Therapeutic Coaching
Therapeutic Coaching® (TC) is a structured integrative framework and methodology that combines elements of traditional psychotherapeutic approaches with solution-focused coaching methods, alongside Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy where required. Together these target three key areas: nervous system regulation; emotional healing and behavioural change.
What does Therapeutic Coaching involve?
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP): a set of principles and techniques intended to help us understand how we come to think and behave the way we do and how to change (‘reprogram’) the limiting beliefs and patterns we hold to view and experience the world
- Ericksonian Hypnotherapy: permissive, client-led hypnotherapy for deep inner change
- Developmental Psychology: to understand early patterns and core emotional needs wounds
- Solution-focused Coaching
- Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT): also known as ‘tapping’, this processes undigested emotional experiences
- Mindfulness: to build presence, awareness and regulation
- Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy where required
Where was this approach developed?
The Therapeutic Coaching® approach has been developed by Dr Alex Howard and Anna Duschinsky over the last 25 years in the world-leading and award-winning Optimum Health Clinic (OHC) in London. It now has patients in more than 50 countries around the world.
Research on the OHC approach using Therapeutic Coaching® has been published in academic journals such as the British Medical Journal Open, Psychology and Health, and Medical Hypotheses.
What conditions can it help with?
- Overcoming fatigue and chronic illness
- Managing stress and mental/emotional overwhelm
- Sleep disturbances
- Boosting confidence and self-esteem
- Healing from past traumatic experiences
- Recognising how dysregulation shows up in anxiety, depression, attachment issues, and addictions
- Learning how to calm and self-regulate the nervous system
- Increasing self-awareness and building emotional resilience
- Building healthy relationships (working with relational issues: friends/work colleagues/family members or romantic partners)
- Learning to sit with and allow difficult and/or suppressed emotions
- Working with limiting beliefs, unhelpful habits or ruminating thinking patterns and their resultant behaviours
- Overcoming minor phobias or fear issues
- Creating a healthy work-life balance
- Gaining new perspectives on existing challenges to move forward and transform “perceived” obstacles
- Implementing meaningful lifestyle changes to allow greater sense of wellbeing
- Committing to continuous personal development and growth
- Reconnecting to purpose, meaning, and a deeper sense of belonging
What can I expect from a session?
Every session is individually tailored to your needs, presenting symptoms and challenges. Your practitioners is guided by what you bring to and want to work on in each consecutive session.
Are there any misconceptions?
Your Therapeutic Coach will work with you at your own pace and help you to identify any stumbling blocks to help you achieve your potential, embrace your inner strengths and recognise your unique talents and qualities.
They will challenge any unhelpful thinking, behavioural patterns, assumptions and limiting beliefs you may have. This aims to nudge you out of your perceived comfort zone (with compassion), while accompanying you on your self-exploratory inner work journey of finding your own insights, learnings and solutions.
Your Therapeutic Coach will evoke your awareness, rather than impose awareness. This is because developing self-awareness is the first step to opening up to the possibility that many other choices exist out there for you.
Gaining a different perspective of Self and Life itself helps to remove the constricting filters through which we are used to seeing and operating our world. That, by itself, can create a space for making lasting positive and meaningful changes to bring fulfilment, nourishment and joy to your life.
How will I know if it is for me?
Based on the issues you’d like to address and the symptoms you’re experiencing (mental, physical, emotional or behavioural), your coach would offer you the most appropriate approach for you:
- Targeted: a block of minimum 6 Therapeutic Coaching sessions, 60 minutes each.
- Integrative: a combination of 6 Therapeutic Coaching and 4 Nutritional Therapy sessions, separately spaced.
How will I know if I need Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy as well?
During a free 30-minute Discovery Call, your practitioner will establish if you need Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy sessions. This will be based on your presenting symptoms and challenges that you’d like to address.
Usually, any mood/mental issues such as anxiety, nervous system dysregulation, panic attacks, chronic fatigue, depression are suitable for this Integrative Approach of combining Therapeutic Coaching and Nutritional Therapy.
It can also help with hormonal and metabolic imbalances, impaired gut function, nervous/endocrine/immune systems dysregulation, and chronic inflammation.
What do the Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy sessions involve?
Before your first session, you will be sent a detailed health and nutrition questionnaire to complete.
At the initial consultation your practitioner will then ask you detailed questions about your current health concerns, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, medical history, family history, lifestyle, levels of physical activity, use of medication and supplements and diet. Using nutrition science, they will then develop a personalised, safe and effective nutrition and lifestyle programme for you.
Follow up consultations are generally after four weeks in order to monitor progress and make any necessary adjustments to your nutrition programme.
How much does it cost?
Therapeutic Coaching is offered in blocks of multiple sessions to achieve sustainable changes in health:
- Therapeutic Coaching (TC) – £420 for block of 6 x 1hr sessions
- Therapeutic Coaching with Nutritional Therapy (NT) – £780 for block of 6 x 1hr TC plus 4 x 1hr NT sessions
