What We Do Is Unique -
While many therapists, counselors and professional coaches offer different types of support, nowhere else will you find the unique and effective mix of interventions available from Way Beyond Counseling & Coaching.
Our Chief Therapist, Mr. Larry Westenberg, is an expert in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) having practiced and studied its application to counseling and coaching since 1991. While some therapists have studied different techniques available from NLP, Mr. Westenberg's extensive and continuous study of this field has taught him to develop his own methods and techniques that are specifically customized for each individual to maximize their effectiveness.
Standard Therapy Techniques -
In standard counseling, the therapist often helps a patient uncover underlying causes of problems in the hope that this insight as to why they are screwed-up will help them to change and "heal" their "illness." This is the model that calls the patient a "patient," rather than a client or fellow human being. The patient is "sick," and the therapist helps them to "get well." This is one of the reasons that medication has been an accepted form of treatment for many problems that are not actually related to chemical imbalances.
In more recent times, therapy often aims to help a person uncover their options, and helps them to choose a course of action. IF the person takes the chosen course of action, sometimes change occurs. Ordinary counseling does not take into account how difficult it is for people to change when the change will impact their family, their work and the larger whole of their life. Regular counseling also offers no additional resources or skills for facilitating change, assuming that if the client is "motivated," they will make the change happen themselves "when they are ready." This is a cop-out! It is also a reason for the therapist to keep recommending more and more and more sessions. When the patient does not do what the therapist recommends, the therapist quickly labels the patient as "resistive." (This ALSO means you will need more sessions.) While therapists claim that they do not influence their patients, they often provide tremendous pressure for patients to change in a way the THERAPIST thinks is the best course of action. Often the therapist is completely unaware of the things they are doing to pressure and influence the patient to do what they want them to do, and will deny using any kind of "influence" on their patient. To the trained observer, a multitude of influence techniques are present, despite the therapist not being aware of them.
In standard coaching, the coach helps an individual set goals for different domains of their life, and asks the client how they can improve by "one notch" in different areas of their life. The client then develops a plan to make "small steps" to achieve their goals. Often in coaching, a simple combination of nagging and having a person pay for the encouragement results in change. While this is a bit of an oversimplification, it is not that far from the truth! Very often coaching is effective in getting people (not patients!) to change, often because every meeting with the coach costs the person money. This greatly increases the person's motivation to make the change! It also is a focus on making specific changes that the person has chosen, and thus the plan has come from the person - not the coach. The coach simply questions the person about what change they want to make, and then reminds them of their own prescribed plan and asks them if they are taking the appropriate steps. This can be a very effective way of helping people change.
How What We Do Is Different -
At Way Beyond Counseling & Coaching, we help you to identify and clarify the genuine values that are behind ALL of your goals and accomplishments. We also uncover conflicting values, and utilize advanced NLP techniques to resolve your internal conflicts. An amazing amount of energy is freed up and available when these internally conflicting values are suddenly aligned into a happily negotiated synergy. We then strategically expand your awareness of these values so that you can experience how your work, your family life and your goals all stem from your beliefs and values. This makes for very clear directions of change and growth - with a great deal of accompanying motivation! We then work with you to develop a customized system that will help you enact the changes you are seeking in your life while respecting other people and the various domains and demands of your larger, whole life process. Additionally, we add in a "warning system" so that when you make choices that violate your values, you are much more aware of it. (This allows you to be on a diet and occasionally eat ice cream, without destroying your goal of weight loss - or take a day off from exercising without giving up on your health goals!)
This process can be applied to a multitude of areas, including career development, weight-loss, learning goals, relationships, changing moods and thinking patterns, enhancing abilities and accessing both internal and external resources more effectively - all types of different desired changes and accomplishments. Additionally we help you to build and develop tremendous internal resources so that when challenges arise, you will automatically apply your new resources to overcome those challenges, change them, or even enjoy them!
NLP has been utilized to help athletes achieve peak performance, help business and sales people accomplish incredible improvement in their productivity and accuracy, help politicians and public speakers improve their impact and help individuals make enormous personal changes that have been proven to last a lifetime - not just "get them out of a slump." This powerful technology is often ridiculed and designated "ineffective" - because quite frankly, it is COMPLICATED! It is not something you can learn from a book, or "get" in an introductory class or lecture. It takes a LOT of time to learn, practice and develop the large collection of skills that EFFECTIVE NLP interventions require. Most therapists believe they already have all the skills they need, and are not willing to invest the time and energy it takes to truly master how to apply NLP techniques. Mr. Westenberg has put in this time and practice in a variety of different therapeutic/clinical and business settings, and is now available to work with individuals who are serious about improving the quality of their lives.
Call 630-663-8914 for additional information, or to schedule a session.
Find out how easy and enjoyable it can be to change your life!
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