Coaching with Heather

Hi, my name is Heather Shaughnessy-Cato. I am especially excited to work with fellow sensitives.

I too identify as sensitive – throughout my life I have felt the pain of the world and those around me deeply. It has taken time to discover and apply approaches that have helped me to learn to titrate how much I “take in,” to hold myself and my experiences with more awareness and compassion, and to discover what I truly need with this sensitivity superpower to flourish.

I welcome the opportunity to meet you, to learn about your vision and wishes for yourself, and to together explore a path forward to align your experience with what matters most to you.

I invite you to schedule a 30-minute consultation to meet each other and discuss the possibility of working together.

Schedule a free 30-minute consultation

My approach

Welcome. Working one-on-one with clients is among my favorite things to do.

I tend to delight in getting to know you – who you are, what matters to you, the ins and outs that brought you to coaching. I also delight in being your thought-partner and sounding board -helping you see and hear yourself more clearly and with more compassion, working with you to identify new insights and ideas, and helping you to (re)connect with internal and external resources to make the changes you seek.

We have the option of engaging in talk-based coaching and/or integrating mind-body practices (yoga, self-compassion, mindfulness) into our sessions. For those interested in creative practices, we can draw from design-thinking to think more expansively and creatively.

My overall goal is to help you to feel more at home and empowered in your life.

Well-being coaching is an opportunity to enhance your well-being in one or more area of life.

While we typically think of health and wellness as relating to the physical body, it actually encompasses 8 areas:

Physical
Intellectual
Emotional
Spiritual
Occupational
Social
Financial
Environmental

In assessing your current level of well-being, you might consider some of the following:

Physical well-being: How is your physical health – including movement or exercise, nutrition, and sleep and rest? What routines help to support you feeling your best?
Intellectual well-being: How satisfied with your current level of intellectual engagement, creative endeavors, opportunities to expand your thinking, engage with new perspectives, or learn new skills?
Emotional well-being: How satisfied are you with your ability to manage stress? What practices do you engage in to deepen self-awareness and self-compassion, or to connect with optimism, meaning, flourishing, and joy?
Occupational well-being: How satisfied are you with your work roles – those that are paid, and unpaid? How do you define meaningful and sustainable work? What goals do you have for professional growth, to embark on new projects or roles, or to connect with purpose and fulfillment?
Social well-being: How are you feeling about your connections with others? How do you experience your community? In what ways are you giving and receiving care and support from others?
Spiritual well-being: How satisfied are you with the ways you connect with the values, beliefs, and rituals that matter most to you? How do you explore life’s big questions and/or connect with awe or wonder?

With these questions in mind, where would you like to focus to enhance your well-being and satisfaction with your life?

Setting goals, taking action to make progress toward those goals, learning what works well for you and how to navigate challenges, and having support along the way is the heart of the coaching process.

The coaching process

Working together through coaching provides an opportunity to:

Learn more about what’s working well for you, where you are stuck, and consider new approaches to meet challenges with compassion and insight.
Reflect on and articulate your priorities, values, and goals.
Take incremental steps toward your goals.
Seek clarity through discussion and reflection, and/or journaling and visual tools.
Find greater alignment with your priorities in your daily life.
Approach change as a kind experiment, and with a growth mindset (learning as we go) rather than perfectionism or “getting it right.”
Be with your thoughts, feelings and experiences with more awareness, compassion, and curiosity.
Make shifts in beliefs and behaviors.
Elevate your self-care with a focus on what is truly replenishing for you.

The way we work together in coaching includes:

Supported dialogue and discussion on the topics of your choice related to your goals and enhancing your well-being.
Creative or contemplative activities to help surface and express your values, priorities, and goals; and to explore your experiences with new insight.
Support in identifying next steps between sessions: such as practical ways to explore concepts, implement a new idea, or adopt a new behavior.
Discussion and support to reflect on what’s working well for you, and to understand and address barriers to change and progress.
Follow up emails after sessions, when appropriate, with relevant resources we discussed (with links to meditations, articles, books, podcasts, etc).

Option: Integrate mind-body and creative practices into sessions

Possibilities include:

Engaging in a self-compassion exercise in session. Self-compassion can be helpful when you would like to cultivate self-kindness, manage stress, or develop your own practices for appreciation and gratitude.
Integrating mindfulness into our sessions– such as beginning and ending with a brief mindfulness practice, threading mindful awareness through the coaching process for greater clarity, and exploring practical ways to bring mindfulness into everyday life.
Incorporating yoga into our sessions – beginning with centering movement, or exploring themes that we are working on in coaching in an embodied way. We can also explore themes from yogic and contemplative philosophy into the coaching process, considering how to apply ancient wisdom in our modern lives.
Exploring design-thinking tools to surface new insights, think in new ways, or to move into action with experimental and low-risk ways.

Pricing

Standard rates:
$125 per session

Sliding scale rates:
Beginning at $65 per session

Sliding scale rates are available to address income and resource inequality, and are available to anyone who can benefit.

Frequently asked questions

How many sessions are recommended? I recommend beginning with 5 sessions to make meaningful progress toward your goals. We can continue to work together as long as you wish, in support of your goals.

How do I get started? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation to explore the possibility of working together, or send me a note (both options are below). In the consultation we will discuss what is bringing you to coaching, your goals, and how I may be of service.

Is this therapy? No, this is not therapy. As a coach, I do not and cannot diagnose conditions, prescribe treatments, or provide psychological therapeutic interventions. However, I will empower you to recognize your strengths, insights, and abilities to navigate life’s challenges and to make the changes you seek. Coaching services are not to be used in place of therapy, counseling, or mental health support.

Our focus in coaching will be on the present and making progress toward your vision for the future. I will help you to assess your overall well-being, set goals, and then support you to make incremental steps toward those goals. This is a link to health & wellness coaching scope of practice.

What is the difference between private instruction and coaching?

Private instruction primarily focuses learning more about self-compassion, mindfulness, or yoga.

Coaching offers support to make changes to enhance your well-being.

I am happy to talk with you about which service might meet your needs, and/or to offer a package with both, based on your interests.

be easy.
take your time.
you are coming
home.
to yourself.

-the becoming | wing

-Nayyirah Waheed