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Depression and Life Coaching
ShareThere is a big difference between feeling periodically low and unhappy, and being clinically depressed. Most people are able to identify factors contributing to their Depression, and with the help of a compassionate life coach can prevent the condition from worsening and develop a plan for happiness, well being and an improved quality of life. Read on to find out more.
What is Life Coaching?
According to the Life Coaching Institute of Australia, life coaching is a professional relationship between a trained coach and a client that empowers the client to achieve a desired goal or outcome. A life coaching will help the client develop a detailed plan on how to get them from where they are now to where they would like to be using practical and philosophical tools to motivate success.
The Life Coaching Technique
A professional life coach will empower their client by:
- Determining with them an area of their life they would like to focus on, and establishing a goal or goals in that specific area.
- Providing a positive, healthy stream of support that empowers the client to confront anything that may be bringing them down or hindering them in achieving their goals.
- Encouraging the client to refocus on the new person they would like to become, with each session supporting them as they progress on their decided path.
- Providing an objective, confidential, non-judgmental ear to lean on. A good life coach will be able to discriminate between what the client is saying and they are not by investigating their belief systems, values and feelings about themselves. This investigation leads to a new understanding in which the client can replace old ways of thinking with more positive and productive ones.
What is Depression?
Depression, often referred to as clinical depression, is a mental illness that entails an overwhelming sense of sadness, loss and hopelessness. Bouts of the condition may span from weeks to years, and may sometimes cause the sufferer to despair so greatly they no longer want to live.
Depression is generally caused by an imbalance of chemicals in the brain, and may be triggered by a specific physical or emotional trauma. Symptoms include:
- Feelings of sadness, moodiness, hopelessness, loss of control, numbness, anxiety and guilt
- Being unable to enjoy activities that are normally enjoyed
- Being overly self-critical
- Withdrawing from friends and family
- Thoughts of suicide and the inability to cope
- Poor memory and concentration levels
- Excessive crying
- Increased use of alcohol or drugs
- Changes in appetite
- Changes in sleep patterns, including insomnia, sleepiness and waking up in the middle of the night
- Feeling physically unwell
- Headaches and stomachaches
- Loss of libido
How Can Life Coaching Benefit Depression?
Using cognitive psychology techniques, a life coach treats the symptoms of depression by helping their client deal with any negative feelings of hopelessness, isolation and low self-esteem. Life coaching creates powerful emotional and behavioral changes in the depressed client by providing an examination and consequent transformation of any negative thinking patterns into more positive ones.
Additionally, a life coach will teach their client how to:
- Live their lives without fear and depression
- Identify any underlying negative beliefs that may have triggered the depression
- Enforce a new, positive belief systems
- Feel secure and safe in themselves
- Pursue their goals and long term dreams
- Confront and eliminate anxiety-causing ‘what-if/should-have/could have/missing out’ thinking
- Begin living a bright a prosperous future
Life coaching is a sensible alternative to medications prescribed by doctors for depression. The client will enjoy the sessions a lot more as unlike a lot of drugs they carry no serious side effects.
If you are interested in finding out more information on how life coaching may assist with your depression, please speak to a professional life coach.
Find out about other effective natural depression treatments.
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