In this article we’re covering some of our most frequently asked questions about who we are, why qualifies us, and what we actually do. It occurred to us that you might have the same question and maybe you haven’t asked yet! As always, we encourage and welcome your questions. We also decided it’s time to start tooting our own horn a lot more! Because guess what? We’re super proud of who we are, what we do, and the work we do with our amazing clients. So let’s get to it…

But First, Our Credentials

So as you may or may not know, we are Board Certified Nurse Coaches, NC-BCs. To dispel any misconceptions right off the bat, nurse coaches don’t only coach nurses.

So what does it mean? First, it means we’re nurses. We have the education and experience, and the art and science of over a decade of nursing practice.

Second, it means we’re coaches. And that means we continued our education in this specialty. We completed a combination of education, practicum (working with real people in our training), and a board certification exam through the American Holistic Nurses Association.

Something you may not know? Nursing is the FIRST licensed profession (in the US anyway) with a coaching certification. And we’re really proud of that!

Nursing is the Most Trust Profession

Something else we’re really proud of? Nursing is *the* most trusted profession in the United States. And we don’t take that lightly. So when you’re considering working with a coach, consider the fact that unlike the multitude of people you see online that use the title of “coach,” we actually have education and credentials behind us. We also have all the accountability, ethics, and integrity that come with being a nurse.

What’s the Difference Between Coaching and Therapy?

First, we want to say that many of our clients do *both* therapy and coaching. So while we will do some comparison here for the sake of clarity, there’s a time and a place for either or both. The right tools for the right job, so to speak! And there’s a lot of variation depending on the type of therapy, and the therapist herself.

Also, we LOVE when our clients do both. We know they’re fully supported and resourced to be their best selves! This journey is surely not meant to be done alone, and investing in your own support is a sign of strength and self leadership.

Scope of Practice and Goals

Therapists work with clients who have mental health conditions. Often the goal of therapy is to get the client back to a baseline level of functioning and mental wellness. Therapists help clients to cope with their problems.

In coaching, we’re going from baseline or good, to great. Coaching is about optimization and reaching your highest potential.

Therapy Tends to be Past-Oriented

In therapy, you’re often processing past traumatic experiences or events.

Coaching is for the Future

In coaching, we’re getting super clear on your goals and how to make them reality.

Therapy May Not Have a Timeline

In therapy, clients often go for the long term. There may or may not be a clear endpoint.

Coaching Often Has a Timeline

In coaching, clients often address a specific goal or challenge. Our clients typically work with us anywhere from 3-12 months, and some even prefer a longer term partnership because they love the support and the impact it has on their lives.

Coaching is Action-Oriented

In coaching, we’re most definitely talking, but there’s a key difference. We’re also being and doing. We do a lot of work together inside the sessions. But we’re also doing a lot of work together outside the sessions!

In Therapy, You’re Working to Restore Baselines

In therapy, sessions usually address problems and coping skills related to a specific mental health issue. 

In Coaching, You’re Reaching Your Highest Potential

In coaching, we’re shooting for the moon! We’re helping you uncover blocks to your success, limiting beliefs that hold you back, and expanding your self belief and what you think is possible. The goal is for you to do things you once thought were impossible (and this actually happens!).

In Therapy, the Therapist is the Expert

In therapy, the therapist is the one who has the answers, resources, and tools. She’s the expert on mental health conditions and coping skills.

In Coaching, You’re the Expert

In coaching, it’s YOU. You are the expert of your own life. You are the one that has the answers deep down, who knows what your fears and blocks are, who knows what’s holding you back, and who knows what you really need to do for things to be different. As the coach, we help you discover and connect to all of this inner wisdom, trust yourself, and take action. We see you as whole, creative and resilient.

Therapy is Focused on the Diagnosis

Again, solutions and coping mechanisms are specific.

Coaching is Holistic

It’s about the whole person. It’s about growth, healing, and total wellbeing. It’s about transformation.

You Have Our Permission to Want More

You might have noticed this, but in life, there are all kinds of things that aren’t necessarily “wrong” but surely suboptimal. So many people, especially women, feel like it’s not okay to want things to be better unless there’s something “wrong.”

But you surely don’t need to have a diagnosis to have thought and behavior patterns that negatively impact the quality of your life. And nothing has to be “wrong” for you to want better!

Maybe Right Now, You’re Here…

For example, maybe you’re “successful” by the standards of mainstream society. And yet you’re not happy because you’re not living in alignment with what’s truly important to you. You see so many others who seem to “have it all together,” and you feel like you should have felt like that by now!

You make a great living, but your work feels soul-sucking. But the thought of changing your work feels impossible. You worry that it would mean starting over. You devalue yourself so much you convince yourself you have no transferable skills. And what’s more, what would everyone else think? After all, you worked so hard to get where you are. You invested so much time, money, and energy into that master’s degree (or two). And even though you’re unfulfilled, you’re too scared to do much about it. So you stay stuck.

Or maybe you’re an entrepreneur who has had to confront a lot of money mindset challenges since starting your business, and you know it’s limiting you. You spend a lot of time and energy doubting yourself when you know you’ve truly got a bigger vision and you’re meant for more. You could also be a leader who is super supportive to your team, and yet you struggle to take care of yourself. You just can’t seem to stop taking your laptop home. You could take lunch at any time you want, but you somehow always wait until 3 pm. You barely even let yourself take a bathroom break.

Maybe you’re feeling exhausted, and disconnected from yourself and you’re wondering if you’ll ever get your spark back. And at the same time, you deny that it’s burnout, because wouldn’t you be so much worse? Wouldn’t you have to be totally falling apart for that? Maybe no matter how much you grow as a leader or entrepreneur, you still feel crippling imposter syndrome and you have a fierce inner critic who regularly tells you you’re not good enough. No launch, promotion, or achievement ever seems to feel like it’s supposed to.

Or maybe you’re craving a deeper connection to yourself and your creativity. You have the desire to spend time on yourself and with yourself, but you always feel guilty for not using that time more “productively.” You’re also such a perfectionist that trying new things often doesn’t feel fun, like you’ve heard it’s supposed to.

You feel stuck and you’re itching for change. Yet, you gaslight yourself constantly with this one question – “is it that bad?”

But You Want to Be Here…

There’s something deep down telling you that it doesn’t have to be this way. And you’re ready to trust that. You’ve restored that sense of natural energy that comes from a sense of inner peace and satisfaction in work and life. You’re truly able to be present with everyone who matters to you, both at work and at home. And you finally feel connected to yourself.

You trust yourself, and you know you’ve got your own back. You can confidently resource yourself, validate yourself, and find stability within. This allows you to thrive in any situation, and especially in situations that used to feel very stressful or high pressure.

You’re feeling regulated both emotionally, and in your mind and body. You look after and feel in tune with your body in a way you might never have before. You embody a whole new sense of confidence on a deeper level.

Your inner voice is finally supportive. She’s become much more of a cheerleader, and much less of a critic. And because of this major shift, you’re finally performing at your best, optimizing your potential and reaping the rewards of your wellness. For the first time in a long time, you fully trust yourself and you’re tapping into your inner wisdom.

You’ve set and established boundaries and you’ve finally reclaimed control of your time. You feel lighter, both physically and mentally; balanced and whole. And speaking of balance, you’ve achieved true work-life balance. You now know that balance is not a myth!

You’re fully able to embrace your worthiness and enoughness. You approach yourself with love, care, and acceptance. And the inner peace that comes from that makes you absolutely glow. You know your motivation is personal and not tied to external pressure. You’re living in a way that’s truly inspired. You feel truly alive, and you’re actually enjoying life. You’re wondering why you waited so long to make this shift!

Spoiler Alert – Professional and Personal Development are *Both* Personal

The things you truly want might often seem quite tangible and concrete. For example, desiring a change in your work seems like the thing (aka leaving your soul-sucking job!). But there’s always more below the surface! What often starts as boredom, burnout, outgrowing where you’re at, or the desire for change, is always deeper. And it’s always personal.

And you know what else?

• Professional development? It’s personal
• High performance? It’s holistic
• Optimizing your potential? It’s mental
• Success? It’s an inside job

• Healing your old, unhelpful patterns
• Strengthening your emotional intelligence
• Navigating change and uncertainty
• Holding your vision and values
• Having your thinking challenged, and your own blind spots uncovered
• Someone outside your circle to be truly unbiased and say what no one else will
• Someone to expand your mind and help you discover new insights

These are all things that we do in our work as nurse coaches! We specialize in supporting female nursing leaders, nurses, and entrepreneurs in going from A to B and doing exactly these things!! Consider us your secret weapon for getting unstuck, healing burnout, creating a new relationship with yourself, getting your spark back through creativity and innovation, turning your inner critic into your inner cheerleader, feeling enough and finding inner peace and resilience, and showing up as your absolute best self in work and life. 

It All Comes Back to You

All of these things are essential to leadership, entrepreneurship, and general career success, but they all begin with self reflection, development, and leadership of SELF. In all our discussions, anyone who has experience with coaching will tell you the same thing!

And that’s because your inner world creates your outer results. Your “roots create the fruits,” as they say.

And THAT is why we believe so strongly in the work that we do!!

What We’ve Learned

We’ve learned that the things that most people need to heal from don’t involve a formal diagnosis or insurance code. They don’t involve a procedure or prescription.

What is life changing for most people is connecting and coming back home to themselves, getting in touch with what matters to them and actually living by it. And in a world that glorifies overworking, always moving on to the next thing, and being overly concerned about the expectations of others, these things can be hard to do by yourself!  (And we’ll explain exactly why that’s the case in a future article!! But in a nutshell – layers of conditioning, the fact that what you need to do is counterintuitive so you don’t, and your own blind spots…)

Our Biggest Insights?

You carry you with you wherever you go, whatever you’re doing. You can change specialities, get promoted, or even move to a new country. If you haven’t done the work to heal and grow, you’ll be carrying the same baggage! You can be your worst energy and your biggest critic, or you can be your own best friend and biggest cheerleader. YOU get to decide!

What We Do

In our coaching practice, Well and Whole, and on our blog, we help female nurses, leaders, and entrepreneurs heal their inner critic, turn self doubt into confidence, and discover the peace that comes from embracing their worthiness.

It probably comes as no surprise that most of our clients are nurses, and many of them have similar struggles! Even our nurse leadership clients find themselves carrying the weight of all the things that once plagued them at the bedside – the perfectionism, people pleasing, self-abandonment, cravings for external validation, and defining themselves only by their careers.

By our own personal experience, professional training as both nurses and coaches, and the experiences of our clients, we know that healing and transformation is possible, and it’s possible for you too!

What This Means For You

Curious about if coaching with one of us could be a fit for you? Feeling pretty seen as you read through this article? Have you been feeling stuck but at the same time know you’re ready for a change?  As we always say, it may be called “the inner work,” but you’re surely not meant to do it alone.

We have helped our clients get all of the results we talk about here, and more!

Where to Start?

Try it!! We can go on and on about how coaching works, theories of behavior change and psychology, and our client’s success stories.

But what does it mean for you? It’s like the difference between reading a menu and actually ordering something off of it and tasting it. Night and day, right?

So if you’re feeling called, let’s get on a call! There’s zero pressure. We’ll tell you honestly if we can help you. And you’ll walk away with life-changing insights and clarity.