Lucie Thomas, M.A.

Self-awareness is essentially an awareness of oneself, as the word suggests. Each of us is endowed with a set of better and worse qualities that shape our personality. Self-confidence means being aware of these qualities and being able to work with them meaningfully in life for our own and society’s benefit. A healthy relationship with oneself, in addition to self-confidence and self-assurance, also includes self-acceptance, self-esteem, and even a dose of self-love – it is not egocentrism, but rather accepting one’s personality as it is. To love oneself with everything, even when it is not easy in some situations. To love oneself, but at the same time to work on further developing one’s personality not only for a better feeling about oneself, but above all in the interest of cultivating beautiful and fulfilling relationships – for that is what brings us the most true joy in life. On the other hand: do you know that you should be your own best friend and partner? It is not sad, it is essentially very liberating. If you can be your own best partner, then your relationships with other people will blossom like cherries in April.

A coach is an artist, psychologist, and strategist. An artist, because every client is different and requires an individual approach; and so every work (insight, change, success) that we create together in your life is actually unique and beautiful – it is an art of its kind. A psychologist, because a mere set of strategies will not make anyone a good coach. It also requires a dose of intuition, empathy, and sometimes a sensitive, sometimes a confrontational approach. Last but not least, professional awareness of the principles of psyche and humanity is also important. A strategist, because a coach strategically creates a brighter future for the client – moving one step further with each session using solution-focused and goal-oriented interventions. No goal is too big, and every desire is too important a motivator to be ignored.

Coaching: Do you know what you want in life, or are you still searching for it? Coaching is maximally oriented towards creating a better future. Primarily through goals, plans, materializing your ideas and wishes. As a coach and client, we want to achieve something, we want change, and we want to cooperate effectively so that you can soon reap the fruits of your efforts. A typical client’s introductory sentence: “In this area, I am not as successful as I would like to be. I would like to do something about it.” Relationship coach: you will go from “what is happening to us?” or “I don’t want to be alone anymore” to “I know what I want and what I need to do for it.” Personal development coach: you will go from “what is happening to me?” to “I understand myself and I know what I want and what I need to do for it.” Summary: in my words, a successfully “coached” client is one who knows what they want and what they need to do for it – and in that process, perceives that they actually enjoy and are happy with it, even if it is sometimes a lot of work.

Psychological counseling: You are not suffering from severe depression or other mental illnesses, but you would still like to seek a professional and tell them what you are experiencing? Counseling might be the right thing for you – it is a form of therapeutic service for psychologically healthy individuals. A typical client’s introductory sentence: “I have such a problem…” Are you hesitating who to choose? It is not uncommon for approaches to sometimes overlap, which is a unique ability of coaches and psychologists – judge for yourself – for example, after a particularly bad day, a client welcomes it when their coach “transforms” into a psychologist for one session. And during a counseling session, my clients do not have to worry that we would get too stuck in their past – this can also be beneficial under certain circumstances, but a shared look into your future is equally beneficial, if not more so. I believe that the past influences us, but at the same time, I believe, and know from my own experience, that it does not predetermine our future – if we take it into our own hands. Clients often do not have a clear idea whether they need a coach or a psychologist. Then I choose the procedure that will be most useful for the given situation.

ARE YOU AN EXPERT in your own life? I will tell you a secret: already at this moment, the answers to all your questions exist in one single place – within you. You are the person who knows you best, but sometimes you look at yourself through foggy glasses. You are like an expert slightly afflicted by your profession – that is, your own life. And so you come to me, to a coach – an expert who is neutral and trained in asking questions that will lead you to rediscover the right path. These are thoughtful and pointed questions that will clear your foggy glasses. Let’s exchange the old model for a new one that will serve you better. You deserve it.