 Think Tech Away, Civil Engagement Lives Here. Welcome to Education Mat is on Think Tech. I'm your host today, Carol Mon Lee. This series covers broad topics encompassing learning and all areas of life. Our show today is called Life Coaching to Achieve Your Full Potential. How a life specialist can help you carry out changes in your life. If you wanna ask a question or make a comment, you can tweet us at Think Tech H.I., or call us at 374-2014. My guest today is Dr. Yukari Kunisue, a certified life coach. And she discusses the usefulness of life coaching in an ever complex world. What is it? How does it compare with counseling, advising, mentoring, or teaching? And why does someone seek life coaching? Aloha, Dr. Yukari. I'm gonna call you Dr. Yukari. How are you? Good, thank you. Well, tell us about life coaching because it's actually a relatively new term at least to me and maybe to our viewers. Okay. Well, thank you for asking. That's a very good question because like you said, not many people know about life coaching. So life coaching in a very short term, it is collaborative partnership to create changes in your life. So when you say short term, you mean that the time that you are life coaching with someone is not gonna be an extended period like? It could, but usually my style is to set the goal and to set whatever the sessions. Maybe you have a goal to accomplish something in three months or one year. And then your budget, of course, and you kind of divide it. So you're gonna have a short term, could be a longer term. If your issue or challenges changes, then you can hire again. So it's an issue by issue. Okay, so we're talking about what are you coaching then? Life issues, so can you give us some examples? Okay, so life coach means everything, all aspect of life. But not necessarily, let's say, mental issues, physical issues. Right, it could in certain degree. So let me explain that. So life coach is, well, first of all, everybody knows about athletic coach, right? So athletic coach does whatever. Tennis coach, golf course. A particular sport, right? You're trying to improve in a sport, so you might hire a coach. Right, and also you may have heard this, business coach or executive coach. So they're working more specifically on leadership or management or human resources, that sort of skills. Are you talking about one-on-one then? It could. An individual, or is it usually improved? It could be grouped, too, yeah. Versus life coach, because the whole aspect of life, usually you have some type of change that you want to make, positive changes, of course. But you feel stuck, because you've been trying this, you talked to your family, you talked to your friends. Even you were talking to your advisor or counselor or mentor, but you still feel stuck. And you need someone who kind of go with it. Okay, so can you give me some examples of some of these positive changes someone might make? Okay, so the typical thing I get is communication. Often people have difficulty with the relationship. It could be a business relationship, could be a family relationship, including parenting sometimes. And not necessarily they have mental illness, per se, but they don't know how to communicate. When I say this to my husband, my husband always comes back this way, I always go this way, this way, this way, and it just gets stuck in the same type of communication patterns. As opposed to marriage counseling, though, in that situation. Right, right. And why is life coaching different than marriage counseling? Good question. So Life Coach is very goal-oriented, specific. So in this relationship, you find or identify one aspect of communication issue. Then you vary into it, and then you put this number of month or weeks by certain time you accomplish this. So do you have an example of a case that you may have worked on where life coaching helped this couple to communicate better? Right. So this particular couple, it's actually I met only the wife part and husband I'd never met. But it's sort of couple counseling in a way or coaching in a way. So she always had a problem with his in-laws or her in-laws. And he was not taking any side or anything, but she felt very isolated. And so she came in as sort of, how do I make my husband do this and do that? Meaning communicate? Communicate with her in-laws. Right, right. So my goal or my approach was, okay, tell me what is going on first of all with her husband, with her in-laws, and then slowly identify what is that cause of this. And then she find out, okay, so it's not like I am saying this is your problem. She will, with my questions. You're exploring. Right. Getting more. Right, so identify her. Right. Then she started to feel like, well, what if I do this way or that way? And then, okay, let's try this one this week. And maybe next week, come back and then explore what happened. So it's more specific and step-by-step goal-oriented kind of approach. I see, because I know your background includes the psychology degree, right? So is that part of your counseling then? Depending on the topic. Right. But I have to say that counseling is usually healing process and more like you have a problem maybe and you want to find out what is that? What is the problem? And so started out sort of negative minus part and then bring it back to zero point so you can function. Coaching, we don't start out minus. Start out where you are and where can you reach? So it's more like, if you can look at the point A to point B, B is the goal, A is where you are, okay? And then you kind of see this distance. What is the next step? What is the next step? So do you see that? Yeah, so in your example of this couple, exactly how did you resolve the issues for the life? So she started to have journaling first. Journaling. Right, so she is trying to identify what she's doing first before pointing fingers to other people including husband or in-laws. And then she started to see, okay, what are the options if I say this one, usually this is the consequence but maybe instead of saying this way, I could have saying this way or this way. So exploring these different options. And is that part of your role as coaching her to explore those options and develop? Right, so I'm asking more questions, what else? What else can you be thinking of doing that? Yeah. How often do you meet with her in this case? This case, I think I met her only two times or three times, two times and then third time was on Skype. And over a period of how long? I would say a month maybe. Just one month and what happened at the end of the month? She was communicating better with her husband. Right, well more like in-laws. Oh with the in-laws, I see. And then how do you charge for these services? So in her case, I usually have a package kind of deal but she wasn't sure how many times she should come. So just session by session. Okay, and so then how do you differ your coaching with other types of, you've mentioned counseling, we mentioned teaching? Okay. Mentoring, advising. Mentoring, exactly, yeah. So I usually use this example. So when you are driving, learn how to drive. Right. So if you're a teacher, of course, you teach how to do it, you know what? And advisor also give advice, right? But the coach would do not give advice, okay? How about consultant, what is the difference? Consultant is more expert. So coach doesn't have to be an expert on certain things. So if you are teaching or helping a client how to drive in certain specific cars, maybe setting up the manuals and functionality and mechanism, setting up the manual and then give it to you. A month later, you come back and say, how are you doing? And checking up, that's a consultant. While mentor, they are more like, well, when I started driving, I was 14 years old and sharing the experience and then sort of together, we talk about driving and then that's more like a mentor. Now, what about coach? Right. What do they do? Coach, sit next to your passenger seat and you are with the driver who's learning but you are always together. That's why I said it's a collaborative partnership. But are you also identifying issues as far as don't take a left turn here or step on the gas? Yeah? As a coach? Yeah. I see, I see. But we very seldom give advice. Okay. So now how did you get into this field? Because your background is very broad, right? I know you've done a lot of teaching, economic analysts and... I was everywhere. You're a hypnotherapist. Yes. As a matter of fact, I combine hypnotherapy and coaching because hypnotherapy is very helpful for habit control. Habit control, right? So as part of coaching is habit control. Mm-hmm, yeah, that can be done too. Or self-esteem, that sort of thing. But going back to your question, so how do I get into this one? So like I said, mental health is starting out the negative point to zero, right? And I wanted to start out. I didn't want to see people have problems, people have potentials, finding better themselves. So I wanted to start out there. Mm-hmm. See the difference? And then so yes, I do have a psychology background, but it's not always, okay, you have a problem, I'm gonna fix you. I didn't really like that. I'm sorry about the therapist and counselors, but I personally... Well, you have a different role. Right, so. And there are people out there who don't need, necessarily a therapist, but who need... So often you have clients with some kind of transition, like career change, that's what I think. Even I have a friend in Washington D.C. who is specializing in relocation. Relocation, right. Because they have diplomats, expats, and military people. And a lot of times, relocation is a very stressful time. So if you have a coach, starting from the packing and this and that, and how to adjust to the next culture and next language, so on. So certain things are more specialized like that too. Okay, well good. Well, this is gonna be a good time for us to take a short break. Okay. So thank you so much. This is Education Matters with my guest, Dr. Yukari Kunisue, who is a certified life coach and will be right back after the short break. Hi everyone, I'm Andrea Gabrieli. The host for Young Talent's Making Way here on Think Tech, Hawaii. We talk every Tuesday at 11 a.m. about things that matter to tech, matter to science, to the people of Hawaii, with some extraordinary guests. The students of our schools who are participating in science fair. So Young Talent's Making Way every Tuesday at 11 a.m. only on Think Tech, Hawaii. Mahalo. Do you want to be cool? Watch my show on Tuesdays at one called Out of the Comfort Zone. I sang this song to you because I think you either are cool or have the potential to be seriously cool. And I want you to come watch my show where I bring in experts who talk all about easy strategies to be healthier, happier, build better relationships and make your life a success. So come sit with the cool kids at Out of the Comfort Zone on Tuesdays at one. See you there. Welcome back. This is Carol Monly on Think Tech, Hawaii's Education Matters with my guest Dr. Yukari Kunisue, who is a certified life coach and we're talking about a very new topic to me, life coaching. Welcome. And so we were talking about examples where you as a life coach step in and help your clients. So I'm really interested in the business world and what kind of issues, in addition to you say moving, a lot of your diplomats are moving and need help coaching. So what are some of the other business issues that you might help? So in business field, the biggest topic I hear and my fellow coaches do is human management. It's always so difficult, especially in the mid-level managers. They've been working so hard to come up to the certain level and but they're in between. So they're trying to get ahead in their profession and they're feeling... They don't actually have skills quite yet. They know the specific area but human management is totally different area. So you may be an insurance person and knows a lot about the insurance field, for instance, but managing other insurance... Right, employees, staff, teams, hiring, firing. And then there's always human dramas, right? Business world or any organization. So how to listen, for instance, as a communication skill and how not to impose on a certain values, even though the company has certain values, but how to communicate that from top to bottom. So you're in between and that's always a very challenging issue for mid-level managers. Chanel, for someone like that who would hire you, are you being hired separately outside of their employment? The employer is not hiring you to coach individual employees. In my case, no. But there are sort of in-house, like a counselor. They do have coaches. But in my case, it's more like individual that I have a hard time in my workplace and I recently get promoted but I have this issue and that issue and then top says this and bottom says that and I'm stuck. I'm overwhelmed. And how do they find you then? Well, my name is listed in psychology today. As a life coach. As a life coach. So that's a whole new section of the directory, right, in looking for. And also as a hypnotherapist too. Some people do know about hypnotherapy but this is a good moment to say that life coaching business is not regulated yet. Not like therapists or counseling. So there's no state board or license shores. Most of the people, however, that get education training, at least one year to 18 month intensive training somewhere. Yes, so tell me about your training. Okay. So my training. Right, I'm certified because I did this one as a part of my doctorate in psychology. So while doing the psychology advanced degree, I was taking this course aside. And where was that? It was in Palo Alto. In Palo Alto, yeah. Is it part of your university studies? Right, it was. To become a certified life coach. Right. The coursework. And so most of the life coach training programs are accredited by International Coach Federation. It's called ICF. And I would say 60 to 70% of the ongoing current coaches are affiliated with some kind of accredited programs with this ICF. Yeah, I know you sent me a list of some of the more famous life coaches and maybe we could talk about the one that I know is Tony Robbins. Right. And that's because he has so many infomercials, I think, on TV over the years. And his marketing is already strong. Yeah, okay, right. So tell me about how he differs from what you're doing. Well, it's basically the same. I mean, they are to say. But he can bring all the 20,000 people at the time and so on. But he does it in an auditorium, though. Oh, he's jumping and dancing and everything but he's such a gifted motivator. But he started out as a coach. Individual one-on-one. I think he did, too, at the beginning. But he was also a firework and stuff like that, too. But he was basically, motivate what you really want to do in your life and help you to think outside the box. That's what he's doing. So he's doing it, though, in crowds of, as we said, thousands of people. Is that effective? I think so, I think so. He has Kalisma and he knows how to put you in trance. Yeah, but how does that then measure it in terms of real action on an individual basis? I mean, you come out very euphoric, maybe, and motivated, but yet the next step of actually doing something difficult, like learning how to deal with an in-law and a boss. Right, right. Well, I don't know if there's a scientific research after this motivation talk and after one week of $10,000 of a program, and if you are really motivated. But I hear, individually, people who attended this type of training get really motivated and change their lives. And how about for you, your success rate? How do you measure that? That's a hard one. I only have testimonials. And then, order most, people just get referred from the other clients. So do you continue with a client if the results haven't been achieved in a certain period of time that you've allocated for the particular issue? Yes, so going back to before we were talking about, so there's a one-time kind of client, too. For instance, this client who's been thinking about setting a trust for advanced healthcare directives. She's been waiting for years and she always thinks a lot about, I have to do this, I have to do this. But she needed someone who can manage or give this accountability that, okay, you said you're gonna do it. When are you going to do it? Show me when you did it. So you become a sort of sounding bold and resource to get you responsible about the action. So this client, only one time, she finished it. So I charge one time, that's it. That's a success. That's a success. I'm not about something longer term which may not have been as successful right away. How do you deal with that? That one, I use more continuous communication, which I don't really charge, but email communication, texting sometimes, locally. If elsewhere, not Hawaii, then I use Skyping and FaceTime. So it's just continuing, checking in, how you're doing, that sort of thing. Is it a growing field? Ah, yeah, definitely, definitely. And how about if somebody wanted to become a life coach, how would they proceed? So actually, Carol, if you want to become a life coach, you can, just call yourself life coach. But not certified yet. You're not certified. But I'm sure many people come to you and ask you, what do you think about this one? And as a friend or colleague or ex-colleague, you give some kind of advice, right? But you're not really advising because depending on the issue. I think what you're doing is a little bit like a coaching. But you may say, okay, well you say you want to do this one. Why don't you just do it by, whatever, next time we meet together? That's kind of coaching. But that's free. That's free. I'm gonna do it as a friend, right? Right, right. So if you want to become a coach, yes, you can call yourself coach. But what if somebody wanted to enter it as a profession, too? Then 90% of the coaches, current coaches are trained, the organization accrued it at programs. And many universities started to have this coaching program. Did you wage at it? I don't think you wage has it yet. So is there any training at all here in Hawaii? Unless you take it online. I see. So you can do that, though. You can do that, too. How many life coaches are there you think in Hawaii? Good question. I kind of looked at it once, but I didn't see too many. Or counselors doing a life coach, kind of concurrently. Right. And I know, of course, you're Japanese speaking, so do you have a lot of Japanese clients to specialize in Japanese? Not necessarily, but because I speak Japanese and then people just say, OK, I need help. Yes, half of my client deals with Japanese. So you do podcasts, right? Is that about life coaching? I do both, life coaching and hypnotherapy. So tell me a little bit more about hypnotherapy. Thank you, boss. What is that? This is another fascinating field. Maybe we need another session. But very briefly, it's working on your subconsciousness. My self-consciousness? Your sub-consciousness. My subconscious. Sub-consciousness. It sounds a little bit strange, but we all have it. So what am I working on it for? Am I not happy with something myself? Yeah. If you feel like you always tend to think, yeah. Right. I see. So any field, but currently I'm working for insomnia, smoking secession, habit control, and self-esteem. Self-esteem, I see. And what do you do? You hypnotize the person? Right, right. But I do a lot of kind of semi-counseling, semi-coaching session first. I put you in hypnosis state and then come out from the hypnosis, which is very normal state. And then I do coaching. And what's your training for that? Is that also unregulated being a hypnotist? That one is depending on the state. Hawaii doesn't have any regulations. So anybody can be called a hypnotist? Yeah, but you need a very specific training, the relaxation technique and breathing technique and certain suggestibility technique. So it's a little bit hard one to just call yourself like I'm a hypnotherapist. OK, well, we just have a minute left. So I want to thank you so much, Dr. And suggest that if you'd like to look into Camera 4, and I know we have your website, and if you'd like to say something to our viewers about the importance of light coaching and what might be a next step to seek. So everybody has potentials. I believe in your potentials. And if you want to work on that one, light coaching is the most effective way. And if you feel like suck, just call me. OK, well, on that note, thank you so much, Yukari. We've been talking to Dr. Yukari Kunisue, and she is a certified life coach and a certified hypnotherapist. So that brings us to the end of our show. We have enjoyed bringing it to you, and I'm your host, Carol Monly. We've been talking about light coaching to achieve your full potential and how a life specialist can help you carry out changes in your life. If you want to see the show again, go to thinktechhawaii.com or youtube.com slash thinktechhawaii, where there will be a link to this show in many more, just like this one. Thank you so much to our Intrepid Studio staff and to all the people who watch and care and contribute to our ThinkTech productions. We'll see you next time. Aloha.