What is coaching

What is Coaching – Neuro Directions

Coaching and mentoring are terms used interchangeably to describe personal development support. They both require skilful questioning, drawing on different tools, techniques, and approaches to help people navigate their personal, educational, or professional lives. It’s a process that can support people to gain additional clarity and perspectives that can help them overcome any difficulties they may be experiencing. Coaching and mentoring services can be for individuals, groups, or organisations. Both coaching and mentoring are a partnership between the coach and coachee. Although widely used together, coaching and mentoring are distinct practices that work in complementary but different ways to achieve the positive transformations described below.

What is Coaching?

Coaching unlocks a person’s potential and improves overall well-being and life satisfaction. Combined with a non-biased and non-judgmental approach, a coach will use their skills to support you in gaining more self-awareness and help you understand certain behaviours or thought patterns that may need to change to achieve the desired results. The coachee will make the changes required, supported by the coach through regular sessions, gentle accountability, and guidance. With its focus on forward progression, unlocking potential, and achieving goals, it’s no surprise that many people call coaching life-changing. A coach will use a combination of techniques, including skilful questioning, active listening, observation, and reflecting; this ensures you are supported in unlocking barriers and making the desired progress in any area of your life.

What is Mentoring?

Like coaching, mentoring is about helping people to improve their well-being and life satisfaction. Indeed, mentors draw on many of the same skills, techniques, and approaches used in coaching. The mentor understands the known obstacles individuals with different neuro-types commonly face; therefore, they can offer informed, confidential, and objective advice based on their expert knowledge of what works. Mentoring can be more instructive than coaching because you will be taught new skills to achieve your goals.

How it works

What you can expect

At Neuro Directions, we use a blend of coaching and mentoring to support our clients. We come from different backgrounds, and each has a unique set of skills and experiences which inform practice. As a team, we are passionate about being the best we can be for the people we support. We participate in continuing professional development and supervision to keep our skills and knowledge current.

The coaches and mentors

Autism and ADHD coaches require specific skills and experience. All our coaches and mentors are highly skilled and come from a wide range of professional backgrounds, which is great because, as a collective, we share ideas, which also means that you can find the right coach for you.  Some of our coaches and mentors are themselves a neuro-minority, and some aren’t. At Neuro Directions, we feel it is essential that all our coaches and mentors have personal or extensive professional experience with neuro-differences and their associated challenges and opportunities. They all receive regular supervision and training and have the expertise and knowledge to adapt coaching models and techniques to suit your needs. We love supporting people of all genders and neuro-types working to realise their passions and achieve their short and long-term goals.

How much does it cost?

Each coach’s rates will vary, but typically individual coaching sessions range between £120 and £240 per 60 minutes. Some coaches and mentors offer slots at a reduced cost for those on a low income so please don’t be put off if you can’t afford the above rates. Book a discovery call and we can discuss your options.

You may be entitled to apply for a grant that can either pay for the coaching in full or contribute towards the costs via the UK government access to work scheme.