Practicalities

The information on this page, including fees, relates to my private coaching practice. If you are an organisation looking for a coach please refer to the Coaching at Work section.

1. How often do I have a coaching session - and how much does it cost?

There may be times in your life when you feel you just need one or two sessions to focus on a specific issue or situation such as preparing for an important interview or dealing with a challenging situation at work.

However, most clients sign up for a fixed number of sessions a month (you can, of course, stop at any time). The 'ideal' that I would recommend - in terms of maintaining maximum momentum and continuity -  is 3 x 50 minute sessions a month.

As you will have gathered from the Home page, I love coaching because I love the difference it makes to my clients' lives. I want everyone who wants to work with a coach to be able to. It is also how I earn my living - so I have to charge. My standard fee for 3 x 50 minute sessions/month is £150/month.

And I am aware that some people who would like to work with me genuinely cannot afford this.

If you can't, then together we will look at what is possible - for example, maybe fewer and/or shorter sessions. Any coaching is better than no coaching. I have had clients who have achieved a great deal in 3 sessions - and people who needed no more than their free 'try it out' session! (I have also had clients who worked with me for over 2 years because their sessions were the only time that they took 'just for them' - and because the horizons of what they discovered were possible for them kept expanding).

Finally, it is my experience that many people feel uncomfortable talking about money.
Please don't let that discomfort be the only thing that stops you contacting me to find out more.
The philosophy of Co-active Coaching is that we are all 'naturally creative, resourceful and whole' - we will find a way.

2. How else do you support me?

As your coach (and unlike in a counselling or therapeutic relationship), I am available to you all the time (within reason - I'm not too good at 3am). In addition to the scheduled sessions, the fee you pay entitles you to  'unlimited' email contact - to ask a question, request some 'emergency' support, update me on a success, use me as a sounding-board to clarify your thinking or just to unload. It also covers occasional additional short telephone calls.

If I come across relevant resources (articles, books, web sites, checklists, questionnaires or anything else that supports you in deepening your understanding of yourself and making the changes that you want to make) I will send them to you. I also have a large library of handouts from training courses.

3. Face-to-face or telephone?

Coaching can take place face-to-face if geography allows, and the client wishes, but most coaching happens over the telephone.

Some clients like to start with a double, or even a 2 hour, face-to-face session and are happy to travel for that (at the moment I live in Devon but I also visit the Highlands quite frequently). They then continue with telephone sessions. 

Telephone coaching has a number of practical advantages.
1. No travelling time, no travelling expenses, no traffic or parking problems
2. You aren't limited to a coach who lives nearby - you can choose from all over the world.
3. No need to get dressed up to go out (or even dressed)
4. No need to arrange childcare, negotiate who has the car etc
5. If necessary, appointments can be rescheduled with minimum inconvenience
6. With so many cheap telephone plans available, and systems such as Skype, coach and client can be on opposite sides of the planet and can continue even if one or both of them are away from home for extended periods

But it doesn't just have practical advantages.
A number of clients have had reservations about telephone coaching (“I hate the telephone” is a phrase I have often heard) but, because they wished to work with me, were willing to try it. Without exception they have become converts. They find it easier to focus and concentrate with no visual distractions and easier to ‘open up’. One client described it to me as “anonymous intimacy”. One way to check out telephone coaching is to have a free 'try it out' session.