I know that the title Spiritual Life Coach sounds appealing and inviting for some people, but it seems like BS or woo-woo stuff for others. And, to be honest, a while ago, I would say it sounded like BS, too.
That is the reason I am sharing more about my background and why I feel this title better aligns with my experience as a psychotherapist, life coach and intuitive healer.
EDUCATION AND CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
From my “formal” background,
I have a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in California, now Sofia University- I have clinical experience as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT, also in California, with expertise in anxiety, depression, grief, complex trauma, child sexual abuse, child therapy and parent coaching,
- And I am also a certified Life Coach.
WHAT DOES IT BRING TO MY CLIENTS?
These experiences shaped my ability to understand my clients and their behaviors, motivations and fears in deeper ways. It gave me the lens to observe how aspects like culture, family, traumas, and stage of life are affecting them and their goals. I can see what is blocking them from what they want and what strengths they can use to move through those blocks.
But the most important thing I learned as a therapist is that feeling safe, heard, seen and accepted is what helps clients make more progress towards what they want.
And that’s something I became very good at.
FROM THERAPIST TO SPIRITUAL LIFE COACH
I have to say that I enjoyed being a therapist. And, by being a therapist, I developed essential skills and learned to see and connect with clients deeply. However, I felt limited in having to focus on clinical issues.
And as a life coach, I could use those skills to support clients towards broader, juicier and more exciting goals, which feel more aligned with me and my life. That is because my journey has a lot to do with expansion and personal reinventions, and this is how I feel I serve others better.
LIFE EXPERIENCES THAT HAVE SHAPED MY WORK
When clients go through a significant transformation, more than empathizing as a witness, I understand and connect with them on an experiential level because I have reinvented myself more than once.
I Have changed careers, - I Have moved to a different country and reinvented myself in a different culture,
- I went through the pain of an unexpected divorce when it felt like the world turned upside down
- I had to overcome depression and suicidal thoughts and,
- I had to overcome chronic fatigue, workaholism and burnout
And, on the fun and adventurous side of these experiences, but still scary:
- I embarked on a sabbatical and solo backpacking trip for several months in my mid-thirties.
This sabbatical was a profound, courageous and conscious process of embarking on the unknown, uncertainty and letting go of many beliefs, fears and pressures I used to put on myself.
It was very liberating to feel “out of the system.” And there, I discovered there is more to life than what we are taught to believe.
HOW THOSE LIFE EXPERIENCES SHAPED ME
By reinventing myself:
- I’ve learned to build the courage to let go of what feels familiar and secure to move into what is unknown and uncertain.
- I’ve learned to let go of what I used to think and who I used to be, so I could find a better version of myself, my relationships and life.
- I’ve learned to start over and trust while I was on a rollercoaster of emotions and self-doubt, afraid that things would not turn out ok.
Those lessons are not for the faint-hearted! But they have helped me shape my work practice and how I am mindful of my client’s experiences.
WHAT ABOUT THE THE SPIRITUAL PART?
Those experiences brought me into dark nights of the soul, death-rebirth processes and a lot of shadow work. Sometimes, all at once. They also showed me how life can be full of possibilities and how “bad things” can be the stepstone to something greater than I could imagine before.
And, in each experience, I became more conscious and aware of the pain and power of these rebirths and reinventions. Not only because I studied psychology but because I was deepening my presence in the process. And also deepened my trust and connection with Spirit and my intuition, which guided me in the most challenging times.
HOW DO I BRING SPIRITUALITY INTO YOUR COACHING?
In my work, the Spiritual aspect has less to do with religion or a particular line of spirituality and more with a sense of trust and inner knowing:
- It is about helping my clients to reconnect with themselves, their life force and their own inner guidance.
- It is about igniting inspiration, excitement and actions with alignment and integrity with their soul-calling.
- It is about creating more beauty, well-being, abundance and nurturing and enriching relationships.
- It is about living more from a place of love, connection and expansion.
DO YOU RESONATE WITH IT?
If that resonates with you and you want support to:
- Move through big changes,
- Achieve meaningful goals in alignment with your inner guidance
- Or to live with more purpose, lightness and nurturing relationships.
I am Iria Sebastiao, Spiritual Life Coach & Catalyst for Personal Change towards a life with more love, lightness, and nurturing relationships.
Meanwhile, be kind to yourself!
