Overwhelmed and not sure where to start?

Life coaching is a method of supporting and guiding individuals as they navigate through life. A life coach listens deeply to their client and reflects their words like a sounding board. This action, in itself, can really help to gain clarity of any situation, but a coach will also offer suggestions and reflective questions to help you view things from alternative perspectives and to evaluate whether your actions or way of thinking about things aligns completely with who you are and what you truly want. Essentially a coach helps you gain self-awareness and deepen your understanding of your values and core belief systems.

Hell no, this is your life to live! The most I'd ever actually advise on is for you to consider a different perspective or reflect on where you're getting stuck and why that might be. I can offer my personal opinion, what I would do if it were me in a given situation, or explain how I'm evaluating a situation or problem you bring to me. But a coach will never tell you what you should do or how to live your life. Instead, we work together in session to understand what's important to you and what direction you want to head in, and then we reflect and brainstorm options to move forward in a way that aligns with who you are. In life coaching we believe you are the expert in you, and I respect your expertise!

Life coaching and therapy share some similarities, but there are a few key differences.

Therapy often focuses on past events with the aim of reflecting on and healing from them. This can be a transformative experience, but in my own experience and from what I've heard from others, it sometimes leaves us questioning "What now?"

Life coaching, on the other hand, focuses on the future! A life coach meets you right here and now and helps you answer that question for yourself. Which brings me to the next difference and a personal pet peeve of mine. To me, therapy felt a little restrictive in that a therapist works within their chosen framework (CBT, Schema therapy etc.) which works great if you happen to fit into that framework, but it's super confusing if you don't. Instead, life coaching offers a far more flexible, client-driven approach where we work together to build up our own framework, or mindset or anything you want! As long as it aligns with who you are and what you truly want.

I hold a Diploma of Life Coaching from Oxford Home Study Centre, where I learned the tools and techniques to help clients navigate challenges, uncover solutions, and create actionable plans to move forward.

I also have a strong foundation in health and research, with:

• A Bachelor of Biomedical Science

• An Honours research project in medical research

• A Master of Public Health, including a qualitative research project on long COVID (also known as Post-COVID-19 Condition or Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC)) – which led to a publication! If you’re interested in reading further, I’ll leave the link below.

While not directly related to Life Coaching, my previous studies in medical science, health and disability research provided a foundational understanding of how external factors impact our mental and physical health. While I loved participating in health research and learned so much from my supervisor and her background in Occupational Therapy, I ultimately decided that long hours staring at an empty page didn’t exactly work for me. So, I decided to transition to a more hands-on, practical and sociable application of my background in public health.

Check out my journal article here!

Anything you like! Here are some examples:

• Procrastination

• Prioritisation

• Time management

• Perfectionism

• Black and white thinking

• Rumination (when a problem keeps circling in your mind, often because it’s unresolved - coaching can offer fresh perspectives to move forward)

Coaching can help you brainstorm creative solutions to everyday challenges and uncover the "why" behind them. Life can be overwhelming when you have an interest-driven brain, and for those of us with affected working memory, it’s hard to find clarity in the same way neurotypical people can. That’s not a character flaw—we might just need some strategies in place to help us find clarity and direction throughout our days.

I can also help with:

• Communication

• Confidence and self-trust

• People-pleasing

• Boundary setting

When I first started looking into basic psychology terms like these, I thought I knew what they meant. But fully understanding and applying them in my life and relationships was surprisingly challenging. These terms are often thrown around in conversation, so they might feel familiar, but they’re rarely explained in detail.

My theory is that these terms are easy for neurodivergent folks to misunderstand because they're not often communicated to us in a way that suits our learning style(s). For example, for my very ADHD-coded, bottom-up learning style, I just need a template. Just show me the final product so I know what we're aiming for! It's one thing to vaguely say "You should set boundaries" but where's the template? What does this actually look like in practice?

If any of this sounds familiar, and you’re interested in finding ways to apply these concepts to your life, I’d love to work with you! Or, if there's something else on your mind that you're unsure about, feel free to reach out using the form below or email me directly: elle@startherelifecoaching.com.au

The way I view this is you've made it all the way here to the bottom of my website, so you know there's something you want to talk about. And that's not a small step, that's big. That shows you probably have more self awareness than you realise, but maybe you need a little help identifying exactly where the barrier is, and where you can start.

Well if you're not sure where to start... why not start right here?