Elements of Support

Do you know your Individualized Plan of Care? Now, this "individualized plan of care or I.P.C." is a tool used by many therapists throughout the world. Now I know I'm not a therapist any longer, but I’ve definitely put together many of these in my lifetime and I've noticed how many similarities this tool has in common with the process of coaching. I'm sure you may already have an unwritten plan of care; understanding those wonderful things that nurture you. Whether it’s a warm bath, seated meditation, walk on the beach, a call from a close friend, unstoppable laughter. We all have things that nurture us, keep us going strong, and helps to build us up. However, at times when we get stressed, it becomes all too often that the very components of our I.P.C. that have been put in place for such a time, gets dropped; lost in the midst of the movement of the current chaos of your life.
A major focus of the coaching process is about identifying the current supports in your life and creating new ones as you continue to find new paths to traverse upon. As a coach, my main focus is on supporting the coachee and providing the space for them to identify supports in their lives so they can work their I.P.C. outside of the session as well. Identifying and using these supports is how the core of a person, once recognized, is allowed to grow. When you understand your core beliefs and values, you must move to the next step of finding out how to nurture and support them. This takes a process of looking at the who, what, where and how to get the support you need for each step along the way.
I invite you to consider these few questions regarding your own I.P.C.:
1) If you do have a plan, are you following it?
2) If you don’t, ask yourself how you can go about starting to create it?
3) Does the support you have right now help your core to grow or does it inhibit it? (It’s important to check the quality of your support as well).