Life coach helps people seek solutions

BY CHRISTINA TONG

KONK LIFE STUDENT WRITER

Everyone has issues. Since the New Year is a symbol for new beginnings, it is a fantastic time to try to learn how to make life more bearable. Whether problems are linked with relationships, bullying, time management, etc., life coaches are taught how to help others deal with problems. They are good listeners. In the words of certified life coach Valerie Palay, “What I’m going to consider myself is more as a sounding board, somebody who’s going to help you work through your problems, but I’m going to make sure that you find the solution to your problems.”

Valerie Palay describes what it takes to be a life coach, “I’ve gone to workshops and have worked with life coaches, so I could become a life coach.” Palay was trained in Florida and California to learn how to life coach, including how to ask clients the right questions, how to make a plan to find goals and solutions, and how to help.

Because of her role as a French teacher at Key West High School, Palay mainly assists the youth she encounters on a daily basis, through after school programs, special activities, or just listening to students who need some extra advice; but she also works with adults after school hours in her Duval Street office.

As a life coach, Palay has realized something about who she is as a person and common trends between people she has worked with. “What I have discovered is I really like working with people and making people happy, and what I’ve realized is often people get stuck in their heads and in their hearts because they feel they’re the only ones — that this horrible thing is only happening to them . . . and I like working and talking to people, so they realize they’re not the only ones, that there is a solution, that there always is going to be a better day and a better way of looking at things.”

Since Palay does do life coaching outside of school, anyone interested in scheduling a session could call her at 305-923-0999 or by going to TheKeysLifeCoach.com and filling out the information at the bottom of the page.

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