Life coaching for adults and children
A bit about me
My name is Richard and initially I trained and worked as a sculptor. Later I trained for seven years as a Buddhist monk in Wales.
More recently I worked in primary and secondary schools in London as a teacher, and went on to train as a counsellor/psychotherapist and life coach.
I worked with adults of all ages as well as children, in charities, schools and privately. Therapy included a wide range of issues including addiction, anxiety, sexuality, workload stress, depression, bereavement, relationship problems, self esteem, separation and trauma.
In South Africa, I work exclusively as a life coach.
What is a life coach and is it for you?
We all want to be empowered. How we come to understand this for ourselves is at the heart of life coaching.
Sometimes it can be confusing trying to work out what to do when the pressure is on. Having someone to listen to you can be extremely helpful. My clients come to me to find their way through these difficult decisions and challenges they are facing and to make plans for the future. As a skilled therapist I know how to listen carefully, ask purposeful and helpful questions which enable clients to discover their own pathways and personal truth.
Figure out your abilities and your ‘blind spots’.
Life coaching will help you clarify your skills and abilities’ as well as helping you become aware of your blind spots. Sometimes these come about through self-limiting beliefs and unhelpful thought processes, leading to ineffective and negative behaviour. By aiding your awareness of these you will feel stronger, wiser and focus on what needs to be done.
I have helped many clients through career changes, getting back into the career environment, life changes, personal development, work place and personal relationships, managing time and stress and trying to avoid the pitfalls that these can create.
Life coaching and career readiness for children
Children have their own ‘blind spots’. Young children often talk of the stress they are feeling at school and older children feel the pressure of subject choices and career paths.
Talking through these challenges with an adult, who knows about the school environment and the wider world can be very important and helpful for a young person who is confused.
Interestingly, for all of us, a big part of working through any problems is coming to a deeper awareness of self. This includes acceptance and compassion for ourselves and others, leading to the knowledge of how to live skilfully.
Is life coaching for you?
If you’re unsure about whether or not you would benefit from life coaching, please feel free to call me for a 15 minute consultation.
My working hours
These are flexible and on a client to client basis.
Cost
R800 per hour.
Time scale
I advise an initial six sessions and often see clients on a weekly basis.
Location
I work from home in Richmond Hill, Port Elizabeth but also travel to clients’ homes when needed. I can be contacted on:
My name is Richard.
Can Meditation and Mindfulness Help Us?
The short answer is, yes.
I have been meditating for about 25 years. My tradition is Soto Zen.
I am very interested in how meditation and mindfulness can help people and have seen at first hand how this can be used by children in the classroom to help them self-soothe.
I have also seen adults with addiction issues use it to help them become more mindful of the patterns which lead to addiction.
More generally, for all of us, bringing some peace to the mind and body can alleviate stress and help us make the right decisions.
You do not have to be a Buddhist to do this: meditation is just a natural practice which helps us focus and see the world more clearly.
As a life coach I do not preach Buddhism. Indeed Buddhism doesn’t have all the answers, but it can be very helpful.
By meditating we begin to see the changeableness of our perceptions and how they arise and fall. When we begin to relax with what is ‘bothering us’ - what we cling to - then slowly we begin to rest in our true nature.
By letting go of what we cling to and what we are avoiding we can begin to see what’s blocking us in making our decisions and what needs to be done to help us live the life we want to live.
Meditation and the practice of mindfulness can help us in our lives.
Life coaching will help you clarify your skills and abilities’ as well as helping you become aware of your blind spots. Sometimes these come about through self-limiting beliefs and unhelpful thought processes, leading to ineffective and negative behaviour. By aiding your awareness of these you will feel stronger, wiser and focus on what needs to be done.
I have helped many clients through career changes, getting back into the career environment, life changes, personal development, work place and personal relationships, managing time and stress and trying to avoid the pitfalls that these can create.