Appreciative Life Coaching to Facilitate Transformative Learning

Life coaching is a vital part of the process of transformative learning and change. Coaching to facilitate a process of transformative learning involves education, evaluation and empowerment.  Through engaging in a process of life coaching an individual has the potential to develop self-awareness, critical reflection, and an ability to construct action for healthy and holistic change. Life coaching is not therapy and does not treat mental illness. Rather, life coaching helps generally well-functioning individuals to reach a higher level of awareness, effectiveness, and an ability to achieve their full potential within themselves, their social world, and their interpersonal relationships. An integrated and holistic process of transformative learning engages multi-dimensions of an individual, which include his or her: emotions, cognitions, behaviors, social relationships, and spiritual path.

My intention in serving the client is to guide the individual to explore personal, family, social, and professional goals with the objective of creating a life-giving future.A cornerstone of my coaching style is grounded within an appreciative perspective of the client. Life coaching, within the context of an appreciative perspective, offers a relational path of service and intention to facilitate a process of transformative learning. Within relationship, the client and I engage in a whole person process of inquiry, dialogue, and reflection.In addition, the client and I participate in an action-oriented process of qualitative self-assessments. The outcome of this process is the client's discovery and understanding of core values, personal strengths, and personality characteristics. Additionally, the client becomes aware of his or her responsibility in the process of making choices, learning new skills, and navigating life challenges to construct realistic healthy change.

I believe that an individual has the ability to construct his or her life experiences. The human potential to be self-determined and experience transformation is my muse and inspiration within the coach-client relationship. An individual who will benefit from an appreciative coaching approach to facilitate his or her transformative learning experience, would be a person who is experiencing a series of personal or professional life challenges and is willing to engage in the following process: 1) question what he or she has not questioned before, 2) challenge personal and professional assumptions relative to his or her thinking, feeling, and acting, 3) engage critical reflection and construct new perspectives 4) apply newly discovered perspectives to implement purposeful and life giving action.

Within the appreciative coaching relationship, the client feels safe to question and challenge his or her prior ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. The focus of the process within the context of the coach-client relationship is to discover an internal awareness of the client's positive potential to activate self-empowerment and action. The coaching process is collaborative, with the client's thumbprints on his or her plan to engender a higher probability of holistic transformative learning experience. As partners and co-learners, the client and I engage in a process of interactive discourse to gain clarity about his or her personal and professional life purpose. This interactive process engenders personal and professional insights for the client to take responsibility, implement healthy choices, and sustainable change. In summary, the appreciative coaching process inspires the client to step onto their growing edge, to be self motivated, and to experience a process of transformative learning. The client has an opportunity to develop a keen awareness and understanding of personal, professional, social, and interpersonal goals.  If the client chooses to participate in the coaching relationship, a potential outcome is an opportunity for him or her to experience a process of transformative learning.