Hiring a coach is a great way to increase awareness around clutter triggers, explore organising strengths and have accountability when it comes to decluttering your home or office environment.
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential”.
Certified coaches, such as Carol Martyn from Dr DeClutter undergo intensive training, including a minimum of 72 hours of class time, 100+ client hours, practice coaching hours with fellow students to strengthen skills and 10 hours minimum of mentor coaching.
Additionally students are required to provide recorded coaching sessions for critiquing that meet international coaching standards and must be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of the coaching framework as it relates to their area of study.
A Professional Coach will:
- Work with you over the phone or in person
- Will partner with you, whereby you’re both viewed as having equal input
- Actively listen and summaries what heard (rather than giving their opinion)
- Provide an ethical framework. Remember coaching isn’t counselling.
- Be transparent regarding qualifications and experience
- Have clear boundaries and works within their level of experience
Questions to consider when hiring a coach
- Is it important to you that the coach is qualified? If so, it’s okay to enquire with the training industry to ensure they can ethically call themselves a coach.
- Is it important your coach be specialised? Is it important that your coach have an understanding of mental health conditions? There are experienced coaches like Dr DeClutter who can support in understanding how to declutter while working with your mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, chronic disorganisation or hoarding tendencies.
- What’s their hourly rate? This should reflect their qualifications and experience; after all we get what we pay for and coaching is no different
- What do you want to achieve with a coach? Are you seeking a level of accountability or perhaps keen to learn about your patterns of behaviour around clutter.
- How will they work with you? Remember a good coach will actively listen and repeat back what they’ve heard. The will also ASK you questions not TELL you what to do. Coaching is a powerful tool that can help strengthen awareness around your habits BUT it isn’t counselling.
You can learn more about qualifications for Carol Martyn from Dr DeClutter
How to Choose a Professional Organiser?