What Coaching Is? (and isn't)

Change is one of life’s few certainties. Sometimes we choose it – a new career, a move, a lifestyle shift. Sometimes it arrives uninvited – redundancy, relationship endings, health challenges. In both cases, transitions can feel unsettling. We may feel excited and lost at the same time, pulled in different directions, or unsure of what the “right next step” might be.

This is where coaching can help. But before we dive into how, it’s important to understand what coaching is – and what it isn’t.

What Coaching Is

At its heart, coaching is a collaborative, forward-focused conversation. It’s about creating a safe, supportive space where you can explore what really matters to you, clarify your direction, and take practical steps toward it.
A coach doesn’t have all the answers – but they do have the questions that help unlock your own wisdom. Through active listening, gentle challenge, and accountability, coaching helps you build confidence, make choices with clarity, and move through change with purpose.

Coaching is:
A partnership that focuses on you and your goals.
A space to explore values, strengths, and possibilities.
A process that helps you navigate uncertainty and find direction.
A way to take action while staying true to what matters most.

What Coaching Isn’t

Coaching is often confused with other forms of support. While it complements many of them, it is distinct:
It’s not therapy – therapy often looks back to heal past wounds, while coaching looks forward to create new possibilities.

• It’s not consulting – a consultant provides expert solutions; a coach helps you uncover your own.

• It’s not mentoring – a mentor shares personal experience; a coach helps you discover what works best for you.

• It’s not a quick fix – change takes reflection, commitment, and practice.

Life and Transition Coaching: Finding Steady Ground

When life changes, our identity often shifts too. Who am I now? Where am I heading? What do I want to create next? Transition coaching is designed to help you hold these questions gently and find your way through them.

Life and transition coaching can support you to:

• Clarify direction when the next step feels uncertain.

• Rebuild confidence after a change that shook your sense of self.

• Navigate choices with more clarity and less overwhelm.

• Align decisions with your values and long-term vision.

• Embrace new beginnings with curiosity and courage.

Navigating Change Together

You don’t need to have everything figured out to start. Coaching is about beginning where you are, with what you know, and taking the next step from there.

Change doesn’t have to feel like being swept along in a current. With the right support, you can learn to steer – to move with change rather than against it, and to create a life that feels steady, purposeful, and authentically yours.