I’ve done therapy before.
Heck, I am a psychologist. I know the theories—mood, personality, development, behavior.
My longest stint of therapy lasted about three years, a long time ago. It was what I needed then. My goals were “accomplished.” But still, I remember walking away with a feeling: there has to be more.
So, I journaled.
I opened up to friends—little snippets of my life, my dreams, my goals.
I consulted with colleagues.
I even received mentoring, often without realizing it, during conversations that carried more weight than I acknowledged at the time.
And yet… something remained incomplete.
I couldn’t quite go to family. While they love me, they were ready with advice, cautionary tales, reflections from their own lives—but not always the space or neutrality I needed.
Fast forward.
I enrolled in a coaching certification program after leaving my last job—a place that was psychologically unsafe, chaotic, and soul-crushing. I told myself, I better figure out what the heck I’m going to do with the rest of my life before retirement. I knew another mental health role, whether as a leader or a direct care provider, wasn’t the answer. Coaching felt like a natural fit. As a psychologist, I already had transferable skills, and yet, I knew I had so much to unlearn and relearn.
As part of the program, we were assigned peer coaches—both in individual and group formats. And that’s when it hit me: the incompleteness I’d felt in therapy, mentoring, and conversations from years past—it was because I had never experienced coaching.
In coaching, I wasn’t diagnosed.
There were no treatment plans.
No case conceptualizations.
No one trying to “figure me out.”
Just questions.
Powerful questions. Simple ones.
Questions that pointed directly to what I had buried or been afraid to name.
Through all the surfacing, rooting out, and excavating—assumptions, limiting beliefs, Gremlins, old narratives—I uncovered deep sadness, disappointment, anger, regret.
My child self had been in protection mode.
My adult self was stuck in passive readiness to fight or flee.
It was heavy.
But that weight? It whispered, there’s more to explore.
Therapy helped lay the foundation, yes. But being treated as the expert of my own experience—that changed everything. Coaching created space for new insight, and a new kind of agency.
And…all of my recent insights came through in 24 individual peer coaching sessions and 12 group sessions.
Here’s what I’ve gained:
Renewed and growing relationships with my siblings—starting with my youngest sister.
The courage to say yes to opportunities.
Permission to dream big—without immediately editing myself. No more “this OR that.” I want both.
A new understanding that how I respond to stress isn’t fixed—it’s not “just my personality.” It’s an attitude. A habit. Something I can shift. Something I have shifted.
I still have work to do. Don’t we all?
But I’m committed to my coaching journey.
I have a lot more life to live.
More dreams. More goals.
And I refuse to let anything—especially myself—get in the way.
I’m done with all of that.
And…a wholehearted thank you to my coaches.
Questions for You:
Where in your life do you feel a sense of incompleteness or longing for something “more”?
In what areas have you unknowingly edited or limited your dreams?
What stories or beliefs have you been carrying that no longer serve you?
What would change if you truly saw yourself as the expert of your own life?
Next Post: Suitcases and Self-Inquiry: Where Coaching and Travel Converge
Thank you, Mirna! This resonates, for sure. 😊