A few more questions for Kate Courageous

The Back Story: My past is less interesting than my present, but here goes: I grew up in one of those “we love you fiercely but there’s dysfunction” kinds of families. I lived the experiences of depression, anti-depressants, anger, rage, eating disorders, cutting, abusive partners, and thoughts of suicide. For years, I told the stories of those experiences, and let them define me.

–But I was always a seeker, spiritually curious, and even in the thick of it, I felt a sense that this was not how my story would end.

I was willing to engage in my life, to try anything. So–I tried a lot. In that, I learned the true meaning of courage–that it’s not eradicating fear, it’s feeling the fear, diving in anyway, and transforming. The revolution starts within by facing that which is seemingly insurmountable, and discovering what you’re truly made of.

Courageous living has become my specialty, and I use it as a revolutionary tool for evolutionary growth in my life, and to support the lives of others.

1.)Are you a New Age person? A religious person? A woo-woo person? I think the more important question is not what I’m about, but really–will I respect your spiritual practice, or lack thereof? The answer is: yes. I don’t attach myself solely to one particular spiritual practice, though I tend towards the practicalities of Buddhism. I find the sacred in lots of things: yoga, meditation (laughter, seated, pranayama, and otherwise), being in nature, chocolate, good coffee, connection with friends…all of it. I’m interested in the empirical, yet I don’t like getting caught up in absolutes.

3.) Do you work with people from outside of the San Francisco Bay Area? Absolutely. I hold sessions via phone and have clients throughout the United States, Canada, and in Europe and Asia. Some of my clients use Skype to call my local line.

4.) Will you tell me what to do with my life? Nope. I’m trusting that you know more about what’s best for you than I do. I am an invitation for change, not a “how-to” or a dictator or a guru for change. I will challenge you. I will “hold up a mirror,” so to speak, so that you can see your patterns more clearly.

5.) Why not go to school to become a therapist? Therapy is a different way of working with people (usually the approach requires some level of diagnosis, which I do not do nor am I trained to do). At the end of the day, for the specific set of people that I work with (people who do not have major mental/emotional disorders that would be better served by someone with diagnostic training), I can be of service. I have a real skill-set, one that I trained for and continue to develop. And, by the way, I don’t diss the therapists the way I’ve seen other coaches do. Therapists do different work, but it’s great work.

6.) What did you ever do with those degrees in English? I became an English professor who teaches 100+ students each semester. I still teach English, part-time, for a whole host of reasons that mostly boil down to this: I dig having a really good health insurance plan, and teaching part-time enables me to (mostly) have the freedom to work for myself, with a low time-commitment. Also, I dig the students. They’re pretty loveable people.

7.) What can I do if I want to ask you more questions? Contact me. Phone: 510-827-0303. Email is kate -at- yourcourageouslife -dot- com. And I look forward to hearing from you! Questions are fine with me.