Life Map Program: what to expect
Our Life Map Coaching Sessions will be online, one hour each, weekly or bi-monthly, beginning with an in-depth Intake. The 2-3 Intake sessions are intended to get to know you, your interests, values, and how you work best, and also for you to grow in your own self-awareness. The focus areas will be examined in terms of Executive Thinking, Independent Living Skills, Communication (verbal & non-verbal), Connections with Others, and Self-Advocacy. Once your goals are identified and prioritized, you and your Life Map Guide will target two or three goals to work on in your Life Coaching Sessions. The number of sessions best for you will be discussed with your Guide at the end of Intake.
Our coaching sessions will begin with a check-in, a grounding or mindfulness exercise, and a review of the goal(s), and the skills and strategies being worked on. Each of the broad goal areas listed above is divided into sub-goals, some of which the Voyager will decide to tackle. For example, a sub-goal in the category of Independent Living Skills might be physical exercise three times/week, and in the category of Executive Thinking, sub-goals might be organization and time-management skills. Research and/or actions will be assigned to each.
Using the examples above, the Voyager might research the type of exercise that they want to do, and where and how often they do it, and then report back on their follow-through. In the organizational/time-management sub-goals category, the Voyager might build a weekly routine by breaking down and prioritizing their week’s tasks and establishing a phone calendar with alarms and reminders.
Our coaching is based upon a SMART goal model, which we define as:
S = Specific, defining goals concretely
M = Motivated by your values
A = Adaptive, is it likely to improve your life?
R = Realistic, defining goals that are achievable
T = Time-framed
Working with SMART goals will help define your goal(s) specifically, and when, and how long you will work on a particular goal each week.
Note: Our Life Map Guides are trained as life coaches. They are not mental health professionals. If it becomes apparent that mental health counselling is needed, your Guide will recommend that their Voyager consult a mental health practitioner. The Life Coaching can be moved to “On Hold”, or “Discontinued” status, pending the engagement of a mental health provider. In many cases, life coaching can continue while their Voyager is also undergoing mental health therapy.