Personal Mental Health Coaching

Personal Mental Health coaching does not take the “one size fits all” approach.

Before we dive in, we should make a very clear distinction. Mental health coaches are not the same as your personal psychologists. That being said, mental health coaches are also trained in CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy) and ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). Mental health coaches do not treat severe mental health problems such as depression, high functioning anxiety, dissociation and psychosis. Rather they are trained to make sure that an individual is comfortable with the emotional tools they have to face everyday challenges.

Personal Mental Health coaching does not take the “one size fits all” approach. These coaches draw from personal experiences, past mental health history, behaviour traits and family history of mental health issues. Unlike mental health professionals, one would not need a doctor’s referral to see a mental health coach. This makes it easier for individuals to seek access to supportive resources immediately.

Personal mental health coaching does not involve treating complex clinical problems but aims to boost a person’s mental health by helping them build emotional tools for relationship problems, workplace stress, peer issues and changing thinking patterns. Since these require constant work, personal mental health coaches assist by helping you grow and adapt to situations overtime by changing the way you respond to situations.

Personal mental health coaching allows you to keep improving in your daily life. Here is an interesting read that highlights the importance of mental health coaching in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms. The work of the personal coaches is entirely evidence based and goal oriented. We focus on you and your goals – and what you want to focus on.

The two main ideas that personal mental health coaches stress on are mindfulness and problem solving. It can often be noticed that during a stressful situation, an individual fixates on the stressor so much that they fail to problem solve. This leads to other negative responses such as panic attacks, dissociation and detachment.

Mindfulness is important to meet personal wellness goals. Stress can lead to physiological problems such as hormonal imbalances, changes in sleep patterns, blood pressure and heart issues. The American psychological association recommends incorporating relaxation techniques along with physical activity in order to manage stress. Personal mental health coaches help train individuals in these techniques that allow them to remain calm in the face of a stressful situation and think rationally and problem solve.

Mindfulness isn’t everyones cup of tea, and that’s ok! We use a range of evidence based tools and approaches to help our clients.

For those with mental health problems or a mental illness, we can help. We help with building emotional tools such as self esteem and self confidence and drive a change in their perspective that allows them to think more positively.

Personal mental health coaching is not a substitute for psychological or psychiatric treatment for clinical mental illnesses. Rather it complements those by bolstering positive emotions to allow personal wellness. This kind of service is useful to people who are experiencing certain symptoms of mental health issues but it is not entirely affecting their day to day activities. However, it still causes certain discomfort that needs to be dealt with.

Some advantages of seeing a personal mental health coach are that it helps reduce anxiety and bring your body and mind to a calm state. It helps you manage the signs and symptoms of your mental health concern. It helps you sleep and rest better. When people are suffering from anxiety and depression, it can bring about a state of restlessness. Training yourself through mindfulness and other techniques can help you rest better.

It is a relatively new field in psychological treatment. It works quite differently than the quintessential therapy. However, it is still based on evidence and focuses on a person’s differences and unique personality and behaviour traits before providing solutions. Mental health coaching can prove to be quite helpful when taken alongside psychological treatment and medical intervention.