{
  "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1",
  "title": "Life Coach Jake — Articles",
  "home_page_url": "https://lifecoachjake.com/articles/",
  "feed_url": "https://lifecoachjake.com/feed.json",
  "description": "Life, leadership, and relationship coaching. Practical writing from Jake Ferguison.",
  "language": "en-US",
  "authors": [{ "name": "Jake Ferguison", "url": "https://lifecoachjake.com/about/" }],
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "https://lifecoachjake.com/articles/what-happens-in-a-coaching-session/",
      "url": "https://lifecoachjake.com/articles/what-happens-in-a-coaching-session/",
      "title": "What actually happens in a coaching session",
      "summary": "A look inside a real coaching session with Jake Ferguison, from the first hello to the next step you leave with. No mystery, no jargon.",
      "content_html": "<p>If you have never worked with a coach, the whole thing can sound a little vague. What do you even talk about for an hour? Here is what it actually looks like with me.</p>\n<h2>It starts with a real check in</h2>\n<p>We open with where you are today, not a script. Some weeks you arrive with a clear problem. Other weeks you are just foggy and cannot name why. Both are fine. Part of my job is helping you find the real thing under the noise, which is often not the thing you walked in talking about.</p>\n<h2>We find the one that matters</h2>\n<p>Most people are carrying ten open loops at once. Trying to fix all ten is why nothing moves. So we pick. Out of everything on your plate, what is the one or two things that, if they shifted, would change how your whole week feels? We get specific. Vague goals produce vague lives.</p>\n<h2>I ask, you discover</h2>\n<p>I am not here to hand you advice off a shelf. I ask questions, I reflect back what I hear, and I notice the patterns you are too close to see. Most of the time you already know more than you think. You just have not had a quiet hour and an honest mirror to hear yourself say it out loud.</p>\n<h2>You leave with a next step</h2>\n<p>Every session ends the same way. One or two concrete, doable steps before we meet again. Not a binder. Not a life overhaul. Something small enough that you will actually do it, because momentum is built from kept promises, not big plans.</p>\n<h2>Then we adjust</h2>\n<p>Between sessions you try the step. Next time we look at what happened, what worked, what got in the way, and we adjust. That loop, repeated every week or two, is the whole engine. It is simple on purpose. Simple is what people actually keep doing.</p>\n<h2>That is it</h2>\n<p>No couch, no diagnosis, no homework you dread. Just a steady hour, an honest partner, and steady forward motion. If that sounds like what you have been missing, <a href=\"/contact/\">book a free intro call</a> and see how it feels.</p>\n",
      "date_published": "2026-05-25T17:00:00-07:00",
      "authors": [{ "name": "Jake Ferguison" }]
    },
    {
      "id": "https://lifecoachjake.com/articles/life-coaching-vs-therapy/",
      "url": "https://lifecoachjake.com/articles/life-coaching-vs-therapy/",
      "title": "Life coaching vs therapy: how to tell which one you need",
      "summary": "A plain language guide to the difference between life coaching and therapy, so you can choose the right kind of help for where you are right now.",
      "content_html": "<p>People ask me this all the time, usually a little embarrassed, like they should already know. You should not. The line is genuinely blurry in everyday language, and plenty of websites blur it on purpose. So here is the honest version.</p>\n<h2>The short answer</h2>\n<p>Therapy treats. Coaching builds.</p>\n<p>Therapy is licensed mental health care. A trained, licensed clinician can diagnose conditions like depression or anxiety, help you heal from trauma, and support you through a crisis. It often looks at the past to understand the present, and depending on your plan it may be covered by insurance.</p>\n<p>Coaching is forward focused. We start where you are and work on what you want next. Goals, habits, decisions, leadership, relationships. Coaching does not diagnose or treat anything, it is not regulated as health care, and it is paid out of pocket.</p>\n<h2>A simple way to choose</h2>\n<p>Ask yourself one question. Am I trying to feel functional again, or am I functional and trying to move forward?</p>\n<p>If you are struggling to get through the day, if old wounds keep pulling you under, or if you are in any kind of crisis, that is therapy. Please start there. You deserve real clinical care, and it works.</p>\n<p>If you are basically okay day to day but stuck, scattered, or standing at a crossroads, that is the sweet spot for coaching. You do not need to be fixed. You need a clear head, a plan, and someone honest in your corner.</p>\n<h2>You are allowed to do both</h2>\n<p>This is the part people miss. Coaching and therapy are not rivals. Many people see a therapist for healing and a coach for momentum at the same time, and the two support each other. One is not a step up or down from the other. They are different tools for different jobs.</p>\n<h2>Where I land</h2>\n<p>I am a coach. I trained in mental health counseling, which is exactly why I am careful about the boundary. If you come to me and what you really need is therapy, I will tell you, and I will help you find a good clinician. That honesty is part of the work.</p>\n<p>If you think coaching might be the right fit, <a href=\"/contact/\">book a free intro call</a>. We will figure it out together, no pressure either way.</p>\n",
      "date_published": "2026-05-19T17:00:00-07:00",
      "authors": [{ "name": "Jake Ferguison" }]
    }
  ]
}