Put me in, coach!

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This article was published 02/10/2013 (4657 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeggers have strong opinions on the most famous coaches in town these days.

Joyce Odidison hopes to shed some light on other kinds of coaches — wellness and life coaches.

Odidison is getting set to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Interpersonal Wellness Services Inc. at 13-875 Gateway Rd. with an open house at its office on Oct. 4 from 4 to 6 p.m. The open house is being held in particular to get people to understand how to best choose a life or wellness coach, and what these coaches are meant to do.

She said that, living in the information age, people need to know they are getting what they pay for.

“One of our goals here is to create more public awareness in the city,” the East Kildonan resident said. “We need to let the public know what is a good coach, what does it take to be a good coach, what kind of qualifications do they need to have.”

Odidison, a professional certified coach, differentiated coaching from therapy in that coaching looks forward to achieve goals, while therapy looks back to overcome obstacles that have been problems in the past.

“In order to be successful, you need someone cheering you, someone being that third eye, someone to ask those deeper questions, holding you accountable, and encouraging you to move forward,” said Odidison, who has worked with a coach for eight years.

Interpersonal Wellness Services is a training centre for those looking to become coaches. Odidison said the courses initially started based on what she taught in corporate settings and what she learned in her Master’s program but the curriculum has since developed.

“I thought ‘Let’s do something different.’ Coaching is such an excellent vehicle for transformation and change, so let’s create an opportunity for people to learn in a different energy, in a different atmosphere,” she said. “Coaches come in and they go through their own personal wellness transformation, as well as develop the skills and capacity to work with others in the public.”

When Odidison first started the company, prospective life coaches had to go as far away as British Columbia or major American centres like New York to get International Coach Federation (ICF) certification. Now, Odidison offers it here, through evening and online programs, for professionals like executives, entrepreneurs, nurses, psychiatrists, human resources professionals, and current coaches looking to offer more to their clients.

“They can learn in a format that’s conducive to their needs. They can learn in an environment that’s friendly, embracing, within their own time frame,” Odidison said. “The courses are modularized, so they can take the courses as they fit into their schedule.”

Odidison recently completed her fifth book Coaching Interpersonal Wellness System Theory, which will serve as the textbook for the coach training program.

For more information on the centre or to RSVP for the open house, visit http://www.interpersonalwellness.com.

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