Q&A with Spiritual Life Coach, Dr Joyce Peasgood

At C&C Resources for Life, we are a group of Kamloops counsellors, coaches and consultants proudly offering holistic support to our clients. We exist to empower those who seek out our counsel with the tools they need to build bridges to a strong tomorrow. One of these critical bridges is often exploration around spirituality, and for this work, we have on our team spiritual life coach, Dr Joyce Peasgood.

We are delighted to bring you this interview-style post that speaks to Joyce’s role at C&C Resources for Life and how she uniquely supports those seeking clarity.

How would you define the role of a spiritual life coach?

I view my role as a spiritual life coach is to engage with my client in matters of the soul, faith and God. And to be clear, the name for God will depend on the community of faith that a person is a part of, so that Creator, Divine Love, Higher Power, Allah, Yahweh would be the reference point for the Other.

A trained spiritual life coach can comfortably walk alongside another, pointing out things that one might not stop to notice, or even consider. As well, it is the responsibility of the spiritual life coach to create a safe and welcoming space for the client. In this space, the spiritual life coach listens without judgement and prejudice.

What does a typical session with you look like?

To be honest, there is no typical coaching session, since each person is unique and our journey of faith is unique, and like no other. Just as the One who is Divine Love is a mystery, so it is that there are aspects of mystery in who we are within ourselves.

Each person contains a unique spiritual inner life, and the role of a trained spiritual life coach is to encourage the client to understand and embrace that aspect of themselves. A wise and discerning spiritual life coach has been trained to be able to step aside and offer a safe place for the client to discover their own spirituality.

Having said all that, one coaching session to another can differ, depending on what the client has been reflecting upon, and processing in their faith development. Or, more precisely what the client may be experiencing in their personal life. As well, the client may bring something to the session that he or she is processing, or perhaps discerning. Therefore, what does occur is a great deal of listening to the words and reflections of the client, asking thoughtful questions, and being attentive to their inner spiritual journey.

How do I know if I need someone to converse with about my spiritual life?

That is a very good question – the reality is that the client intuitively knows when they arrive at a place of desiring or needing someone to listen and be attentive to their faith journey and questions.

Often someone will comment to me they would like to come and converse with me. I am polite, and smile, and acknowledge that I am available when they are. However, as for all of us when we are needing counselling for whatever reason, there is a readiness factor. The readiness factor includes a willingness to be open to one's faith journey in the presence of another person.

Our inner faith life is precious and private, that it requires an enormous amount of courage to allow another to be invited to peer into the sacred space of our soul and inner reflection. And particularly so, if in the past, we have experienced any form of spiritual abuse or have been damaged by a religious group. It may be surprising, but most of my clients over my 40 years of being a spiritual life coach, have had some form of spiritual trauma or abuse.

How is this different from therapy?

Generally speaking, therapy has a goal in mind, an agenda to assist the client in a level of inner healing, gaining freedom and/or being able to live well in their daily life or circumstance. I am aware that is a very simple definition.

What is most liberating for me as a spiritual life coach is not having an agenda. It means that I can trust the process as each client reflects upon their unique faith journey.  Because there is no agenda, it allows me to sit with the client in the presence of the Creator.

Is your coaching based in any particular religious belief or group?

Every faith group has their own person(s) who are recognized as spiritual friends, soul friends, wisdom tellers, spiritual directors, spiritual companions, etc. As well, each one of us who offer spiritual care generally has a significant faith group that is a foundation for our inner spirituality. I have been trained in a Judeo-Christian academy of faith, however, many spiritual life coaches are trained in other religious settings.

What has assisted me in my faith development and the process of training as a spiritual life coach, has been to accept and engage with the foundation of my own spiritual tradition. As I have been able to be comfortable with who I am in my relation to a loving Creator, I have been able to sit with and listen to others in their spiritual journey with ease. When we are comfortable within our faith foundation, listening to others in their belief system does not threaten us. In fact, by listening with an open heart, we often hear the wisdom of Divine Love coming through. And that is a beautiful thing. To be clear here, it is not the role of the spiritual life coach to proselytize. That is not the intent in a session.

We invite you to read more about Dr Joyce Peasgood’s education and background, and if her work is calling to you, to explore booking a session with her.