Counselling and Life Coaching

Welcome to Linda Magson Counselling

Linda Magson is a qualified, experienced, Sydney based counsellor and life coach with postgraduate qualifications in counselling, psychology, social communications, education and music. Linda's clients speak highly of her ability to guide them in a process of personal change, empowering them to move forward in their lives with confidence and purpose.

About Linda

Linda has five years' experience as a Senior Counsellor in two Sydney psychology clinics and three years in private practice at the Life and Balance Centre in Glebe, NSW. The centre is a tranquil oasis for mind, body and soul, and apart from offering counselling and coaching, people may link into yoga, pilates and meditation classes as well as a range of natural therapies.

Linda works in two modes: as a counsellor or coach. Counselling is a collaborative process in which people are expertly guided to explore personal issues in a safe, non-judgmental and supportive environment. Coaching is a more directed process that focuses on designing solutions to everyday problems or achieving work or life goals.

Areas of expertise

Linda has successfully helped people to make significant life changes as a result of effectively managing issues such as the ones listed below.

• Addictions
  
• Adolescent counselling
  
• Anger management
  
• Conflict resolution
  
• Couples counselling
  
• Depression & Anxiety
  
• Gay and lesbian
  
• Grief & loss
  
• Life Coaching
  
• Motivation
  
• Performance anxiety
  
• Quit smoking
  
• Personal Development
  
• Relationship skills
  
• Self-esteem and confidence building
  
• Sexuality and same-sex relationships
  
• Social skills
  
• Study skills and time management
  
• Stress
  
• Trauma
  
• Workplace issues and bullying

In an effective counselling relationship you should experience flexibility within secure boundaries, and a mixture of therapeutic styles that match and respond to your needs. Through a gentle process of artful questioning, challenging and reflecting, an accurate picture of a situation is developed and options considered.

The counselling relationship is one of the most important elements of a successful counselling experience and a critical factor in promoting personal change. The helping relationship has been termed a ‘working alliance’ (Greenberg, 1967) in which the counsellor and client collaborate in a process that involves problem management and opportunity development.

Counselling is a collaborative process in which you are expertly guided to explore personal issues in a safe, non-judgmental and positive environment. The aim of counselling is to help you to resolve any issues, present and past, that may prevent you from developing a more fulfilling experience of life. By releasing yourself from any self-limiting beliefs and earlier life messages that may no longer serve you, change is possible and you can move confidently in the life directions you choose.

Counselling is not advice-giving, nor does it give you answers, but guides you towards a stronger sense of knowing which solutions are right for you and feeling confident and comfortable with your own decisions. Sometimes your usual support people may be too close, may have an agenda of their own, or not know how to help. A counsellor can provide you with increased skills to see things more clearly from a range of perspectives.

Coaching is a more directed process that focuses on generating options and designing solutions to specific everyday problems or work/life goals. It draws on a range of techniques and strategies to suit individual needs and learning styles. In an atmosphere of encouragement, creativity, and personal learning you will be able to move through some of the invisible barriers that block you from achieving your desired goals.

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Counselling
Making the decision to come to counselling may be a big step. You may have been thinking it about it for a while, or something may have prompted you to start thinking about it now. Perhaps you have had counselling before and found it useful. You may be feeling overwhelmed, fearful, embarrassed, or unsure about seeing a counsellor. It is normal to experience a range of emotions when anticipating sharing your story with a stranger and as you prepare to engage in a change process. I would encourage you to try a session to see whether counselling is useful for you and to think first about what would need to happen in that session for you to know it was useful.

To help clarify the issues you want help with, you may want to write down some key points beforehand. Here are some suggested prompts.
How am I feeling about seeing a counsellor? ...
In what ways do I think counselling may help me? ...
The issue that’s brought me to counselling is ...
The things I’ve done to try to sort out this issue are ...
What went wrong with these solutions was ...
What I need help with is ...
How will I know whether the session has been useful? ...

Life Coaching
As a preparation for life coaching, I suggest completing a wheel of life satisfaction. Look below to see a completed example.

When we talk about wanting balance in life, people generally identify 8-10 areas as being important. There may be other areas that are important to you. Choose 8 areas you consider most important to your life satisfaction, using the following list as a springboard.

Areas:
Family
Friends
Relationship
Health
Finances
Physical environment
Romance and intimacy
Fun & recreation
Career
Education
Creativity
Life purpose
Spiritual alignment

Give thought to how important you consider each area to be to your overall life satisfaction and give it an appropriate slice of the piechart. Label the areas on the outer edge of the wheel. Rate your current level of satisfaction with each area by drawing a line in each segment that shows how much of the segment you are satisfied with (consider the center of the wheel to be a zero and the outer edge to be a 10, the area of highest satisfaction). Consider the overall balance of your wheel. Does it look and feel balanced?

Choose another shade to show how much attention you are currently giving to each area. Is it balanced?

If you decided to give more attention to the areas you aren’t satisfied with, name one action you could take to raise the level one notch higher. Is there anything that may block you from taking this action? Is there a strategy you could use to overcome this block? When will you take the action? How will you know it’s the right action?

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Testimonials

I still hold counselling as one of the biggest achievements of my life. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Linda’s help.
New mother

Linda is a highly qualified expert, with a gentle and empathic demeanour. Linda's professional approach shows a mutual respect for her clients' situational goals. Her approach of intent listening and seeking answers via gentle questioning reflects her experience and genuine interest and concern for her clients. It is my pleasure to recommend Linda to you as a confident and caring person with a wealth of experience and ability to work through even the most complex of issues in a pleasant, warm, exploratory and solution focused manner.
Small business owner, coach, and presenter

Counselling has given me the creative edge by allowing me to explore the area of limitation I created for myself. I feel more empowered to face the challenges and have courage in finding my own voice.
Writer

Counselling: I can’t believe the amazing turn-around in my son’s life. He isnow drug free, has just had a promotion at work, and for the first time in years, we have a good relationship. He was facing criminal charges, but the judge could see the evidence showing how he had turned his life around and quoted extensively from Linda’s report in determining the outcome. The judge was clearly very impressed by it.
Father of young executive with a drug addiction

Coaching helped me move through the roadblocks that were stopping me from putting myself out there. I’ve found my own creative stream that I can tap into whenever I need to. It used to be hard to get started, now I can’t wait to get going!
Designer

Coaching is like having a guide at your side; someone objective who helps you see other options. It’s given me a clearer perspective of how I operatein the workplace and how my unresolved stuff gets continually triggered. I am now much more proactive.
Manager

Coaching gave me insights into my leadership style and the ways it doesn’t always get me what I want. I’ve learnt to adjust in different situations and am getting a much better response from my colleagues. I am happier at work and at home.
Executive