Life coaching is about helping individuals, teams or organisations find ways to overcome what’s holding them back from achieving their goals.

Life coaches work by offering proven models and methods for achieving particular goals. A life coaching relationship is generally conducted as a series of structured sessions of between 30 to 45 minutes over a period of 12 weeks to sometimes years. Psychologists can also be life coaches and psychotherapy and counselling are very similar to life coaching, although the goal may not be as obvious to the client.

Despite the similarities between life coaching, psychotherapy or counselling, the demand for life coaches is often met by individuals who do not have the training that a psychologist does. Some psychologists are concerned the counselling given by a unqualified life coach may cause problems, rather than finding solutions.

Getting someone to coach your life back on track, or get you where you want to be is a complex thing to ask. It pays to make sure that the life coach you are engaging is trained in the thought processes and mental obstacles people typically need to over come in their lives. The clear choice is to first look for a psychologist in your area who is also a life coach and go from there.