Coaching

What is Gentle Approach Coaching?

This nonjudgmental approach is designed to help you move toward a sense of purpose, meaning, and joy. My approach to clutter clearing is a gentle one. We work together to foster self-compassion and a sense of safety, and to find language, tools, and practices that help you discover and tend your emerging vision.

I invite you to treat this profound process as a sacred one. I share tools and perspectives that can foster a better relationship between you and your home, belongings, and schedule, and can help you interact more productively with challenges.

Who Is It For?

Gentle Approach Coaching is best suited to those who are functional in most aspects of their lives, but who feel stuck or held back in some way. Coaching can be a helpful addition to psychotherapy but is not intended to replace it.

How Does It Work?

Coaching usually occurs two to four times a month, by phone or at my office in Bellingham, WA. A one-hour session includes 45 minutes of direct contact, with a follow-up summary of what we covered, my additional thoughts, and suggested actions.

You choose what you want to address in each session and how much you work on between sessions. As your coach, I make requests, share reflections, and gently challenge you. Based on your situation and needs, we’ll draw from a variety of techniques, including:

  • Clutter Coaching for those who feel ready to clear some clutter but could benefit from some guidance and support.
  • Transitions Coaching for those who are navigating a major life change, whether it’s perceived as positive or negative. It might be planned or unplanned, a dramatic shift in your circumstances, or a sense that something is shifting inside.
  • Time Coaching for those who want to come into a more peaceful and compatible relationship with clocks, schedules, and commitments.
  • Creative Coaching for those who long to develop and sustain a more artful life.
  • Journaling. As a certified journal therapist, I often suggest brief writing processes as homework. This can help you access clarity and inner wisdom and clear internal clutter that is blocking the way.
Carolyn has been key in helping me step more fully into my life as a poet. She offers a sense of safety and support so I can ask the big questions: Where do I really want to go? How do I get there? How do I want to live when I arrive?” —Tina Blade

Is Coaching Through Writing an Option?

Yes. I am always open to combining phone or video coaching with written exchanges. Contact me to set up a consultation. If we determine we can likely work well together, we’ll create a plan that incorporates written exchanges.

I also offer a solo,  coached, online course called, A Gentle Approach to Clearing Clutter, which presents a sequence of lessons that invite reading, writing, and helpful practices for using the clutter clearing process as a pathway to self-compassion, personal growth and a more comfortable relationship with your home. Each lesson also provides an opportunity for private written exchanges with me. Read more about it here.

 
 
 
A gentle approach to coaching includes finding safe, comfortable places from which you can evaluate, strategize, take risks, and grow.

A gentle approach to coaching includes finding safe, comfortable places from which you can evaluate, strategize, take risks, and grow.

The Navigator: Woman on Boat with Spyglass © Carolyn Koehnline 2019

You’ll be given tools and support to set your course with kindness and to  navigate it effectively.