Coaching
My experience working with individuals and teams has confirmed for me just how powerful a trusted partner in change can be. No matter the stage of life we find ourselves, we all have goals we want to reach, challenges we’re aiming to overcome and times when we feel stuck. The relationship between coach and client provides a framework where new sources of imagination, productivity and resilience can be developed as we manage these changes in our lives.
Simply put, coaching is a process to facilitate change. Coaching helps to align our thinking with our behaviors to help us evolve and perform in our home life, work environments and within our communities.
COACHING APPROACH
I’m dedicated to maintaining the integrity of the coaching profession and as a Certified Hudson Institute Coach, I hold my Professional Certified Coach (PCC) designation through the International Coach Federation.
I incorporate positive psychology and systems thinking to guide the coaching process. This includes creating a plan of action defining your desired change and in doing so, increasing awareness of your strengths, habits and values. In service of supporting lasting change, we also explore the limiting beliefs or behaviors that may be getting in the way of the change you want to make.
Learn more about my background. Feel free to contact me directly at alia@wemergesystems.com.
How It Works
Coaching engagements typically span between 3-9 months depending on the goals we’re working on. We meet every week or two, virtually or in-person, as agreed upon in our coaching contract. Most sessions focus on future options and choice points and may include assessing and developing awareness in core areas, skill development and strategies for managing transitions.
A Balanced Perspective
I am committed to a balanced perspective and bring both head and heart to the issue, challenge, or opportunity at hand. I prioritize a “whole person” perspective where we explore the impact of our work on the landscape of your life; personal, professional, family. Clients would say that my warmth, experience and intuition help to connect all areas of life with the positive changes made during our work.
Client Goals
- Goals can range from creating and sustaining healthy boundaries at home to achieving values-based career transitions
- No matter the goal, the common thread is helping you to gain new perspectives and skills as you manage change in your life
- Whether I am working with a parent, a young professional or senior leader — my approach is grounded in empathy, dedication to my client’s goals and encourages courageous thinking
“Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.”
Meet Alia
Learning Architect and Coach, PCC
As the co-founder of WEmerge Systems, I’m excited to be a catalyst for change in how we foster the wellbeing of individuals, families and our community. My professional background is in leadership coaching, talent strategy and organization development (“OD” for short). I guide individuals, teams and groups to develop awareness and connect the dots for desired change, with a passion for creating environments where positive character and virtues can be lived.
After completing my BA in English and teaching internationally, I found my passion in studying human behavior to support the flourishing of people and organizations and their ability to be more effective and engaged. I bring more than 15 years of coaching, facilitating and human resources experience resulting in several senior leadership roles in a variety of organizations including non-profit, small to mid-size businesses and numerous Fortune 500 consulting clients. I’m certified in leadership and transition coaching by the prestigious Hudson Institute and maintain a Professional Coach Certification from the International Coach Federation after completing 1,000+ hours of coaching.
In addition to co-creating our experiential WEmerge Systems curriculum, I lead monthly group coaching sessions with parents of teens enrolled in our group programs and provide professional coaching to individuals managing transition. Through emotional intelligence, positive psychology, appreciative inquiry and a naturally empathetic approach, I bring a unique combination of being able to think like a leader, a coach, a parent, an educator and above all, a partner in sustaining positive change that leads to a more authentic life.
Please reach out for more information or with questions about what our work together may look like.
WHY WEmerge SYSTEMS
Current Treatment
The gold standard for social anxiety treatment is individual psychotherapy using a Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) approach. CBT is a well-researched, evidence-based approach that is highly effective (when it is fully adhered to).
We’ve witnessed a discouraging trend while treating teens for social anxiety, using individual therapy. They learn the skills in session but are often reluctant to follow through on the behavioral change part of treatment, involving social tasks (outside of the session) that induce the very fear they are avoiding at all costs. Without the real-world application, teens remain stuck in their social anxiety. We developed the WEmerge approach because we understand sometimes standard therapy isn’t always going to get the job done.
THE WEmerge APPROACH: HELPING TEENS SHIFT
Our 12-week group therapy program combines 3 core pillars that support participants as they apply learnings in the real-world: thoughtful education, group experience to accelerate skill-building and supported exploration to build resilience.
We’ve combined CBT with a unique application of concepts from Murray Bowen’s Family Systems Therapy to develop more effective options for decreasing anxiety, increasing more effective self-management skills in relationships, and increasing flexibility and resiliency to meet life’s challenges. Participants will practice social engagement with other group members in session, which builds a base level of confidence. They work up to the harder task of engaging in social tasks out in the real world. It is a graduated approach with much better outcomes.
WHAT SETS US APART?
What sets WEmerge Systems apart is that we are not only equipping your teen, but we are also equipping you as their parent – you will be prepared for how to reinforce and support your teen in this process while activating your role as a parent in new ways.
We do this through monthly group coaching sessions, together with all parents of teens currently enrolled in the program. There is a total of 3, 45-minute Zoom group coaching calls for parents. This is a requirement of the program.
This program is a system like any other and it requires all parts to work together to sustain positive change. We all have a role to play; you have your part, your teen has their part and we have ours – we are a three-legged stool. We’re creating the solid structure of a healthy functioning system where social anxiety is no longer controlling how your teen shows up in life.
Program Overview:
What We Work Toward
SOME HIGHLIGHTS
- Teens will experience the tools, education and practice to help them develop balanced thoughts and feelings about self and others.
- Target areas include: How to start, maintain and join a conversation, express an opinion, order in a restaurant, call a business, ask for help, respond to perceived critique, attend social events, to name a few. Practice areas can be customized to individual needs.
- Your family system will be equipped with the skills and understanding to sustain positive change.
WHAT TO EXPECT
- Pre-program consultation (parents) and individual session (teen) with Kyle
- First Virtual Parent Group Coaching
- Teen Group Sessions 1-4
- Second Virtual Parent Group Coaching
- Teen Group Sessions 5-6
- Mid-point individual session (teen) with Kyle
- Teen Group Session 7-8
- Final Virtual Parent Group Coaching
- Teen Group Sessions 9-12
- Post-program individual session (teen/parents) with Kyle
COMMITMENT FOR TEENS
- 40 hours total; about 3 hours/week, which includes:
- 12, 2-hour weekly sessions
- 1 hour of homework/practice each week
- 3 individual sessions to track progress
click image to enlarge
LAUNCH PROGRAM
We’ve created this innovative approach to treating social anxiety in response to a growing need, highlighted by a pandemic and social isolation, and we’re committed to offering a quality program that will support our community.
Our program provides over 30 hours of professional therapy and support for you and your teen, enhanced by a customized curriculum. Your investment includes:
- 12, 2-hour sessions, a total of 24 hours, of group therapy for your teen + Program Guidebook
- 3 individual therapy sessions for your teen
- 3 virtual group coaching sessions for parents + Parent Guide to support teen’s progress
- 2 individual parent consulting sessions with Kyle to review goals and assist with progress
- Pre and post assessments for your teen; these are validated diagnostic tools used to assess Social Anxiety using peer-reviewed and established best practices
- Support available throughout the program and in-between sessions
- Limited enrollment to provide a highly individualized, quality experience
Weeks 1-4: Focus on education and foundation-building; how anxiety works and the 3 components that drive our experience: cognitive, physical and behavioral
Weeks 5-8: Build from in-session experiences to “real-world” experiences that challenge long-held beliefs and build confidence, give and receive feedback
Weeks 9-12: Reframe experiences, integrate new tools to adapt thinking, regulate emotions, increase flexibility and resilience, practice new communication skills
- In-session activities gradually become more challenging, preparing teens to take more risks outside of session – we call these activities “merging,” and they enable teens to experience real-world application of key concepts
- Highly individualized experience with a small group of 4-6 teens selected for program fit
- Comradery and confidence are built with a tribe of peers facing common challenges, together
- A wide variety of creative resources explored inside and outside of session; books, Ted Talks, music, articles and other blended learning tools to engage and retain learning
- Family systems coaching, parents explore new ways to support teen’s developing skills at home
- Teens explore and share their experience with merging inside and outside of sessions