Process-Oriented Coaching

Here are some profiles of folks who are well-positioned to benefit from my coaching:

• You want to grow your inner capacity for being with this work over the long-term. You may have burned out one too many times, but you can’t imagine living a life where what you’re doing doesn’t align with your values.

• You’ve been accused of using your privilege unconsciously in a way that’s hurting other people and damaging your relationships. You’re starting to suspect there’s something you don’t understand about what you’re doing, and you’re looking for support to learn more about that side of yourself so you can feel better in your relationships

• You’re a leader who either a) would like to take your anti-oppression growth to a new level, or b) is working on anti-oppression efforts where human dynamics are getting in the way.

• You’re in a relationship with someone (friend, colleague, family member, or partner) who’s using their power and privilege unconsciously, and you want support to move forward or end that relationship in a way that stays true to your self-respect and values as a human.

• You find yourself in a relational or group conflict, and you’d like someone to mediate in a way that helps everyone use the conflict to raise their awareness.

• You’re part of an organization that is struggling with harmful power dynamics, and you’d like to advance anti-oppression efforts without making things worse. Or you’d like help navigating complex relationships within the hierarchy of the organization to achieve the results you’re looking for - e.g. coaching up or down in the organization to make your relationships and work more satisfying.

• You’re a strong advocate for social justice, but you’re beginning to question how far analysis and activism can take us. You sense a toxic atmosphere in some movement spaces that makes you question whether the stated mission of the work has any chance of success. Some leaders of the work seem to be unconscious of the fact that they’re abusing power in almost exactly the same way as the people they’re criticizing. You want to continue your social justice work, but you’re looking for new, more sustainable approaches to it.

• You’re an education leader who is navigating the difficult dynamics of leading a school and responding to demands from above. You have strong anti-oppression values, but you feel constrained in actualizing those values.

• You’re an organizer, and you’re looking for support in how to be more effective with your organizing work (e.g. you run identity-based affinity groups, you organize people around a particular cause, you’re a union leader, etc…)

How much do I charge for one-on-one coaching?

$200 per hour for individuals paying out of their own pocket

Why do I charge that much?

In determining my price for coaching, I consider three factors:

1. What it means to you

2. What it means to me

3. My level of experience and expertise

What $200 per session might mean to you

For a lot of people, $200 per session is a lot of money. Nevertheless, this level of service might be worth it to you if we’re a good fit (I offer free 30-minute consultation sessions to help us make that determination).

To ensure it’s worth your money, I…

• work with you in one-on-one sessions for a full hour (not fifty minutes)

• offer tailored packages when it makes sense for your situation

• spend an average of two additional hours outside of our time together reviewing notes from our session, during which time I develop and create the most supportive advice and assignments I can come up with for your situation

• consult with a supervisor regularly to improve my coaching

• check in with you regularly about our progress

• offer you the opportunity to request a full refund on your most recent session if you felt it wasn’t supportive (provided you’re either willing to have an open conversation with me about it or end our work together)

• abide by ethical standards set by the Processwork Institute

• keep up with regular trainings and professional development to support my growth

What $200 per session means to me

There are a few things you might find interesting about what $200 per session means to me. First, if you’ve ever run a business, you know that not all of that money is going to me. After paying for overhead, I’m taking about $150 for my salary, and that’s not hourly. As I said above, I spend approximately three hours of work for any given session, so my hourly rate for individual coaching comes out to about $50 per hour before taxes.

I reserve space in my schedule for 4-6 coaching sessions per week. It’s not my main activity. Charging $200 per session allows me to do the following things:

• provide you with the attention you need

• spend time developing content that I give away for free

• intern at a community clinic

• make my workshops more accessible for everyone

My level of experience and expertise

I believe my level of experience and expertise in coaching, teaching, organizing, and facilitating is commensurate with my fee. I can confidently say that there are very few people out there offering what I’m offering in a coaching experience. That’s not to say you can’t find loads of amazing folks out there, just that I believe my approach is both unique and powerful.