She Dreams Of Helping Others to Find Their Dreams

by Deborah Kades from Madison Business First,

Volume 4, Issue 5Hava Kohl-Riggs has realized her dream by helping other people realize theirs.

The Madison psychotherapist says she never felt totally comfortable with therapy and knew she had found her calling when she learned of pesonal coaching.

"As a coach, I believe in the possibility of people's dreams," Kohl-Riggs says.

Kohl-Riggs has worked in Madison for 25 years after earing a master's degree in social work from UW-Madison. While she still practices at 4510 Regent St., the focus o fher work is shifting from therapy to coaching.

It's been a rapid transformation. She began training as a coach in May 1999 and started coaching in November. She picked up eight clients in her first three weeks and continues to add more weekly.

Kohl-Riggs says that coaching fits well with her personal system of beliefs.

"I always knew I'd work when I was growing up. At the very least, I wanted to be independent. And if I was goin to spend that big a chunk of my life doing something, it would have to be fulfilling."

Those feelings, Kohl-Riggs says, comprise a big piece of what she brings to her coaching.

"When we have something that really juices us up, I believe that has to do with our purpose, our calling. We owe it to ourselves and to our community to follow that call."

A lot of work Kohl-Riggs does is as simple and complicated as helping them find thier dreams, identify the obstacle and make those dreams reality.

People tend to perceive the same kinds of barriers to pursing their dreams, she says. "The top layer is always about finances, but that's not what its really aobut. There's always shame about not being deserving enough or a basic mistrust of ourselves."

The coach's job is to help people find ways to get past those barriers. Having support is a key factor.

"I help them build some system of support, a network of friends, family, community and spirituality."

And the coach forms an important part of that support network, she says.

"Where do you get the opportunity to have someone who's as interested as you in your dreams? It's a special kind of support system that's available."

Coaching is different from phsychotheraphy, she stresses. While psychotherapy tens to assume there is some problem to be solved, coaching involves no assumption that the person has done anything wrong.

And while psychotherapists often prove the clint's past, coaching is more future-focused, she says.

The typical coaching session is a half hour. "The typical model is three sessions permonth, often by phone," says Kohl-Riggs, who has a couple clients as far away as California.

Before a session, clients are asked to fill out a prep form that will help the coach focus on the client's needs. The form asks about recent accomplishments, loose ends, challenges that lay ahead and what the client would like from the coach that day.

Clients are encouraged to update the coah in between sessions with e-mail or voice mail messages. "I'm alwayus there for them," Kohl-Riggs says. "The in between contact is what makes the difference."

Who comes looking for coaching? "All kinds of people," Kohl-Riggs says. "I have a book editor, a physician, a stock broker, a housewife and a retired person."