Frequently Asked Questions
How can you prepare for your first session?
WORK WITH ME
How do I start?
CLARITY CALL
Schedule your first free intro call by filling in the contact form, booking or contacting me directly.
Let's meet around a warm and comforting virtual (or not) beverage to see if and how I can best assist you. We will get to know each other and you will be able to tell if any program fits your needs and expectations.
BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT
Following our discussion, I invite you to book a time for your first session or consultation, while on the phone, or schedule it by clicking the button to my online calendar in the top header.
Follow the prompts to register on the platform so you can pick times, get reminders, receive tips and fill out paperwork.
PREPARE FOR YOUR SESSION
The Intake paperwork will be sent to you once your appointment is booked. Before your appointment, please make sure to complete:
- all intake paperwork
- the wellness assessment
- the purchase of your first session.
Which one is for me?
Health & Wellness Coaching
The utimate goal of coaching is personal growth and Self-realisation.
During coaching sessions, the client remains the expert.
Coaching can target fulfillment and life goals, work/life balance, burnout, professional difficulties, chronic pain and chronic illness, or any health goal overall.
Why a 3-months plan?
Because 3-months is the length of time found necessary to fully experiment with new strategies, build new life habits that stand the test of time, and start seeing lasting results.
Coaching is thus not like a one-time-fix-all medical consultation, but rather a gradual evolution, a transformation process that leads to the achievement of life goals, self-realisation and personal growth.
For that reason, in addition to being open to change, one must also take the time. Time for introspection and self-discovery.
Once your 3-months goals complete, you can then choose a weekly, biweekly, monthly or even occasional coaching follow-up program, if needed.
Coaching sessions are 45 minutes long when done weekly, or 60 minutes long when biweekly or monthly, so we have time to catch up!
Each session culminates into the creation of 3-5 objectives, born from the concerns/desires brought up during our conversation that day, in order to help you progress towards your 3-months goals.
Those 3-months goals are reviewed together and readjusted monthly.
At the end of each session, you will receive your updated wellness plan, which is a document summarizing your health & wellness plan, your 3-months goals, and your new short-term goals.
We also may chat and follow-up on Healthie and WhatsApp in between sessions.
Psychological Counselling
When concerns are heavier and create psychological distress that affect your mental and physical health, psychological counselling might be more effective.
Here you will be able to put down the weight you carry alone, in all confidentiality, and find tools on your own time to respond to your suffering and mental distress, then learn techniques to face any future difficulties.
As a clinical Psychologist (Belgian Board registered and clincial visa) trained in Cognitive-behavioural Therapies, I then wear my “expert hat” to welcome and recognise any psychological distress and teach you how to use cognitive and behavioral tools.
The goal here is to heal and reduce symptoms and get back to feeling balanced (homeostasis) and content, and to build resilience to face any future difficulty.
Sessions are solution-focused and strength-based. The therapeutic tools and techniques I inspire myself from or use during our sessions are all rooted in empirical evidence (see consultation page for more info).
Consultations are 60 minutes long, in visio.
I welcome consultations for:
- Burnout
- Anxiety
- Conflicts
- Stress management
- Life changes & transitions
- Loss & grief
- Military life challenges
- PTSD
- Neurodiversity (autism, ADHD, Giftedness…)
- Parenting support
- Emotion regulation
In order to support progress in between sessions, some TCC exercises or homework might be shared with you at the end of the consultation.
Consultations can be scheduled punctually, occasionally or weekly, according to your needs.
What to expect:
Duration:
- 30 min. for the Discovery Call;
- 90 min. for the Wellness Assessment (10′ questionnaire) + creation of your “Wellness vision” (can be cut in 2);
- 45 min./ weekly session;
- 60 min./ (bi-)monthly session or consultations
NB: I aim to stay flexible about length of session in order to encourage introspection 🙂
Location: locally in Melbourne / South Beaches, Florida area / Online on the Practice Better portal.
Rate: see individual services (see below for payment details).
How to ensure a fruitful teleconsultation?
Online consultations follow the same framework and guidelines as in person sessions.
For a productive session online, thank you for ensuring you have:
- a fast internet connection and a reliable computer;
- good quality sound speakers or headphones;
- a good quality video camera and appropriate lighting;
- a calm space, free of distractions and noise;
- a space where you feel safe and secure and where you can talk in all confidentiality.
Our sessions are completely confidential. I respect both the deontology code of the coach and that of the Psychologist.
WHAT IS HEALTH & WELLNESS COACHING?
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a Health and Wellbeing Coach do?
A Health and Wellbeing Coach acts as a mentor who keeps clients accountable. They bridge the gap between healthcare professionals and the client by helping clients to build positive, sustainable behavioural lifestyle changes. They will:
- Work with you to define a vision of your ideal state of health and wellbeing based on your values, priorities and needs;
- Motivate and empowers you by helping you uncover and expand your strengths;
- Listen to you and ask insightful questions;
- Promote self-acceptance, self-respect and self-esteem;
- Energise and challenge you to reach higher at the right moment;
- Celebrate your successes;
- Mentor you and show you how to coach yourself so you can replicate your successes;
- Helps you overcome your personal barriers and limitations or negative thinking;
- Is kind-hearted, supportive and compassionate;
- Offers a safe space free of judgment;
- Encourages independence and autonomy;
- Encourages self-efficacy - the trust that you can accomplish things on your own and motivate you to become expert in your own health;
- Offers education, guidance and ideas only when desired or necessary
Do you guarantee confidentiality?
Of course!
I am an independent practitioner and I am not linked to any governmental agency. In sessions with me you have a right for privacy and confidentiality.
As a Coach and as a Clinical Psychologist, I offer neutral and professional help in a benevolent and confidential setting according to both the Coach and the Belgian Psychologists Code of Deontology.
For this reason, our sessions and messages take place on encrypted platforms or in private spaces.
Is teleconsultation as efficient as face-to-face sessions?
Short answer is: yes, it is!
The concern is usually that consultations online will not be as personable than consultations in person. It is true for example that body language is not as easy to detect on the screen. This issue can be mitigated by ensuring a quality video, lighting conditions, and making appropriate use of silence. I also offer a 30' free discovery call so you can see if it would work for you.
Teleconsultation does actually offer a few advantages compared to in-person sessions:
- it is accessible to people who otherwise could not access such services locally;
- it saves time (no driving, no traveling);
- it is more convenient (it allows you to have a session from the comfort of your own home or office);
- it often is more affordable.
The efficiency of telehealth has been proven through mutliples studies. Those studies show that the benefits of CBT therapy online is equal to those of therapy face-to-face. The same goes for coaching, where teleconsultation is more the norm.
Here are a couple of articles on this topic:
French:
https://www.psychologue.net/articles/pourquoi-choisir-une-therapie-en-ligne
English:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2021/02/14/online-therapy-just-as-effective-as-in-person-sessions/?sh=4f2e59164659
Wellbeing Coach vs Psychologist
Warning: Coaching is not a substitute for psychotherapy, or psychiatric or medical treatments
Coaching vs Psychotherapy
Coaching and Psychotherapy are two complementary methodologies that correspond to different stages of well-being. When someone is in depression, they need the expertise of a mental health professional (psychologist or psychotherapist or counselor) in order to regain their initial balance and state of well-being.
The coach however, intervenes when someone wants to grow and journey towards their ideal of health and well-being. Wherever the Psychotherapist often focuses and works on the past, the coach focuses and works on the future.
The coach thus works as a complement to health experts (doctors, therapists). S.he takes the time --where the doctor often doesn't have it, to find strategies in order to support patient's objectives. S.he supports his/her client's expertise, and will help him/her follow the plan put in place by the experts in order to increase the patient's compliance to treatment.
Health Coach vs Fitness Coach
Warning: Coaching is not a substitute for medical treatment or psychotherapy!
Health Coaching vs Fitness Coach
A fitness coach is a fitness expert who creates a workout plan in order to reach your particular fitness goal (gain muscle, lose weight, runa marathon). The fitness coach consults, directs, plans and advises.
The health coach on the other hand, listens and supports your paln, and your goals. S.he accepts and encourages your expertise about your health, wellbeing and goals. Through coaching tools and methodologies, s.he supports your objectives and works collaboratively to create your personalized health and wellbeing plan, and define your short and long term goals afterwards. Those are objectives you chose and complete.
The objective of the health coach is to motivate you, to encourage you, to support and enable your action stepsby providing you with the right guidance and tools. S.he only advises when and if the client feels stuck or asks for it explicitly.
The Health & Wellness Coach has expertise about health and wellness, and can educate you when needed on how to reach your objectives. He however does not pick the goals nor the how. He allows you to be your own expert. He does not decide what is best for you. He follows your lead.
What are my responsibilities as a client?
- Firslty, to engage to complete 3-months of wellness coaching ( for 3 month-plan);
- Next, to complete a Wellbeing Assessment;
- Thirdly, to engage and participate in sessions and be an actor of their health (vs a patient seeing an expert for advice) for a minimum of 5 coaching sessions;
- Later, sessions can be planned weekly, monthly, or quarterly.
- Finally, it is primordial to keep an open mind, and invite and be open to Change (as it is the main goal!)
How do coaching sessions work?
- Initial coaching session (60-90 min.): First we review the Wellbeing Assessment and develop your personal Wellness Vision. Then we identify your priorities, strengths, and obstacles. After that we develop a personal wellness plan with 3-month and weekly goals, and set up your first steps.
- Weekly/monthly sessions (30-40 min.): We then meet virtually or in-person to review progress towards client goals, explore challenges, find new possibilities/strategies, and set new achievable objecives for the next week.
- 3-months review: At that time we will assess progress and celebrate your successes!
Start today!
Are you ready to find support on your health and wellness journey?
Please fill in this contact form and let me know how you would like to start!