A.J. Dergousoff

My Approach

What Life Coaching Is and What It Isn’t.

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What it isn’t

I am not a doctor, a therapist, or a psychiatrist.  I value each of these disciplines and will gladly be on your support team with them but as a life coach I use different methods.   I do not and will not diagnose anyone in anyway.  If through this process we unearth a pattern, habit, or symptom of something that requires deeper attention I will 100% encourage you and support you to get that deeper attention.  Your quality of life is the most important thing!

 

What it is

Creating space 

Our sessions are a sounding board to whatever it is that you are currently experiencing.  We can’t move forward if we don’t get real on where we are.  

 

Encouragement.  

It’s hard to see your way through the storm when you’re in the thick of it and that inner critic is playing dirty. I am here to encourage you every step of the way.  I’ll remind you of how far you’ve come, the incredible person you are, and cheer you on to keep going!  

 

Accountability to Your Goals

That includes feeling happier and more at peace with who you are in life. Part of that accountability is tracking your progress.  What needs to happen to get you where you want to go?  What specific steps are involved?  Are you taking them?  Why or why not?  If not, let’s take the guilt and shame out of the equation and see what’s really going on.  We want to make this process as seamless and clear as possible.

 

Research.  

Research on motivation, anxiety, trauma, health, wellness, regulation and all things related to living a good life, is my jam.  I will share numerous relevant studies, papers, books, anything that will help validate your experience and give you scientifically backed resources to empower you.

 

Anxiety Management.  

We will go over anxiety when it comes up and how specifically to counterbalance it.  I will give you tools, CBT techniques, and help you track it so we can see why it’s coming up and how to stay ahead of it.  

 

Boundaries

In session we will explore boundaries.  What boundaries were taught to you and what boundaries are important to you.  We can discuss boundary issues when they come up (and they often do)  We’ll talk about what they are, why they are important and when to implement them.

 

Spirituality 

Whether you are exiting a specific spiritual modality, starting on your spiritual journey, or have an established deep practice, I want to incorporate that into our work.  It doesn’t matter if you are atheist, free spirited or in love with a specific modality.  Your spirituality and connection to what you believe is Holy.  It’s a part of how we create meaning here in this life.  

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Trusting your own Intuition

The goal is to teach you to be your own guru.  Self trust is one of the building blocks for inner safety, confidence and love.  Learning to hear your own internal guidance is the fastest way to living a life of freedom and love. 

 

Trauma Recovery  

We will go over how your past trauma is effecting you now.  Your life, and your relationships with yourself and others.  Trauma research is one of my specialties and depending on individual circumstance we will explore various methods to recover.

 

Burnout.  

We will explore what caused it in the first place, what are the root issues and go over tools and strategies to recover.  The goal is to reconnect to your joy, your values, and create some doable strategies to move forward.

 

Meditation. 

Often I will create specific guided meditations to help you hear your own values, understand your current pain points and listen to what you are trying to tell yourself.  The whole purpose of meditation in this space is to calm the mind and body as well as to discover whatever it is that you need to know right now.  

 

Self Awareness and Reflection.  

I will give you exercises to do outside of session so that together we can get a clear picture of all your habits and preferences.  We do this with the goal of increasing of what’s working for you and decreasing what isn’t helpful to you.  It’s really that simple.

 

Tracking the Progress

We want to see a return of your investment of time, energy and money.  Rather than just wishing things will get better we are going to be social scientists and track all of it - without the guilt or the shame.  Tracking is simple but challenging.  Through this process we can learn so much about you.  When we understand why things start to go wrong we can spot the issue before it gets really bad.

 

Guidance and Support to create the roadmap to get you to your goals.  

Having a goal is awesome but knowing how to get it will increase your chances of it actually happening.  Together we will look at your goal and map it out step by step.  We will start where you are right now and break it down so that you know what to do to get where you want to be.

 

Co Regulation

This is the heart of coaching.  Creating a safe place of support, and an invitation to reflect and problem solve.  Co regulation is the secret sauce to creating healthy emotional stability.