Riley Cormack, Counselor in San Diego, 92103

Riley Cormack, MA, NCC, CPC

Profession(s):
Counseling, Coaching
License Status:
I'm a certified professional.
Primary License:
NCC - 95469
Secondary License:
CPC

My Approach to Helping

When wrestling with problems, questions and important decisions in our lives one of the best things we can can do is to talk it over with another person. Ideally, that person would be someone who is caring, takes our concerns seriously, can help us to achieve desired change, and has useful knowledge, experience, and skill in areas such as problem-solving, communication, conflict resolution, planning, and goal-setting. These are the values I view to be at the core of counseling and coaching relationships. I work with individuals, couples, families, and groups on a wide range of issues, including personal development, relationships, parenting, sexuality, finances, business & career, and more.

Counseling and coaching services occur along a continuum of care. At one end of that continuum is psychotherapy, the process of employing conversation as a means of addressing clinically diagnosed mental illness. Professionals providing care at this end of the spectrum include licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs), marriage and family therapists (MFTs), psychologists, and psychiatrists. Toward the center of the continuum of care is counseling, a process which, while still employing talk as a primary tool, addresses more everyday, non-pathological and non-clinical concerns, emphasizing problem-solving; goal clarification, goal-setting and goal-attainment; personal support; and motivation-building. Counseling can be particularly useful in exposing alternative ways of seeing and responding to problems, especially in cases where the old ways have failed us.

At the other end of the continuum is coaching, a goal-oriented and solution-focused process characterized by straightforward and practical conversations meant to identify goals, potential obstacles to reaching those goals, positive strategies and actions to meet goals and overcome obstacles, and increase motivation for action and positive change. In practice, counseling and coaching can co-occur in any one session, depending on the client's unique needs and circumstances.