What is the difference between counseling and coaching?
In counseling the focus is often on helping people understand their behavior, facilitating healing, looking at and resolving underlying issues from the past, understanding symptoms, looking for the root causes of behavior, improving mental health and emotional health, helping people make new choices, and looking at and resolving family and relationship issues. Counseling sessions are normally face-to-face. Counseling is regulated within the medical field and can sometimes be covered by medical insurance.

Coaching normally focuses on the client’s growth and forward movement in the present and future, helps people achieve personal and professional goals, facilitates learning, growth and transformation, and avoids asking “why”. The client is held as the expert in their life who has the answers. The coach helps draw out the answers by asking powerful questions, shining the light on possibilities, helping to generate insightful discovery and conscious choice, and providing support in those choices. Coaching is frequently conducted via the telephone. Professional standards, code of ethics, and coaching accreditation are managed through the International Coaching Federation.

Counseling and coaching are very compatible and many people choose to do both.

How do I get started?

If you are interested please contact me via phone at 360-455-

1177 or email at  to schedule a free

confidential consultation where I can answer your questions and we can decide if counseling or coaching is the right path for you.

How often do we have sessions? 
We can be flexible to best meet your schedule. Typically counseling sessions are 50 minutes in length and we meet once a week. Specialized sessions such as intake and assessments may run 90 minutes or longer.

Coaching clients typically have 3 to 4 sessions per month, usually at 30 to 40 minutes in length. Initial coaching client inventory sessions may run 90 minutes or longer.

We can also set up coaching support in between sessions via email if you wish to share progress or obstacles, pass along information, or celebrate a success.

How long will I work with you? 
It is difficult to put a time frame on counseling because it is very dependent on the issues you wish to work on. Our time working together can last from just a few months to up to 12-18 months or more.

Coaching clients typically begin with a 3-month commitment and stay an average of 12-18 months, some longer.

I use practical approaches that often lead to significant changes and growth in a relatively short period of time.

What are your rates? 
Please get in touch with me and we will determine a rate schedule that honors both of us. I do offer sliding scale fees. I also offer a free confidential consultation to answer any questions you may have. I accept VISA and MasterCard.

Why did you name your business “Passageways”?
Webster’s definition of “passage” includes: “movement from one place to another, change or progress from one process or condition to another; transition, a journey, a road or path, and what takes place between persons.” I feel this helps describe what takes place in both counseling and coaching!