Here are a few ways a life coach could potentially help you:

• Change your thinking and deliver an accurate outside perspective.
• Make an action plan to initiate positive change.
• Question limiting beliefs about your potential.
• Reframe past experiences with a strong focus on making changes for the present and future you.
• Identify, set, and achieve goals.
• Take real action and measure the results.
• Adapt to life changes effectively.
• Increase motivation.
• Learn a new skill.

Although life coaching has grown dramatically as a field recently, there’s still a lot of misconceptions about what it is and what it is not. Many people still think that coaching is synonymous with therapy. 

Definition of life coaching: a service designed to help ambitious achievers meet the outcomes that will bring them success and fulfillment in any and all areas of life. 

Coaching helps people to gain clarity on their goals and create next steps to achieve a life they desire, or career they desire, or relationship they desire. It is action-oriented and focuses on gently pushing clients forward in their lives. Coaches help people to envision their ideal situation—at work, home, or in relationships— and figure out strategies for creating what they envision. Life coaches act as accountability partners, unbiased listeners to encourage you to reach your goal(s). Life coaching is not therapy/psychotherapy, not consulting, and not mentoring. In general, life coaches are present and future focused. Life coaches help their clients explore their past only as a means of understanding their current life experiences and belief systems. Their primary goals are to help a client look at where they are, where they want to be, and how to get from point A to point B.

Therapy, also known as psychotherapy, counseling, mental health counseling is a long-term process in which a client works with a licensed healthcare professional to diagnose and resolve problematic beliefs, behaviors, relationship issues, feelings and sometimes physical responses or symptoms. 

Therapy/Psychotherapy oftentimes focuses on past traumas and issues to change self-destructive habits or behaviors, repair and improve relationships and work through painful feelings or emotional triggers. It’s important to recognize that counseling helps clients explore and understand their subconscious and unconscious mind. It aims to reach a deep understanding of behaviors and patterns with a goal of overall mental health. This is why counseling and therapy can be helpful for issues like depression and anxiety (and other mental health disorders and diagnoses). 

Therapy is conducted by a licensed healthcare professional who can help clients/patients confront and cope with a traumatic past, improve their relationships with others (and themselves), and identify, process, and deal with their feelings appropriately. A licensed therapist can also diagnose, monitor, and treat mental health issues. In general, therapists are past and present focused. While a therapist may work with clients to set goals and make changes, primarily clients come to them seeking assistance with healing trauma, overcoming abuse, treating addiction, or treating mental illness. Because therapists have a specialized graduate degree and clinical training and a license to practice independently, they have an extensive foundation of knowledge about the mind, biology, and human behavior. They are qualified to help clients in these sensitive areas, and, more importantly, they are properly trained on how to handle the volatile nature of these situations.

A therapist may also help clients in areas of life that overlap with the focus of a life coach, but they can also specifically do the following:

• Treat mental illness or clinical anxiety or depression, with the ultimate goal of achieving better mental health.
• Help you heal from past trauma.
• Understand behavior patterns and triggers for self-destructive behaviors.
• Explore past relationships that went wrong like divorces, estrangements, or toxic friendships.
• Guide you through the grieving process.
• Cope with traumatic loss or traumatic experience.
• Help evaluate your unconscious and subconscious mind.
• Treat addiction or substance abuse.
• Cope with relationship turmoil, abuse, violence.

In other words, therapists focus more on the “why” certain behavioral patterns occur, and coaches focus more on “how” to work toward an identified goal.

Because each person has different issues and goals for therapy, therapy will be different depending on the individual. In general, you can expect to discuss the current events happening in your life, your personal history relevant to your issue, and report progress (or any new insights gained) from the previous therapy session. Depending on your specific needs, therapy can be short-term, for a specific issue, or longer-term, to deal with more difficult patterns or your desire for more personal development. Either way, it is most common to schedule regular sessions with your therapist (usually weekly).

It is important to understand that you will get more results from therapy if you actively participate in the process. The ultimate purpose of therapy is to help you bring what you learn in session back into your life. Therefore, beyond the work you do in therapy sessions, your therapist may suggest some things you can do outside of therapy to support your process - such as reading a pertinent book, journaling on specific topics, noting particular behaviors or taking action on your goals. People seeking psychotherapy are ready to make positive changes in their lives, are open to new perspectives and take responsibility for their lives.

Everyone goes through challenging situations in life, and while you may have successfully navigated through other difficulties you've faced, there's nothing wrong with seeking out extra support when you need it. In fact, therapy is for people who have enough self-awareness to realize they need a helping hand, and that is something to be admired. You are taking responsibility by accepting where you're at in life and making a commitment to change the situation by seeking therapy. Therapy provides long-lasting benefits and support, giving you the tools you need to avoid triggers, re-direct damaging patterns, and overcome whatever challenges you face.

A number of benefits are available from participating in therapy. Therapists can provide support, problem-solving skills, and enhanced coping strategies for issues such as depression, anxiety, relationship troubles, unresolved childhood issues, grief, stress management, body image issues and creative blocks. Many people also find that counselors can be a tremendous asset to managing personal growth, interpersonal relationships, family concerns, marriage issues, and the hassles of daily life. Therapists can provide a fresh perspective on a difficult problem or point you in the direction of a solution. The benefits you obtain from therapy depend on how well you use the process and put into practice what you learn. Some of the benefits available from therapy include:

• Attaining a better understanding of yourself, your goals and values
• Developing skills for improving your relationships
• Finding resolution to the issues or concerns that led you to seek therapy
• Learning new ways to cope with stress and anxiety
• Managing anger, grief, depression, and other emotional pressures
• Improving communications and listening skills
• Changing old behavior patterns and developing new ones
• Discovering new ways to solve problems in your family or marriage
• Improving your self-esteem and boosting self-confidence

People have many different motivations for coming to psychotherapy. Some may be going through a major life transition (unemployment, divorce, new job, etc.), or are not handling stressful circumstances well. Some people need assistance managing a range of other issues such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, addictions, relationship problems, spiritual conflicts and creative blocks. Therapy can help provide some much needed encouragement and help with skills to get them through these periods. Others may be at a point where they are ready to learn more about themselves or want to be more effective with their goals in life. In short, people seeking psychotherapy are ready to meet the challenges in their lives and ready to make changes in their lives.

It is well established that the long-term solution to mental and emotional problems and the pain they cause cannot be solved solely by medication. Instead of just treating the symptom, therapy addresses the cause of our distress and the behavior patterns that curb our progress. You can best achieve sustainable growth and a greater sense of well-being with an integrative approach to wellness. Working with your medical doctor you can determine what's best for you, and in some cases a combination of medication and therapy is the right course of action.

To determine if you have mental health coverage through your insurance carrier, the first thing you should do is call them. Check your coverage carefully and make sure you understand their answers. Some helpful questions you can ask them:

• What are my mental health benefits?
• What is the coverage amount per therapy session?
• How many therapy sessions does my plan cover?
• How much does my insurance pay for an out-of-network provider?
• Is approval required from my primary care physician?

Confidentiality is one of the most important components between a client and psychotherapist. Successful therapy requires a high degree of trust with highly sensitive subject matter that is usually not discussed anywhere but the therapist's office. Every therapist should provide a written copy of their confidential disclosure agreement, and you can expect that what you discuss in session will not be shared with anyone. This is called “Informed Consent”. Sometimes, however, you may want your therapist to share information or give an update to someone on your healthcare team (your Physician, Naturopath, Attorney), but by law your therapist cannot release this information without obtaining your written permission.

However, state law and professional ethics require therapists to maintain confidentiality except for the following situations:

* Suspected past or present abuse or neglect of children, adults, and elders to the authorities, including Child Protection and law enforcement, based on information provided by the client or collateral sources.

* If the therapist has reason to suspect the client is seriously in danger of harming him/herself or has threated to harm another person.

You have the option to pay with self-pay or with your health insurance. We accept many insurance plans which help make our services affordable.

Please also note that some insurance plans do not include coverage for certain services (such as pre-marital/marital counseling).

Self-Pay Fees

Call us directly for fees if you prefer to pay out of pocket for counseling sessions
Standard Sessions (45 minutes) or (60 minutes)

Insurances Accepted

• Aetna
• Ambetter
• Amerigroup
• Anthem
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield
• CareSource
• Cenpatico
• Cigna
• Coventry
• Magellan
• MHNet Behavioral Health
• Peach State Health Plan

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)

Payments Accepted

Cash

Check

Credit card (Visa, MasterCard, HSA)

**All fees must be paid at the time of service.

**Insurance must be verified before the initial appointment.

Cancellation Policy

If you are unable to keep an appointment, please contact us immediately. We request at least 24-hour notice to allow for re-scheduling or cancellation of an appointment. Keep in mind that a late fee will be charged if appointment cancellation is not made within the 24-hour period.