Coaching for Anxiety
Whatever you want out of life, let me help you to get it.
INTRODUCTION
The Relationship Between Coaching and Therapy
I love to use analogies. Let me offer you one here. Imagine that you have a stone in your shoe.
The Therapeutic Approach
As a therapist I will help you to remove the stone. Our goal will be to take away the pain or discomfort as quickly as possible.
If it’s relevant, I will help you to understand how the stone got there in the first place. That way you can stop it from happening again. This gives many people what they need.
The Coaching Approach
As a coach, I will take a slightly different approach. Of course, the first step will be to get the stone out of your shoe. Reducing discomfort is always our number 1 priority.
I will also help you to consider whether these are the best shoes for you. Trainers can be great footwear but are not appropriate if you are going clubbing, want to climb mountains, or look great in a business suit.
Then it’s time to design shoes that are unique to you. Maybe more than 1 pair. Your new shoes will be perfect in every way: the way they fit, the way they look and their suitability to the task.
With this approach we go way further. We don’t just look at your shoes, we will look at your life.
There is so much more when you get past the point of zero discomfort. Our aim is for you to be living a great life and the reason for this is very simple.
When you feel fulfilled, when you feel happy at a deep level, you starve anxiety of its oxygen and it will not return.
Why Choose One Approach When You Can Have Both?
Most therapists are not experienced coaches. Most coaches are not qualified and experienced therapists. I am both.
Why is That Important?
I don’t know if it’s the same for you, but at my doctors they have introduced a strict 1 condition per appointment policy.
You can talk to the doctor about your bad back or your insomnia, but not both. What if they are related?
I’m guessing that your life is complex. When life is that way, anxiety doesn’t usually exist in isolation. Whether we work together for a short period of time or you choose a longer coaching relationship, we will focus on more than your anxiety. We will focus on your life.
Therapeutic Coaching Packages
It’s time for another analogy. Sorry, I did warn you that I tend to use a lot of them!
When you buy new clothes there are three options:
When we work together there are no off the shelf solutions. I offer 3 levels of support: The Tailored Programme, Tailored Plus and Therapeutic Coaching.
But that is just the beginning. Life is not about a lack of anxiety there is so much more than that.
Imagine a scale that goes from -10 through 0 to +10. A simplified version might look something like this:
-10 Extreme anxiety. Daily and debilitating panic attacks. Inability to function in a normal way.
-5 Strong feelings of anxiety and regular anxious thoughts, regular panic attacks
-2 General sense that something bad is going to happen. Frequent worrying, knots in stomach. Inability to relax. Difficulty in sleeping. Never really feeling happy or alive.
0 Neutral
+2 Frequent flashes of optimism. Feeling more awake more of the time. Starting to feel that life is good.
+5 Feeling good most of the time. Bouncing back quickly from set backs. Finding it easy to smile.
+10 Feeling excited by life. Feeling optimistic, joyful and alive. Almost bouncing off the walls with contagious energy.
Over the last 25 years there has been a huge shift in the world of psychology. It’s called Positive Psychology and is defined as “the scientific study of what makes life most worth living.”
Living a happy, balanced and fulfilling life is the real key to overcoming anxiety.
When you’re living life with a purpose, when you know what your most important values are, when you’re living a life that fulfils you something magical happens. You feel happy and content.
Sure, there are still frustrations and challenges, they are part of life, but they don’t throw you off track. They don’t stop you from feeling happy.
When we work together in this way we don’t stop when the panic attacks stop. That’s when we start. That’s when we start to help you to build the life that you really want.
Professional Fees
With all packages, sessions can be taken in person or by video call.
Tailored Programme
Most sessions will include an element of hypnotherapy and I will give you some very powerful recordings to help to accelerate your progress.
In order to ensure a lasting solution most programmes will last between 3 and 6 sessions. This is assuming moderate to strong anxiety. Extreme symptoms may take longer to deal with. We will discuss expectations and timescales at every step of the way.
Fees are £97 per session.
Tailored Plus
Fees are £127 per session.
Therapeutic Coaching
This is where therapy and life-coaching meet.
Once we have reduced whatever symptoms you have been experiencing, we ask the question “what do you want out of life, what will make you really happy?” and we set out to make that a reality.
By-the-way, it’s OK if you don’t know the answer to that question, many people don’t. I can help you to understand yourself better than you ever have before. I can help you to find the answers to those questions.
Although we can tailor the specifics to what works for you, it is most common for us to meet twice a month.
And while you are not tied into any contracts, we will probably work together over a period of about 6 months.
The initial session will last up to 2 hours. After that each, session will be approximately 1 hour but we will not be watching the clock. If you need an extra 20 minutes for us to finish our conversation, I will make time for you.
Although our aim is for me to give you the tools to live a great life without needing me, I will offer support between sessions if you need it. Most people find this most useful at the start of our time together.
Fees are £147 per session.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. I would always have a slight preference for us to meet in person in my dedicated therapy room in S80, North Nottinghamshire.
In reality, I work with as many, if not more, people remotely as I do in person. My preferred video platform is Zoom, but am happy to use Teams as an alternative.
I haven’t found that Facetime, WhatsApp, or Messenger to be as useful for our purposes.
Requirement for working on-line
- There are a couple of things that we need to think of if we are working on-line.
- You need to have a fast and reliable internet connection
- You need to be able to create an environment that meets the following criteria:
* You must be physically comfortable in a chair that supports your back and preferably your neck as well.
* It must be a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed
* I need to be able to see your face at all times and the device should be on a fixed surface and not hand-held - In the very unlikely event that we lose the internet connection at a critical time you must provide me with a phone number where I can contact you. My professional body and insurance also insist that you provide an emergency contact number of someone of somebody who I could ask to check on you if necessary
If you think that you may be ready to work with me the best way is by telephone. We need to start our conversation somewhere.
My number is 07905 495202. If I’m not available, then leave me a message and a convenient time to call you back and I’ll get back to you.
If your enquiry is more general, then feel free to email me at tony@tonyleake.com
People are not machines and neither I, nor any other coach/therapist, can guarantee any particular outcome.
What I can promise is that I will work with you and do everything that I possibly can to help you to achieve what you want.
Over the last 10 years I have found that I am able to help most people who are struggling with anxiety to significantly reduce their symptoms. We will always have a conversation before you commit to anything. If I don’t think I can help you then I will tell you this from the start.
I have the qualifications, the insurance, professional body membership and experience to support my work.
- Diploma in Clinical Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy. Yorkshire Hypnotherapy Training – the course is recognised and certified under the National Occupational Standards.
- Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). Pegasus NLP – full length, full syllabus NLP training.
- Diploma in advanced stress management. College of Integrated Therapies – Distinction.
- Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Master Practitioner.
- Emotional Transformation Practitioner.
I am committed to my ongoing professional development. I regularly undertake additional training to increase my skills and knowledge.
I am a member of and regulated by the General Hypnotherapy Register.
I hold professional indemnity and public liability insurance underwritten by Zurich insurance.
I have a little phrase that I use a lot: Anxiety doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t matter if you are the janitor or the chairman of the board you are just as likely to be affected.” I believe that to be true and I have worked with people from every part of that spectrum.
No. However, starting out with the intention that you will try it and see how it works will not get you the results that you want.
When we first talk I will give you an estimation of how many sessions I think that we may need together.
Start with the intention that you are committing to the process and you will get the most from it, but to answer the question you are free to withdraw from therapy or coaching if you feel it’s the best course of action for you.
I try keep to 2 client sessions per day and 3 as a maximum.
Many other therapists will routinely work with five people a day and I’ve even come across some who will who are very proud of the fact when they work with eight people in the day. I believe that I can only give you the personal attention that you deserve by limiting the number of people who I work with at any given time.
In a very private and dedicated room in my home which is situated in a quiet cul-de-sac in North Nottinghamshire.