Why do you want to coach? 

 

I believe that problems have solutions. I think it is reasonable for those solutions to be hard to find, and hard to find alone, but they are out there! I have grown over the years to believe that many people’s frustrations with themselves should not be theirs alone to bear, and historically in good times would not have been theirs alone to bear. I have been helped by many coaches and mentors in my days, and feel good about helping people in this way when I can. And I love getting better at it! Even more, I want to see people squeeze their lovers, hold fast to their dreams, and spread their passions! Yes!

 

What kinds of things do you do, and what kinds of things do you do along the way? 

 

It depends on the client, but I generally help people gain clarity about what they want to be doing, how they want to be feeling, and the steps they can take to be closer to what they want. Often, there are internal and external pressures to feel a certain way that does not feel good. The process of untangling those pressures can involve talking through things that don’t make sense, walking through mechanistic assumptions about how things work, finding congruence and incongruence within the self, starting trauma work, and finding growth edges and homework assignments to open up new possibilities. I write about some of my frameworks here. 

 

I lean on several different traditions. I am comfortable using both systems engineering metaphors and organic growth metaphors in my practice, using both mechanistic explanations and metaphoric explanations. I have written a book chapter titled “Rethinking The Colors of Emotions” which explains the importance of metaphor in psychological change.  

 

In my methods, it is very important for me to honor my clients’ existing commitments and values, and to talk about and consider what support the person may have in their life. I don’t want to tell you how to live; I want to help you uncover the affordances that will allow you to live the way you want to.
 

How does this fit into what else you do? 

 

I graduated from Yale in 2016, where I studied psychology and computer science. I have worked as a writer since then, between other odd jobs, and have continued my studies in psychology and continued my research. Ultimately, I am interested in knowing people.