Life Coaching creates the opportunity to discover what we truly want, and are capable of. It's a powerful tool for change and a highly effective way of working largely outside hierarchical structures. My aim is to build respectful and cooperative working relationships with clients which keep their needs and interpretation of events central. This leaves me free to coach in a spirit of non-judgemental curiosity.
A word about my logo.
This is the Chinese character xié meaning together, or cooperate. When xié is accompanied by the character shāng (xié shāng) its meaning becomes consult, or talk things over, thus my domain name www.talkthingsover.co.uk.
I have been working as a life coach since the year 2000 and am based in south London, UK.
My career path started in 1980 in education where I worked in a range of settings, including a hospital school. It was this work which really opened my eyes to the power of working one-to-one in a semi-structured manner, with the focus on the childrens' experience and needs.
In 1993 I moved into the voluntary sector first in training and development, and then project management. At age 40 I went freelance so that I could also fulfil my dream of studying to be a life coach with The Coaches Training Institute – and I have never looked back!
My own life experiences have recently included balancing adoptive parenthood with a number of complex health and family issues. My belief in the coaching process as one which enables the individual to gradually reveal more of themselves, and break free from the "shoulds" and "oughts" of life, has helped me enormously. This has been especially true during times when my own moves forward have been taken in very tiny steps... I know that I am fortunate to have been brought to this work.
"At some time, often when we least expect it, we all have to face overwhelming challenges. We are more troubled than we have ever been before; we may doubt that we have what it takes to endure. It is very tempting to give up, yet we have to find the will to keep going. But even when we discover what motivates us, we realise that we can't go the distance alone"
Christopher Reeve
