Who is your counsellor/coach?
My name is Linda Atouguia and I am an internationally certified life coach, NLP practitioner, counsellor and mentor.
I am a registered member of CCSA (Council for Counsellors of South Africa).
I specialise in counselling/coaching women, young adults, and teenagers (Ages: 12 - 19).
Please take note that I only offer my services to men up to the age of 30.
My Qualifications:
- BA Honours in Counselling Psychology (UNISA);
- Internationally Accredited Certificate in Life Coaching (Action Factory, IACTM);
- Internationally Accredited Certificate in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (Action Factory, ANLP);
- Various "Continuous Professional Development" (CPD) counselling courses;
- BTech Degree in Public Relations Management (UNISA);
- Diploma in Christian Studies (LFCC);
- Certificate in Business Management (DAMELIN).
How does my counselling/coaching work?
As a counsellor and life coach, I assist in empowering my clients to overcome challenges, find healing and achieve personal goals in various areas of their lives. This is achieved by utilising various counselling and coaching approaches, as well as questioning and conversational techniques that are based on core psychological principles.
The LCA Life experience - what you can expect:
My clients are able to come into a safe, caring and confidential environment, to explore their feelings, beliefs and behaviours.
Clients are free to work through challenging or influential life events, identify aspects of their lives that they would like to change, better understand themselves and others, set personal goals, and work toward desired change.
I aim to empower my clients to confidently face difficult situations, overcome personal barriers, navigate life transitions, and ultimately view their lives with a hopeful and enlightened perspective. By empowering my clients, they are able to keep progressing even after their counselling/coaching journey with me comes to an end. Witnessing my clients grow to overcome challenges and achieve their goals, is my privilege on a daily basis.
The counselling/coaching process, is a collaboration between the client and myself; it is not a one way stream of communication. In order for progress to occur, it is of paramount importance that the counselling/counselling relationship be firmly grounded on trust; without trust as the foundation, a client will maintain their defense mechanisms firmly in place, which is counterproductive to the entire growth process.
The topic of trust now brings me to the related topics of, a counsellor's responsibility to take a nonjudgmental stance, and maintaining strict confidentiality. I hold each one of my clients in high regard and accept each unique individual for all that they are; I do this from an open-minded and nonjudgmental position.
On the topic of confidentiality, I am unwavering, and regardless of whether the client is 12 or 42, I do not disclose any information that is shared with me by the client with any other party, parent or otherwise. The only exceptions to this strict confidentiality is under circumstances where the client discloses their intention to harm themselves or someone else, or if my client personally requests that I share certain information with a third party. Confidentiality is a key factor that is essential in order to build and maintain the relationship of trust between client and counsellor/coach, thus supporting the client's positive growth.
