Embracing Transformation
Journey to Becoming a Certified Wholehearted Life Coach
This week I’m celebrating (officially) becoming a Certified Wholehearted Life Coach! 🥳
And, I thought I’d share a bit of my story and what led me to becoming a Life Coach.
My Early Years as a Physical Therapist
When I started practicing as a physical therapist in 2009 I worked in a very traditional setting and took a very traditional approach to treatment.
I took all the continuing education classes, got a few certifications, truly saw myself as the expert, and prided myself on having a plan for each patient session.
Around 2017, my practice shifted and I had more autonomy to create a practice that was exciting for me. It was such a massive shift and, at the time, I found myself wanting to be the go-to provider for “gym athletes.” I LOVED being in the gym anyway so it seemed like a perfect fit. The classes were amazing, I learned a ton, and really felt I was thriving.
Then The Whole World Changed (Seemingly Overnight)
We all know what happened next…2020 rolled around. A pandemic, a work place that no longer felt safe, and launching my own physical therapy practice. Wow wee! What a ride of a year!
What I learned in those first few months in my own physical therapy practice was that I was creating the environment my nervous system needed, this space was having a positive impact on my patients, and it became abundantly clear to me that each patient I was working with wasn’t coming in with just a physical injury. They were (and are 😉) coming in as a whole human with all kinds of stress, overwhelm, a lot of “should”s around movement or their body, poor sleep, fear of pain or movement, etc. and to only treat the physical symptoms was a disservice to them.
Enter Coaching
I started working with a life coach at a time in my business when I struggling to figure out how to integrate the business into my life and my life into the business, what success meant to me, and how I wanted my practice to evolve. I found the experience to be so transformative for me that it made sense to explore how to bring coaching and a whole-human approach to my physical therapy practice. So I signed up for and completed a program to became a Certified Health and Well-Being Coach!
The tools I learned were amazing and supported me in creating the physical therapy treatment environment I have now, one in which I strive to help folks feel empowered to co-create their treatment plan and to have their whole-self considered in the process.
This shift and change in my physical therapy practice has felt so rooted in who I am…a tender-hearted human. And without coaching, I highly doubt I would have had the clarity to make these changes.
All Was Well as a Physical Therapist…But What About as a Coach?
What I began to notice was that when I was in the role of COACH with my clients, I didn’t feel in integrity.
There were so many things that were coming up that were truly life coaching topics and I did not feel equipped to hold this space for clients.
I sat with that for a while…was it self-doubt or imposter syndrome? Was I just looking for another certification to feel worthy of creating this offering? What I ultimately realized is that I wanted to learn more about holding space from a place of integrity, with skill and ethics, and from a heart-centered and decolonized lens and not just any coach certification would do.
When the opportunity to join the inaugural cohort for the Wholehearted Life Coaching Certification program opened up, it truly felt like a full body “YES!” (TBH, there were a few things I sensed some nervous energy about AND I knew the challenge and stretch were part of what I was looking for)
Over more than 6 months, I spent hours:
Unlearning and learning about myself (privileges, identities, and intersections) in order to better hold space for those who have different levels of privilege, identities, and intersections from my own
Unlearning and learning about the coaching industry from a decolonized lens
Learning about holding space for clients (aka - what coaching is and isn’t)
Reading and watching pre-recorded videos
In community on live virtual retreat calls
Doing peer coaching, getting coached, coaching clients, receiving feedback on coaching calls
This process challenged and stretched me in more ways than I imagined and to say it was a personally transformative process is an understatement.
I’m so proud of myself and my coach colleagues for showing up vulnerably, with the capacity we had that day, and growing together.
It feels like my love story with Life Coaching just beginning and I feel so excited about deepening and expanding into this practice, bringing compassion and curiosity, and co-creating a space that feels safe-enough for folks to bring all of themselves…it’s all welcome.
If you’d like to know what coaching together would be like, I would love to chat with you!
If you made it this far, thank you for reading my story! It means so much to me. 🙏
With much kindness,
Bre
