Coaching University Student
Published on 17 August, 2016 | Counselling
Life Coaching Consultation
student attending university – life coaching for students
Case Study – I have been meeting with Client for the last 6 months offering support for her anxiety around going to university. This therefore provided a great opportunity to utilise the life coaching for students material into the session. Through my own reflection of the sessions with Client I was able to see that Client uses a Kinaesthetic as her representational model.
Life Assessment
To begin the case study I asked Client to complete the Life Areas Assessment Tool. Client scored a 6 in the area of Career and Job which when discussed she shared that this was reflecting her future feelings about university and taking the steps she wishes to achieve the career she desires in the future. Client scored a 6 in the area of friendships she stated at this point she feels she hasn’t the strong friendships she wishes she has. Client scored a 7 in spirituality she feels since meeting with me she has moved this score from a 4 to a 7 but chose that this is a goal she would like to continue to work on to achieve further self awareness and wellbeing.
For the session today Client stated that the goal she would like to focus on was attending university to achieve the career she desires in business management. Client talked about the steps she has taken already to achieve this goal. I used summarising techniques to both show my understanding and listening skills. Client was able to admit here that although she has talked about going to university she has put off preparing due to her fears and anxieties. I talked to Client about our comfort zone and how this can both support us but how it can also create a barrier to achieving our goals. Client was able to follow this and give examples of how now in her part time job she feels comfortable and confident and contemplated staying for a further year and deferring her place at university for a year. Client admitted here that she did not want to do this; it was simply an option so she could remain in this comfortable situation.
Using the Sun Diagram
I explained to Client what a Sun Diagram was and how this can support the goal setting process. At the top of the sheet I wrote ideas, resources and actions that can be used to achieve my goal, this was so Client fully understood the task. Client created a Sun Diagram. On this Client listed all the things she could do both now and moving forward to achieve this goal. Client wrote that she could- get a calendar and a diary to place university start dates on and holiday dates so she could see when she could visit her family. Client put an action for herself to visit with her mum to get a feel for the city. Client set an idea of creating an affirmation jar which we have done together in the past, but this time Client suggested she could use specific affirmation based on strength, confidence and facing fears. I shared with Client how using I will and I am help affirm the success of her goals as opposed to saying I will try, and therefore her use of affirmations is a powerful and great action she has set herself. Client put on the diagram that she could research bus passes and distances from halls to the location of her lectures to feel prepared. Client set an action to write a list of the things she needs to buy before she goes to university, an additional action of going to purchase these things. Client is aware of meditation as a tool for personal growth and managing high emotions. Client put this as an action for herself to meditate on going to university and visualise how she wanted this to look and feel like. I used summarising here as I felt this was good action she chose and wanted to highlight my understanding of this action. Client set further of actions of opening a student bank account. Client said she was nervous to meet new people and be on her own as she is not used to this. I asked what she felt she could do to prepare for this now and before she moves to Hull. Client was able to come up with an action that she could practice going places on her own.
Client then completed the Well Informed Questionnaire. Client says she felt her goals are now more specific now she has spent some time today breaking them down to smaller goals. This tool helped Client see that she has resources available to her to achieve her goal- Client says she has time as she has 2 months to prepare and complete the smaller goals she needs to achieve her goal of going to university, Client says she has the financial resources as she has been saving from her part time job as a waitress and her parents are financially able to support her also. Client feels she will need further emotional resources such as strength and confidence. This led to discussion on how she will feel when she achieves her goals. Client said she will feel prepared, confidence and happy. Client wrote that she would not lose anything by achieving her goal but that if she doesn’t go to university she will feel she has let herself down and let her fears stop her from achieving a successful future that she has pictured.
Goal Setting
Following this Client completed the Goal setting sheet. On this Client placed the actions she would like to achieve over the next week and placed the date to be completed next to these as the 15/08/16. These actions were to go to the car wash on her own, to write a list of things she needed to buy for university, engage in 3 weekly mediations on confidence and achieving goals and to use a daily affirmation from her affirmation jar she has. I asked Client how confident she felt that she will achieve these goals on a scale of 1-10. Client stated that she was a 10 and described feeling 100% confident she will do the actions she has set for herself. Client completed the table on this sheet to help her look at why and what benefits there are to her goal and who could help her and how.
Client wrote that the benefits of achieving her goal are to secure a successful future, earn a good wage, improve her confidence and happiness, to meet new people and new friendships. At this point Client used plentiful emotional feelings words to describe how she would feel when she achieved her goal. In the section on who she felt could help her achieve her goals and actions she wrote her mum, her sister and her dad and that this help would be both practical and emotional. I prompted further discussion by summarising that she felt her family could help her, this led to Client describing how she felt they could help her and with which of the actions. Client wrote the actions she has achieved so far in achieving this goal, Client wrote that she sat her A level exams, that she has a unconditional offer for the university of her choice and she has been engaging in ongoing weekly wellbeing sessions and learning how to meditate. This was a good exercise as Client was able to see how she has invested in her goal already but did not previously recognise and credit these successes.
Client set her reward as getting her hair cut, Client says she will book the appointment when she has completed her actions for this week.
Monthly Goals
On the monthly goal setting sheet Client put on the remaining actions taken from the Sun Diagram exercise. Client will choose further actions from this monthly goal setting sheet next week and set them for the following week ahead.
I asked Client how she felt the session had been today. Client says she feels that she has begun to achieve her goal of preparing and attending university already just by being able to speak about it in a more manageable and positive way. Client says by choosing manageable actions she feels confident not only in achieving these smaller actions but more confident that she will be able to move away to university. Client says that she liked writing down her goals on the goal setting sheet and chose to take this with her and bring it back to share with me when I see her next week. I complimented on her engagement and achievements she has made in the session and how she was able to independently create her own goals and actions showing great motivation and commitment to positive change.
Case study submitted by student from Luna Holistics Academy – 2016 – Online Counselling Courses
