. He stooped attending college and remained absent from classes. The boy was unable to concentrate on his studies and everything seemed to be boring. Change of appetite and under eating resulted in loss of weight. William faced difficulty in sleeping and complained about insomnia.

Before coaching: first meeting

I welcomed 19 years old Williams with a warm shake hand and asked him to sit down. I told him that I want to know everything about you starting from your name. Once he explained me about his problems I told him in a pleasant tone that I will be coaching him and by the end of our sessions he would become a stable and self-sufficient. I asked him to sign the coaching agreement before starting our first session. After that I made a coaching plan with mutual agreement of William. The plan included the dates, goals, activities and the expected outcomes.

Session 1

In the first session with client I focused on increasing comfort level. I asked the client to tell me about himself. What he feels about himself and the world. I used different open and closed-ended questions for knowing him better. When the client was speaking I noticed the inconsistencies of words and his body language. I managed to identify the prominent issues that bothered the client such as his feelings of depression and insecurity. My focus was to uncover the factors associated with depression in this session and allowed me to develop a conclusion that client is unable to accept the loss of his mother. He is facing difficulty in adjusting to his normal life. In this session the client was encouraged to talk openly and share his feelings sincerely because this is a critical step for understanding the causes of disturbance and negative feelings.

Session 2

In the second session I encouraged client to identify his negative feelings and the reason behind them. During my interaction I focused on offering encouragement and moral support to William. I helped the client in accepting the loss of his mother by explaining him that it is natures law. In this session is also encouraged William to find solutions to his depression. The client managed to think about alternative perspectives about his life that could help him in coping with depression. To change the negative thought patterns of William I asked him to accept that he needs to overcome his problem of depression. He had to accept that he is facing problems and need solutions for his betterment. In this session I challenges the limiting beliefs and useless thoughts of William which have been the root cause of his disappointment and depression.

Session 3

Different goals were set in this session that encouraged William to work on each one individually. The purpose of each goals was to remove his negative feelings and help him in overcoming depression. The purpose of this session was to allow him to develop critical skills for accepting the challenges of life and using his full potential for removing them. By overcoming negative thoughts the client could attain his goal of minimizing stress. Cognitive Behavior Therapy was adopted for building behavior improvement plan for William. Some advices were shared that include focusing concentration on good and positive things like nature and art. To stop the negative thought patterns the client was encouraged to perform meditation each day for 30 minutes. He was also asked to give time to physical activity like, cycling or work out for 30 minutes. William was asked too perform exercises three times a day that is based on the exposure therapy. This helped him to relax his muscles and overcome his feelings of anxiousness.

Session 4

In the fourth session William was asked to explain how he felt after practicing therapies and exercise. Also he was asked to give his honest opinion about the impact of therapies on his physical and mental health. In this stage it is important to determine if the client is feeling positive change or there is need for adopting alternative methods. I asked questions about his upsetting thoughts and strategies used by him for managing them. I asked, ‘did the therapy allowed to replace your negative feelings?’ At the end of the session I realized that William has started experiencing positive change as he was meeting the expected goals.

Further sessions

The need for further sessions was recognized because the coaching aimed at making William self-sufficient in controlling his depression and anxiety. The future sessions involved discussions about the strategies adopted at different times for managing depression. Throughout the sessions I encouraged William to see his bright side such as he was good at art and music. I motivated him to use his personality strengths for improving his life and have a better goal in life.

Result

The life coaching sessions allowed William to develop capability for addressing his fears, insecurities and replace negative thought patterns with positive ones. By engaging himself in daily exercises he experienced elevated levels of energy, positivity and confidence. By the end of coaching William managed to overcome his depression and engaged him in the society.