Relationship Coaching
Life is all about relationships. Everything that we do as Human Beings revolves around our relationships with each other. And we want our relationships to be harmonious, balanced and fulfilling.

We are not born knowing how to create healthy, balanced relationships. The relationship skills we first learn come from our parents or primary care-givers, either directly or by observation. And our models for those skills are likely to vary widely between healthy and unhealthy.

Our relationships with each other, especially personal or intimate relationships, require an ability to be open, honest and vulnerable. We haven’t always had a safe place to learn how to be that honest and vulnerable.

After some (or many) challenging relationship experiences, our natural inclination to protect ourselves builds up and we might find ourselves shrinking back into any safe place we can find. We create a shell that protects us from the pain, but also keeps us from experiencing the joy.

There are people who spend their entire lives in that small shell, without ever realizing it. They develop techniques and strategies to cope, but they never learn how to change or let go of relationships that are unhealthy. They never learn how to grow from the pain, and they never realize they can actually create the relationships they want. Many others know they want something different in their relationships, but don’t know what that is or how to find it.

The good news is that healthy relationship skills can be learned, and unhealthy relationship patterns can be changed. Supporting clients to develop and fine-tune their skills in order to create balanced and fulfilling relationships is the role of a Relationship Coach.

What You Need to Know To Be a Relationship Coach
Relationship Coaching is a unique blend of coaching, teaching and mentoring.

A Relationship Coach works with his/her clients to create compelling visions for each of their relationships. The Coach and client work together to define strategies for letting go of toxic relationships, transforming other relationships, and proactively co-creating healthy new relationships.

A Relationship Coach supports his/her clients in achieving their relationship goals by developing healthy relationship skills such as boundaries, assertiveness, and honest communication. The Coach teaches clients other skills such as listening on multiple levels, asking powerful questions, and how to be fully present with another person. When a client is empowered with these skills, they gain the confidence to make healthy, conscious relationship decisions.

Relationship Coaches also share with their clients the wisdom they have gained from their own relationship experiences so that the client is able to side-step some of the pain and aggravation that often accompanies the learning process.

Relationship Coaches support their clients to find the proper balance between their own needs and some else’s needs, in order to achieve a satisfying and fulfilling relationship with that person. So a successful Relationship Coach needs to have a practical understanding of how to achieve that balance in his/her own life.

Relationship Coaches create a safe place for their
clients to be honest and vulnerable. They empower
clients to explore relationship patterns and expectations objectively and with self-acceptance. Relationship Coaches must be solidly on their own path of creating healthy relationships and be willing to take the same risks to be open, honest and vulnerable as they are asking of their clients.

Coaches who choose relationships as a specialty have worked very hard at developing their own relationship skills and are very passionate about supporting their clients to create healthy, vibrant relationships in every area of their lives.

The Market for Relationship Coaching
The market for Relationship Coaching is wide open. Relationship challenges are everywhere.

As with any other coaching specialty, the cornerstone of successful marketing is defining a very narrow, specific target market, and maximizing marketing efforts by successfully leveraging them.

There are many potential specialties within Relationship Coaching, and each Relationship Coach can develop a target market as unique as they are. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Relationship readiness and dating for Singles.
• Internet dating for Singles.
• Couples: pre-marriage; marriage enhancement; problem prevention.
• Gay/Lesbian relationships, as singles or as couples.
• Divorce recovery and adjustment.
• Children of divorce.
• Parent/Child relationships.
• Extended family relationships.
• Age-related markets such as over 50, Gen-X, or teens.
• Life Partners who are also business partners.
• Professional relationships in the workplace.

There are also a wide variety of ways to leverage your marketing and generate revenue with Relationship Coaching:

• Classes, Seminars or Workshops; in person, on the phone, or online
• Group Coaching
• Individual Coaching
• Books, e-Books, tapes, CD’s, or other intellectual property

There is great joy and satisfaction in being a Relationship Coach. The skills and confidence our clients develop serve them well and last them a lifetime.