What is trauma?
How does trauma recovery coaching differ from life coaching and from psychotherapy?
Trauma is an internal, systemic response to an experience. Traumatic effects are produced by the body system, not by the person suffering the traumatic effects. The effects are systemic- biological, neurological, psychological and relational.
Trauma recovery coaching is trauma-focused:
Trauma recovery coaching is trauma focused. This means we will look at your current life circumstances and goals through the lens of the biological, relational, emotional and psychological after effects of traumatic experiences that you have had. In contrast, life coaching would ideally be trauma-informed, meaning the professional has some knowledge of and/or training in trauma and traumatic effects, for purposes of safe and effective communication with clients. A life coach does not usually focus on work with a client’s traumatic experiences to identify their effects or vice versa.
Trauma recovery coaching will focus on the present:
Trauma recovery coaching looks at traumatic events to illuminate patterns in the client’s total body system which exist in the present. This information gives coach and client the power to alter traumatic effects upon the body systems, opening the client’s options to allow for more freedom of choice, more emotional and psychological comfort, and less limitations in their day to day lives. In contrast, psychotherapy may be focused upon going back into traumatic experiences and spending time in those memories, with goals such as understanding or untangling in detail what was going on at the time of the trauma.
What does a coaching session look like?
*Client led: You are in charge of what we discuss, for how long, and at what depth. This is an effective way to move forward from difficulties you are experiencing. *Initially, we will discuss any background information you wish to share that might be helpful for me to know as your coach. *Each session will likely involve some practice or reinforcement of techniques you can use outside of sessions to help you function optimally in your day-to-day life. *I will check in with you at the start of each session, and take time to acknowledge and attend to what is pressing at that moment. *We will discuss what direction you want to take during each session- we might continue on a topic from the previous session, or shift to something new, or return to something we had set aside. *I will guide sessions somewhat by sharing what comes to mind as you talk and I listen. I may give some applicable piece of trauma education, or let you know when an idea or intuition comes to me which is potentially useful to you in that moment. I will also at times share from my own experience when it seems you could benefit from hearing it. *We will pause when needed, to keep you in an optimal nervous system state for learning. We will take time to reset the mind, heart and body before we continue a conversation. Doing this during sessions will transfer to your day-to-day life. *Please feel free to email or call with questions you still have about what to expect during a session.