Mentoring, life-coaching and counselling
Easy Counselling
Counselling, mentoring and life-coaching
A goal without a plan is only a wish
Successful problem-solving requires that we take a dynamic approach to disengaging from the discomfort of where we are and propelling ourselves to a more amenable future status. We don’t dwell on a problem, we don’t brood fruitlessly, locking ourselves into the status quo. Rather, we define our problem carefully, envision a desirable (and realistic!) solution, and design a process for achieving that solution. Problem identification, goal planning, and process planning are the three key elements of problem-solving.
As Antoine de Saint-Exupery so famously wrote in his 1943 book, Le Petit Prince, “A goal without a plan is only a wish”. What he didn’t say is that a ‘goal’ is, in a sense, a resolution to a problem. He also didn’t say that, in order to design an effective solution, i.e. an effective strategy for achieving that resolution, we have to be very clear what the problem is. In other words, defining the problem succinctly is one of the most important aspects of goal-setting. Moreover, a ‘problem’ is not necessarily a hardship of some sort: it may be, for example, a desire for self-development in some area of skill such as a sport.
No matter whether your ‘problem’ relates to work, or academic projects, or relationships, or self-development, or any of the myriad of challenges that life playfully (or not so playfully!) presents to us, an outside, objective eye can often help un-muddy the waters and catalyse the goal-setting and problem-solving processes more effectively.
Contact me if you’d like a free, no-commitment involved chat about how I could help you gain clarity about what you would like to achieve and how best to achieve it.
Academic mentoring
You have a lab report to write. The deadline for submission is looming. You've gathered the data but the thought of writing the report itself is giving you sleepless nights. Some guidance would be welcome, but your tutor isn’t offering it. Click here to see how I could help.
Life-coaching
You've long dreamed of changing career. Or of turning your hobby into a business. Or of escaping a toxic partnership. You've decided that it's time to take the bull by the horns. Click here to see how we could work together to turn your dream into reality.
Counselling
Angst stands in the way of our achieving our true potential, whether the angst be due to difficulties in relationships or to self-doubt that has haunted us since childhood or to goals that we have been forced to relinquish. Whatever the case may be, if you believe that clearing the cobwebs from your soul would free you to sleep more easily and to engage more fully and meaningfully with life, click here to see how we could work together to turn that dream into reality
Counselling to improve planning
Goal planning
Having identified the problem, we don’t dwell on it. Angst is not a useful tool in problem solving: angst binds us into the present and orientates our focus into the past.
More usefully, we consider what we want in the future: we identify and clarify goals, we consider what would make our life or our relationships or our work more ‘comfortable’ or productive or efficient or satisfying than they might be now. Liberated from angst and with the wood now cleared from the trees, we are now ready to plan the process for accomplishing those goals.
- Career development
- Psychological health
- Physical health
- Personal crises
- Relationships
- Parenting
- Achievement of goals and ambitions
Learn how to cope with stress
Problem identification
During the process of counselling, life-coaching, or academic mentoring, we work together, in a dialogical and analytic manner, to clear away the edges of the problem so as to identify and describe it analytically. Only by being clear about what the ‘problem’ is, are we able to consider potential solutions.
- Work and professional crises
- Personal crises
- Relationship crises
- Health crises
- Parental crises
- Elderly parents
- Personal crises (depression, anxiety, existential challenges, grief)
- Living with thyroid disorder
Improving your work life
Work planning
As Antoine de Saint-E Exupéry wrote, “A goal without a plan is only a wish.” So, for you to realise your goal, we have to make a plan for how you would accomplish it.
In a dialogical and rational process, we consider the tools and options available to you for working towards your goal. We consider how this is to be accomplished most efficiently. We consider the resources that are available to you. We eliminate options that are impractical or too costly or too time-heavy.
We draw up a plan of action. And you are now ready to go! But you are not alone. For, over the next few weeks, we will meet regularly to review your progress and to re-formulate your plan of action where necessary.
- Define what really matters
- Safeguard and focus on what matters
- Set out the next steps
- Move on from trauma and focus on recovery
Counselling to help others
Mentor training
A mentoring partnership is based on mutual trust and respect, with the mentor sharing knowledge and experience with and offering advice and encouragement to the mentee, with the goal, generally, of enhancing the mentee’s skills and advancing their career. Mentoring skills are also invaluable in managing patients, clients, and members of the public.
The mentoring process brings personal and professional advantages to both parties, and the astute manager will recognise the benefits of acquiring mentoring skills and of making the acquisition of mentoring skills available to other members of the organisation.
- In-depth training in mentoring skills for groups or teams
- Professional teams (nurses, educators, lawyers, police officers)
- Volunteer teams (mental health, environment, education)
- Two or three day courses, in a block or spread out in half- or full-days over several weeks
Counselling to improve learning
Academic counselling
Doing the research for and then writing up a dissertation or thesis can be daunting tasks. A skilfully crafted report, based on diligent and carefully-planned research, gives you the edge in launching or furthering your career.
Ideally, your academic supervisor will support and advise you during this process. But you can’t always count on that! But the investment you have made in your future deserves investment at every stage in the process.
- Guidance in planning your research
- Guidance in conducting your research
- Guidance and support in writing up your dissertation or thesis
It may be an academic task other a dissertation or thesis that is challenging you. Let me know if you need help with any written task, such as:
- Lab reports
- Critiques
- Essays
And if you find that, each time you go to the computer to write the first few lines of your task, you are overcome by inert fingers, then click here for some tips on overcoming writer’s paralysis.
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GET IN TOUCH
You have a dream or a goal, or you are facing a life challenge. And it was in your search for a solution that you found my website. Getting in touch is as easy as clicking on the link below. You will be guided to my Contact Page, from where you can send a message. Let’s get started!