Would you like to choose your story?
People often ask me what the difference is between coaching and therapy. You, yourself, may be wondering the same thing as you search for help on this site. I’m tempted to give a simple answer but in truth, there is a close boundary between therapy and coaching that can often feel a little “fuzzy”, even for those of us who work in both arenas.
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The best way for me to describe how I work is that I use my energy differently depending on if we are working therapeutically or in a coaching context. As a coach, I am more focussed on what you want to achieve and how you might get there. However, I don’t believe that this happens in a linear way and will work with you to make meaning of situations and relationships, so as to determine action in an emergent way. This means that, as well as a forward focus, we will be reflective about your life experiences so as to understand how they impact you both now and in the choices you make about your future. I do that as a trained professional and also as someone whose own developmental journey began with coaching over 20 years ago.
Coaching, like dancing isn’t something that can easily be described. I can tell you all about my qualifications and techniques and models and experience, but that won’t allow you to feel what it would be like for you and I to work together and that's going to be the most significant aspect of whether you get what you want from coaching.
Some of my clients have kindly described what it has been like for them to work with me and you can find their descriptions below. Have a look and see if their experience sparks something for you. I also invite you to browse Soul Notes. You’ll get the best feel of me there – how I think, how I relate, where my attention is and you can decide if you’d like that kind of attention for yourself, exploring your questions and wonderings. If you do, let's talk and learn more about each other.
Stories surround us like air; we breathe them in, we breathe them out. The art of being fully conscious in personal life means seeing the stories and becoming their teller, rather than letting them be the unseen forces that tell you what to do.
Rebecca Solnit
“Working with Sandra has been somewhat revolutionary since the first day we met. I trust and respect her and know that she is focussed on my best interests. She has really helped me to address a number of wide reaching issues that without her assistance would have stayed hidden and not been dealt with. Each session with Sandra leaves me knowing myself that little bit better, with food for thought about how I can improve who I am and what I do.”
— Sara Argent, Head of Public Affairs, Roche UK
As a therapeutically trained coach, with 16 years experience of working with leaders, entrepreneurs, creatives and adventurers, I draw on a variety of approaches depending on your needs. I place great importance on building a coaching partnership where you can discover and explore your brilliance, your courage, your creativity and all that strengthens and emboldens you. As well as all that gets in the way. You are at the centre of all our work, and I believe that the answers to whatever questions you’re asking come from within you, at a mind, body and spirit level. My job is to accompany you back to yourself.
At a practical level, I usually work both face to face and virtually. We will have an initial conversation to determine what you're looking for from coaching and agree a frame for our work. A typical frame is to meet every 3-4 weeks for sessions of 90 minutes over the course of a year, with reading and practices in between sessions.
COACH TRAINING & ACCREDITATION
I am a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF) and comply with their Code of Ethics. My membership number is 009043741I
