Testimonials: What People Say about Life Coaching by Scout Wilkins

I was honored to work with a writer,
who offered to journal her experience and let me share it.
Click here to read
one woman's full account
of her first transformational coaching session

"I was convinced this was important work to do - with an emphasis, in my mind, on work. Yes, it was work - and I was so surprised and delighted to have it turn out to be fun at the same time. Whenever I looked up and saw you beaming at the wonderful new decisions I had found inside, about myself and my future, I had to beam right back...what elegant, yummy work it is!"

-Tina Ann, Bolinas, CA

What I have learned from Scout is, to make your own path. But, if I need help or am hesitant about a decision, to go to her! Support, Support, Support is what Scout is all about. Her words are powerful, moving and uplifting. She is dedicated to her work, helping people get what they want in life, and she is good at it! I did her goal setting segment and I could see my goal in my hand, it brought tears to my eyes. It left me speechless; it’s an incredible feeling. Scout is one of the most caring, beautiful and inspiring people I have met, and I’m so glad she’s in my life. Thanks Scout! AJ

- Alissa Johnson, Art Student, Portland, OR

"Scout has the ability to cut to the chase and help you see and deal with the real issues. Even when I feel stuck in a fog, Scout has the unique gift to bring clarity and guidance. She knows when to speak, and when to remain silent, and so often knows the right question to ask at just the right time."

- James Bush, Business Owner, Lawrence KS

"When my oldest child went away to college out-of-state, I found myself with more TIME – an incredibly valuable resource – and I pondered how to use this windfall! I longed to begin a Big Project -- writing a non-fiction book -- but given all of my other family and career-related responsibilities, I questioned whether this was a realistic goal. Life Coaching, with Scout, looked like it could be helpful (although initially, I admit I was a bit skeptical)!
I was surprised and pleased to find that I immediately gained valuable insights about my life simply by thinking about and answering the questions on her assessment forms! But that was just the beginning. Once our sessions started, I found that Scout’s questions -- and thoughtful observations about my answers -- were very helpful.
With Scout’s insights, challenges, and encouragement, I started to move forward and make progress towards reaching my goals. Most important of all, I became convinced that my goals were achievable. Amazing! Now, that I am “on track” (and making progress) I know it will take a few years to accomplish all that I am planning to do. Somewhere along the road ahead, I figure I just might bog down, but fortunately, I now have a strategy for that possibility: I know that if I’m ever really “stuck”, I’ll simply call Scout -- and re-start Life Coaching!"

- Roseanne Perman, Geologist, Piedmont, CA

"Working with Scout has been a gratifying and powerful experience. She has helped me to design a life more towards my dreams as well as helped me to change those areas of my life which weren't serving my best interests. The transformational tools she uses are amazing!
I feel empowered with a greater sense of clarity and purpose and, the ability to create the life I want."

Skip McLaughlin, Manager, San Rafael, CA

"Looking back, it is hard for me to believe the amount of personal growth I have gained working with Scout. When I first contacted Scout, I was filled with inner confusion, mixed internal messages and I based most of my decisions on fear. As I move closer to realizing my dreams, I am making choices by trusting my inner wisdom and decisions are based on honesty and integrity.
I am so thankful that I have Scout in my corner. Through active listening, emotional and practical support, and contagious enthusiasm for my plans, she has assisted me to take giant steps in areas that I am passionate about. She has never faltered in being there for me on "up" days and on "down" days. This journey with her has been such a rewarding experience. Thank you Scout for your invaluable guidance!"

-Sue Lenander, Massage Therapist, Missoula , MT

What makes Scout a great coach:

She listens, she questions.
She cares about people. She believes in networking and in supporting one another.
She has the client set the agenda -- she recognizes that what is right for her is not right for everyone.
She offers her experience to others as they wish it; she shares the process by which she learned, not just what she learned.
She recognizes where an individual is in their own personal evolution. She knows that time and experience change people, and that each person follows a unique path.
She is open and flexible, and appreciates differences in people.
She is honorable and trustworthy.
She communicates well both in person and in writing.
She maintains a remarkable level of organization across multiple facets of her life.
She's an excellent teacher.
She has spiritual depth.
She has an extensive network of contacts on an amazing number of subjects.
She's had struggles in her own life, and has learned from them; she has learned from her friends about their struggles.
She's had the courage to try new things and make her own way.

- Karen Peterson, Lafayette , CA

The Healing

Neurological repatterning. It sounds like some new brain surgery, perhaps to eliminate paralysis or dementia. It is not, but it is every bit as powerful and effective at its purpose as surgery that could do those things. Perhaps more so.

When we worked together, Scout had recently completed her training in this process. She’s a Life Coach who is dedicated to improving her practice and acquiring the best tools she can find to help people. During the time that she was in training, she phoned me regularly and shared her experience. Each time we spoke I was impressed with the nature of what she was learning, though not as much by her words as by the joy and excitement and peace I heard in her voice and the look I could ‘see’ on her face. Her enthusiasm was infectious but it was more than that. She was changing and I could hear it and feel it for myself. I knew that she was experiencing something very powerful and I wanted that for me.

Having worked with energy therapists and medical intuitives, I had some knowledge of “patterning.” Patterns are the behaviors and beliefs we form and practice as we live our lives. Some patterns are productive and healthy, some are not. Neurological repatterning is a method for identifying the patterns that are holding us back or blocking us from who we want to be. Most important, once these patterns have been identified, it is an effective and self-empowering tool for changing those patterns and enabling us to be everything we want to be.

I began to think about asking her to help me with something that had held me back my entire life. I had spent a lot of time and effort in my 58 years trying to eliminate this problem myself. I had never openly discussed it with anyone and I am otherwise a very open person. I had a great deal of fear and shame wrapped around this issue and my failure to change it and its effects on me. I had recently become so frustrated and discouraged that I was on the verge of completely giving up. I still felt that I was willing to do anything but was at a total loss as to exactly what to do.

One day as we spoke, I asked Scout if she would help me. She immediately said yes – as if she had been waiting for me to ask – and promised that we would do this as soon as the training was complete and she returned home. I hung up the phone, terrified but also hopeful that this would be the thing. I needed something that would pull me back from the end of my rope and provide me with tools I could use to change myself so that I would never have to spend another day with this “pattern” of mine that was just holding me back and hurting me in a way I was no longer willing to allow.

As I had all those thoughts, I realized that the reason I was so terrified was that I had felt this way for a very long time but still had been unable to effect a change. I was desperate. I prepared myself for work and struggle and pain. But I promised myself I would do the absolute best I could. This process was for me and I needed it to work.

Because we live on opposite coasts, we discussed how I felt about doing this work over the phone. I told her I thought it would be okay and we agreed that we both just needed to be open if, at any point, either of us felt that it was a problem. I had some concerns about the fact that we are friends, knowing the importance of objectivity and detachment in a coach when working with a client. We were new friends so we didn’t know each other that well, but friends nonetheless and I was concerned that it might inhibit our work together. She assured me that we would be fine and, again, in my heart I knew she was right.

We began with her request that I write a three page document telling her why I wanted to do this work. Her only instruction was, “Write it from the heart, not from the head.” I knew this part was going to be painful but I had promised myself that I would not hold back, that I would be as open and honest and from-the-heart as I could be.

It is interesting that I had just begun and the simple writing of the detailed answer to her question helped me to realize things I had not consciously known about myself and my problem. I wrote a lot and cried over most of it but, in itself, that step set the stage for me to be even more ready for healing and for this particular work. I knew it as soon as it was written. I emailed it to Scout and prayed it would be what she needed and that she would not think me a hopeless case or that I was beyond her power to help me.

She quickly responded. To my surprise, she addressed each of the key points I had made regarding my specific fears, needs, and desires. She confidently assured me that we would be successful, giving me specific reasons for that belief. In my heart, where I promised myself I would stay for this process, I believed her completely. She was so quietly confident that I couldn’t help but share her confidence. I began to feel lighter and less frightened of what still lay ahead. I actually even started to look forward to it a bit, not because it wasn’t painful. It was. But at the same time, I felt early on that this was absolutely something that would work for me. I had decided, well before asking for her help in the first place, that she was on to something and I wanted to have it for myself. I knew that, without that trust in her and in me, I might not succeed. In a way that I don’t really comprehend, for the first time in my life I didn’t let my head govern or even slightly influence my feelings about something – although it tried – and I will forever be grateful that I did that.

Scout informed me that the next step would be our first session. She told me how long it would take and briefly explained what it would entail. There was no preparation I needed to do for this except to assure that my family understood I would need complete privacy for this telephone conversation. We set the appointment for only a few days later and I found myself wishing it had been sooner. I believe that any fear I had, if not completely gone, was no longer an issue at all. It seems that in our initial steps, one three page document and one thoughtfully written email, I had already experienced the power in this process and was feeling more and more certainty that it would work.

During this first session, she basically took a personal history of my life. Simply by asking a series of sensitively worded and gently framed questions, she gracefully set the stage for me to find answers within that I had never been able to find for myself. As deeply inward-focused as I was, I still could not help but notice that she had studied my initial document closely and that her questions were carefully crafted for me personally. This was not some textbook list of stock questions. A sense of safety, security, comfort, trust, and rightness about the entire process was growing continuously as we worked together.

In answering her questions, I found I was answering additional very important ones that she had not asked. After a while, I realized that her disembodied presence in the form of only her voice was very soothing to me and at times felt like my own inner voice imparting some wisdom I desperately needed to know that I knew. This is an important part of this process to understand. My coach helped me to find the answers within myself. They are always there but have been at the very least challenging and at the worst impossible to uncover. Scout didn’t tell me what I needed to do. She didn’t analyze me or tell me how to be better. She helped me reveal to myself what I already unconsciously know I need to do. She did that by simply asking those questions that, in the end, helped me to see myself and my entire life with new eyes.

It was very emotional for me but in the most powerfully healing way that I have ever experienced. The further we went together, the further I wanted to go. This is important in a process such as this because so often you can become discouraged or negative and want to give up. It was exactly the opposite here. Even though the emotions and feelings welled up repeatedly, including deep pain and sadness, I was able to welcome them and put them to work for me because of the honored space – physical, emotional, and psychological space – that we had created together. We honored each other with the respect and trust that we shared and that created a safe and open quality to the space we shared. It felt like we were doing an intricate, beautiful dance together in which we took turns leading. And that was just the first session.

What people have to say about their coaching experience...