A Self-Coaching Exercise to Help Your Life

 (A partial repost from 2020) 

I just booked an appointment with my therapist. My psychotherapist that is. I'm not afraid to admit I sometimes use one because the process is helpful. (And my medical coverage pays for most of it.)

I believe it's important to take care of our mind, body, and soul. My counselor will be my safe person to confide in.

Galatians 6:2 ESV  

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

I'm doing well, but have realized just how many stressors I'm still processing (2020). Stress and change are part of life but sometimes it mounts inside our body. I carry mine in my shoulders. Especially in the doldrums of winter I'd rather have the sweetness talked about here for myself:

Proverbs 27:9 ESV 
"...and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel."  

What I hope to Achieve

I don't know what I'll talk about with my therapist yet but I want her take on things. 

Proverbs 20:5 says, "The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of 

understanding will draw it out." 

She will draw out some of the deep water in my heart and analyze it. 

I want to neatly package my woes and register them with her. I want her input and suggestions, and to know if I'm processing all well or burying it. I want to leave her office better than when I arrived. 

There is a Bible verse that talks about being caught in the transgression of sin and that those who are spiritual should restore such. It's not so much sin I might be embracing, but a lesser way of living. (Although I was in a Bible study once where the book title was Worry is a Sin. Do you agree that worry is a sin?) 

I'm not suggesting my therapist will point out where I'm sinning, but I know from working with her, that she will help me see where I might be catastrophizing, holding onto a grudge or where I might be embracing wrong thinking instead of focusing on the good. And we need to focus on the good if we're to thrive.

A Therapeutic Exercise

An online friend who is a counselor gave me advice for  deciding how to spend my valuable one-hour session:

1. Draw a line across a page.
2. Above the line write what is going well.
3. Below the line, write what isn't going well, negative events, or stressors.
4. As you do this, pay attention to where pain comes up that could be addressed with your therapist.
   
   

What A Life Coach Might Do 

For an alternative from a life coaching perspective, we wouldn't look at the past so much (that's the role of therapy). A life coach would applaud what is going well and ask probing questions to help me see where I might want to take the what's working list next and what boundaries I might want to set. 

The above exercise can be done on your own. You can look at the list of what is going well and be grateful. You can ask yourself probing questions such as: Why am I worrying about this and not just giving it to God?  You can ask yourself what you might want to change, decrease, or ramp up.

If you do such an exercise, please share in the comments.