About the Coaching Process

​​

What is life & leadership coaching?

Life and leadership coaching is a collaborative process that helps you navigate challenges, clarify your direction, and show up with more confidence, calm, and alignment—both personally and professionally.

​

This kind of coaching blends deep emotional insight with practical tools. Whether you’re facing burnout, a transition, a creative block, or leadership demands, we work together to build inner clarity and create real momentum—without force or self-abandonment.

Unlike therapy, which often focuses on the past, coaching is oriented toward the present and future. I bring questions, nervous system-informed strategies, and honest reflection—but you remain in the lead.

​

It’s not about becoming someone else. It’s about uncovering the version of you that feels most alive, grounded, and free.​

​​

 

How is trauma-informed coaching different from therapy?

Therapy often focuses on diagnosis and healing the past. Coaching is future-oriented and growth-focused. While we may gently acknowledge past experiences, we work together to strengthen your inner leadership and build new patterns in the present. You remain in charge of what we explore—and we move at a pace that feels safe and empowering.

 

What is Kind Self-Leadership™?  

Kind Self-Leadership™ is about guiding yourself with clarity and care, instead of criticism or force. It’s a trauma-informed approach to motivation and decision-making—especially helpful for those who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or burned out. Rather than pushing through resistance, we listen to it and transform it into purposeful momentum.

 

What is Applied Self-Love™?

Applied Self-Love™ is a deep and practical method for creating the inner safety, encouragement, and care we often missed in earlier life. It’s not just affirmations—it’s a series of guided practices that rebuild your inner foundation so you can face challenges with more stability, confidence, and warmth.

 

What are the benefits of self-kindness?

Many of us have been conditioned to push ourselves with pressure, self-criticism, or comparison. While that might create short bursts of motivation, over time it often leads to burnout, avoidance, anxiety, or a sense of disconnection from yourself.

​

Self-kindness offers a more sustainable path. When you respond to moments of stuckness or doubt with compassion rather than force, your nervous system begins to soften. From that more regulated state, you're better able to take aligned action, build consistency, and move forward without self-sabotage.

​

Kindness isn’t weakness—it’s what makes real, lasting change possible.

When I committed to healing my own nervous system and shifting from pressure to kindness, I noticed a quick and powerful change. My productivity, joy, and calm returned—and I felt stable on my feet again after a period of burnout.

​

I draw on everything I’ve learned through deep study, lived experience, and supporting clients through similar transitions—so you can skip years of trial and error and find a kinder, clearer way forward.

​​

Can coaching help with physical symptoms or chronic pain?

Yes. The nervous system plays a key role in how the body experiences pain, energy, and stress. When we reduce internal pressure and shift from survival mode into regulation, many clients notice their symptoms soften. My coaching integrates gentle somatic and mindset tools that support both emotional and physical resilience.

​

How do you support clients through ADHD coaching?

Many of my clients have ADHD or ADHD traits—whether formally diagnosed or self-identified. I don’t treat or pathologize ADHD; instead, I support the whole person navigating it.

​

Sessions are flexible and responsive. You’re welcome to move around, explore different session lengths, and shift topics in a way that feels natural to how your brain works. Together, we reduce internal pressure, build systems that support your nervous system, and create momentum without relying on shame or force.

​

Kind Self-Leadership™ is especially powerful here—it helps replace “I should just try harder” with compassionate strategies, self-understanding, and a deeper trust in your inherent strengths.

​​

Who do you typically work with? 

I work with thoughtful, open-minded adults of all ages—often high achievers, creatives, or leaders—who are navigating stress, life transitions, burnout, ADHD, or patterns of self-pressure. Many of my clients are sensitive and capable, yet feel stuck or misaligned with how they want to live or lead. If you resonate with that, you’re not alone—and you’re in the right place.

 

What unites my clients isn’t a title—it’s the desire to move forward with more inner clarity, warmth, and groundedness.

​

Do you work with people who’ve tried coaching or therapy before?

Yes, absolutely. Many of my clients come to me after working with therapists or other coaches. They’re ready for something deeper, more holistic, and tailored to how they actually function. This work complements many healing paths—and is especially resonant if you’ve done inner work but still feel something is “off” or unfinished.

​

Methods & Session Structure

​

What tools and methods do you use in your coaching? 

My coaching draws on a blend of evidence-based methods and intuitive, nervous-system-informed support. I often use:

• Kind Self-Leadership™ – to help you relate to yourself with clarity, care, and motivation that lasts

• Applied Self-Love™ – to rebuild your inner foundation and shift long-held patterns with compassion

• Internal Family Systems (IFS) – to gently explore and harmonize inner parts of you that hold fear, pressure, or conflict

• Somatic tools – including breathwork, body awareness, and gentle nervous system support

• Flash EMDR (when appropriate and not clinically) – to process stuck beliefs or soften the emotional charge around difficult memories

• Strategic coaching – to support real-world follow-through with kind accountability and aligned structure

• Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) - to help you restore your nervous system from the inside out 

​

What’s a typical session like?

Every session is tailored to what you need in the moment. Some focus on insight and mindset, others on nervous system regulation, emotional processing, processing through imagination and parts work, or focused on practical decision-making.

You might arrive overwhelmed and leave feeling lighter and calmer.
Or come in with a conflict on your mind and walk away with more clarity—as well as stronger negotiation and direct communication skills.

We go at your pace, with flexibility, respect, and curiosity. This isn’t about fixing you—it’s about helping you feel more like yourself.

​

How are sessions structured?

Sessions are conversational and experiential. We meet for 60 minutes (usually weekly or biweekly) via Zoom or in-person (in Santa Monica). Some sessions focus on insight, others on somatic or nervous system work—depending on what you need. You always remain in the driver's seat of how we spend the time.

 

Do I have to share personal trauma?

Only if you want to. This work is designed to respect your needs. I focus on what’s arising now and what your system wants to process or shift.​​

 

Executive & Leadership Coaching

​

Do you offer executive coaching?

Yes. I work with executives and emerging leaders who want to lead with emotional intelligence, clarity, and grounded confidence—without sacrificing their health or values. Many of my clients are navigating burnout, people leadership, high-pressure decisions, or internal culture shifts. My coaching supports you in making aligned choices and showing up with integrity in both high-stakes and day-to-day leadership moments.

 

How does your coaching support leadership development?

We focus on self-leadership first—developing clarity, regulation, and trust within yourself. From there, we explore communication, motivation, boundary-setting, and relational intelligence. I bring a background in management consulting (PwC), so I understand organizational complexity—but this work goes deeper, helping you lead without abandoning your own needs.

​

How can executive coaching help me as a leader?

Leadership isn’t just about making decisions and delivering results—it’s about presence, regulation, and relational impact. Executive coaching supports you in developing greater clarity, emotional intelligence, and resilience, so you can lead with steadiness instead of stress.

​

Whether you’re navigating team dynamics, burnout, visibility, or a high-stakes role, I help you reconnect with your internal clarity and grounded authority—so you’re not leading from reactivity, but from choice.

 

When your nervous system is supported, you’re more able to stay connected to yourself and to others. That means deeper relationships at home and greater stability, engagement, and wellbeing across your team. Calm, confident leadership doesn’t just feel better—it performs better too.

With a background in trauma-informed coaching and corporate consulting, I offer a rare blend of strategic insight and inner transformation to help you lead with integrity and sustainability.

 

Do you work with people who’ve never tried coaching or therapy before?

Yes. You may have worked with a consultant or advisor before. I worked as a management consultant for over 10 years advising leaders across industries on organizational transformation. I now work with individuals to weave in a more personalized approach and help you look at your work and life holistically. Some of the most meaningful transformations I've witnessed have been with clients who were new to this type of support.​​​

 

Workshops & Public Speaking

 

Do you speak at events or conferences?

Yes—I offer keynotes, fireside chats, and breakout sessions that are engaging, emotionally attuned, and practical. Topics include:  

- Kind Self-Leadership™ for burnout prevention

- Using Leadership psychology to overcome procrastination

- Applied Self-Love™ for inner confidence  

- Nervous system strategies for sustainable performance  

 

I’ve spoken at events for leaders, conscious entrepreneurs, and creatives, and bring a calm, connecting energy to the stage.

 

Can you design custom workshops for our team or community?

Absolutely. I design trauma-aware, interactive workshops that meet your group where they are. Every offering is customized based on the outcomes you care about—whether that’s team connection, stress reduction, compassionate leadership, or emotional intelligence.

 

Do you offer coaching for teams or organizations?

Yes. I offer workshops and leadership programs for mission-aligned organizations who want to improve engagement, retention, and emotional culture. These can focus on Kind Self-Leadership™, burnout recovery, nervous system-informed motivation, or bespoke topics depending on your team’s needs.​​​

​

Getting Started

 

What results can I expect?

Clients often report more calm, energy, self-trust, motivation, and capacity to act—without forcing themselves. The work is cumulative. Over 3–6 months, many people experience a real shift in how they relate to themselves, their work, and others. People have experienced a variety of effects from new coping and insight tools, to starting new careers, to overcoming addiction, and reduced chronic pain.

 

What happens on the assessment call?

At the assessment session, we will review your intake forms together and discuss how I can help. We'll review your goals and challenges, and discuss the process. If it resonates, we’ll explore next steps. If not, I’ll gladly offer other suggestions or referrals.

​

Are there any challenges or goals you won't work with?

If your goal isn’t harmful and you’re open-minded, kind, and curious—I’ll probably roll up my sleeves and dive in with you. I love working with people who are ready to experiment with inner tools and take gentle risks for meaningful change.

​

That said, I can’t guarantee results (nobody truly can)—because real change depends on your system’s timing, not force. The Assessment Session is a chance to feel things out together. No pressure, no pitch—just a conversation to see if we’re a mutual yes.

 

How do I get started?

You can book an assessment session through the website or email me at hello@learnwitholi.com. I look forward to working together.