Coaching is not therapy. Though I am licensed as a Marriage and Family therapist in California, coaching is very different. I am offering my services here as a coach, and not a therapist.

Coaching focuses on your goals and ambitions, it is an active process of practicing the skills you wish to master – whether those are relationship skills, work skills, or the skills that make for a happier life in general. We do not look to treat psychological problems; we look to find the best within you, and develop your strengths and abilities – much as an athlete or a musician might seek to bring out their best performance.

Coaching is sometimes an exploration, seeking to find or understand what has meaning for you, where your strengths are, and what's challenging for you.

But it is also not about denial or pretending that life is always wonderful. Living a happy life is not just a smiley face. Every life is complex and unique. Along the way we're likely to find troublesome habits, nagging impediments, assumptions from past history, and expectations of perfection or fears that have limited your effectiveness. This is natural, and to be expected.

Living a happier life is not about making everything perfect and flawless; it is about being more conscious, and seeking to improve on what you have done in the past, so that you can envision and reach your goals.

If you bring the commitment and the energy, and if you are willing to bring conscious effort to what you seek to improve, through personal life coaching we can explore what you're already doing well, and what you'd like to improve; then we can chart a course that can get you there.

My role as your coach is to understand you, guide you, and encourage you; to help you to master your own unique psychology and temperament so that you can make more good things happen in your life. My role is to champion your good life, your good relationships, and your good work.

I can't do any of this for you. Living a conscious, successful life is something that you do personally, from the inside out. But if you can bring a spirit of adventure, a willingness to explore and challenge limiting assumptions, and the energy of consciousness and willpower to invest in improving your good life, I will bring all of my training, learning, experience, and devotion to helping you to get there.

QUOTES:

"A highly skilled clinician, trained in a variety of psychological disciplines, Joel Wade is a man of immense sensitivity and compassion who has a wide repertoire of problem-solving strategies to bring to the practice of Coaching."

-Nathaniel Branden, PhD., author of "The Art of Living Consciously."

“I have to tell you the effect is dramatic.  I haven't a clue as to how Joel does it.  He has this magic way of getting you to talk completely at ease about what he thinks is important, of guiding you towards better directions, and somehow, without even really trying, I've become much more productive…. What Joel has to offer is uniquely valuable.  It's not an expense - I look at it as an investment on which I'm getting an immediate ROI.” - JW