Dr. Carbonell's Individual Coaching

People can benefit enormously from self-help materials, such as are available here, on other websites, and in many self-help books. However, it can sometimes be hard to do the work on your own, with only a printed source to guide you.

I offer telephone coaching to people who want additional help in using the methods contained in this site, and who can't find suitable resources in their local community. Let me first say a few words about what we can, and can't, accomplish with these telephone consultations.

First, please understand that telephone coaching is not the same thing as coming to my office for treatment. If you need professional treatment for an anxiety disorder, that should be done in face-to-face meetings. What I can do in a telephone consultation is listen to your situation and advise you on how you can more effectively use self-help strategies to resolve your anxiety problems. If your situation seems to require more than self-help, I can try to help you identify the kind of help you need. If you want guidance about how to support a friend or relative who needs help with an anxiety problem, I can offer that as well.

Please do not ask me for assistance with questions or problems about medications. I am neither trained nor licensed to prescribe medications, and cannot help you with that topic.

Telephone coaching is a more limited means of help than is a face-to-face meeting, because I won't see you. I'll just hear your voice. I won't be able to see how you breathe, what emotions appear on your face, and how you carry yourself physically. For many people, these limitations offer them some anonymity, and lead them to feel more comfortable than in a face-to-face meeting. That can be an advantage. But it does limit what I can observe, and that may limit how helpful I can be. So please look for resources in your local community before you request coaching services from me. The article "First Steps" offers suggestions for finding local resources.

In order to get the most benefit from my coaching, you should first familiarize yourself with the relevant materials on this website. Carefully go through the first three steps in the article "First Steps" and follow all the recommendations there. If you then decide to use self-help rather than professional treatment, work conscientiously on a self-help program offered by a good self-help group, or work with one of the books listed in our Resource Directory for at least a month. Then review your progress.

If at that point you feel you are stalled or not making sufficient progress, you may want to request a telephone consultation. To request a telephone consultation, carefully answer all the questions listed at the bottom of this article and send them to me in an e-mail addressed to:coaching@anxietycoach.com. Please follow this procedure rather than calling my office.

Here's what you can expect in response to your request.

I will personally read your answers to the questions. If, on the basis of your answers, I believe I can help you achieve the goal you suggest, I will offer you a telephone appointment.

Please be aware that I will be unable to accommodate any requests for specific times or days. I will offer you what time I have available, and it will almost always be a weekday time. This means it may be necessary for you to take an hour from work to go to a telephone where you can call me in private. I will offer you a time far enough in advance that you will have time to make such arrangements. If I offer you an appointment, I will ask you to accept or reject the offer within a week, and send payment if you wish to accept. The telephone session will last 45 minutes, and cost $135.

While I am generally able to be helpful to most clients, I can’t help everyone. Some problems are outside my expertise; some require face-to-face contact; and others may just not seem like a good "fit" with me and my abilities. If I don’t think I can help you with your request, I will tell you so. If I am unclear about any aspect of your request, I may ask you for more details before deciding.

COACHING QUESTIONNAIRE

If you would like to proceed, please answer the following questions in full and send your answers to me at coaching@anxietycoach.com.

1. What is the anxiety problem you want to address? Describe the problem and its impact on your life.
   
   
2. Summarize all the efforts you have made thus far, including visits to professional therapists, psychiatrists, and physicians; use of medications; self-help groups; self-help books and other materials; classes; coaching; and any other efforts you have made. Describe how you followed the steps suggested in the article "First Steps".
   
   
3. State a specific goal you wish to accomplish in your work with me. Give this some serious thought. Since we will work together for a relatively short period of time, your goal should be both very modest and very concrete.
   
   
4. Tell me why you think you have not been able to attain the recovery you seek.
   
   
5. Be sure to include the following: your name; age; home address; home telephone; and e-mail address. I will reply to your request by return e-mail unless you specifically request some other method, i.e., a letter to your home address.
   

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This page was last modified on 4-19-2007.