peggy@walkonwatercoaching.com
My clients are people who are generally well-functioning but feel stuck in some area of their lives. Although I am a licensed clinical professional counselor in the State of Idaho and I understand mental health disorders, I prefer to use strength-based approach that does not pathologize the real life challenges people face. My approach focuses on creating goals, maintaining motivation for goals, and exploring the inevitable obstacles that arise when a person seeks change. Real, heart-deep change takes hard work and honest soul-searching, but a trusted counselor/coach can help you to identify the changes you want to make and provide the insight and gentle accountability you need.
I believe in a Christian coaching/counseling approach because anyone can teach you skills, but only God can transform your life and give you the peace you crave, especially in troubled times.
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” Philippians 4:13.
My approach helps individuals who want to:
- Reap the growth and blessings that come from adversity
- Gain more clarity and re-establish balance during a life transition
- Improve their relationships
- Be a positive influence on their children
- Leverage their unique personal strengths
- Deepen their relationship with God
- Feel more personal peace and freedom
- Recognize and live by their core values
- Discover and act upon their deeper life purpose
I specialize in helping women ages 18 to 80 who are dealing with:
- faith crises
- relationship challenges
- parenting woes
- self-sabotage and feeling stuck
- religious perfectionism
- life transitions
I specialize in helping girls ages 8 to 14 who are dealing with:
- critical self-talk
- feelings of loneliness
- negative feelings about their changing bodies
- roller coaster emotions
- perfectionism
- shame and a disconnection with God
PARENTS, PRE-TEEN and ADOLECENT GIRLS NEED HELP! Girls are under incredible pressure! Girls seek to find their identity by comparing themselves to the unrealistic standards of beauty and performance bombarding them in our unhealthy culture. “Comparison is the thief of joy” that leaves them feeling, “I can’t measure up,” “Something is wrong with me.” They need to feel belonging as a beloved daughter of God. They need to discover that their identity comes from building character strengths, like courage, compassion, and integrity. They need to know that their changing bodies have a beautiful purpose. They need to discover that “wise place” inside of them that connects them to the encouragement and guidance of the Holy Spirit. God can give them an identity that no one can take away. (See Ephesians 1 & 2.) I use a family-centered approach that supports parents and the girls they love.
LEARN MORE ABOUT MY HEALTHY TRANSITIONS FOR GIRLS COACHING CURRICULUM
Recommended Resources That I Use Often
Depending upon your needs and preferences, I may suggest one or more of the following:
- I use the Strengthfinders 2.0 assessment to give you a detailed understanding of your personal strengths.
- I use The Anatomy of Peace to help couples and individuals transform conflict and discover new and more peaceful “ways of being.”
- I use the Healing Through Christ workbook, a Christ-centered approach to the 12-step program. I do not treat addiction, but I believe the 12-step principles off a path for a deeper connection with God and a blueprint for healthy living. The 12 steps are invaluable for individuals struggling with religious perfectionism. For Latter-day Saint clients, I recommend He Did Deliver Me from Bondage, as a 12-Step Study of the Book of Mormon.
- I use the TPRAT assessment to help clients set goals and build strengths in 4 areas of life functioning: attachment, separation, integration, and adulthood. Learn more about these strengths. The TPRAT helps clients to build strengths in my “6-C” areas. (See free handout below).
- To help girls, age 8 to 14, I wrote a Healthy Transitions for Girls Workbook (294 pages) and Healthy Transitions for Girls Handout Pages (66 pages) to help girls to navigate the “minefield” of media messages and cultural pressures that bombard them today. LEARN MORE ABOUT MY HEALTHY TRANSITIONS FOR GIRLS COACHING CURRICULUM.
I practice according to the 2023 Ethical Code of the American Association of Christian Counselors.
You can view the ethical standards that guide my practice HERE.