Newport Beach brings in life coach

Just like the people she now coaches, Newport Beach life coach Joani Stavale was once searching for the answer to the troublesome question: What’s next?

A longtime educator, Stavale decided four years ago she was ready for a change, and in seeking out a life coach to help her forge a new path, she also found a new career. Shortly after, she founded her own business, Breakout Life Coaching, and dedicated her life to helping others realize their dreams.

“I am so inspired by the energy and courage of my clients as they move forward toward their dreams,” she said. “The more I coach, the more I understand how blessed I am to be in the profession.”

Next month, Stavale will teach a four-week course for the city of Newport Beach titled “Life is Good, Yet … ,” an educational and interactive workshop aimed at closing the gap between “where you are and where you want to be.”

Stavale, a member of the International Coach Federation of Orange County with a master’s degree in educational psychology, compared the role of a life coach to that of a personal trainer or a financial adviser, but instead of getting your body in shape or your finances in order, a life coach helps you develop your mind and spirit.

“Athletes have had coaches forever, so the idea is not really new,” she said. “I think in the last 15 years, people have discovered that coaching isn’t just for the rich and famous, but for anyone who wants a more rewarding and fulfilling life.”

That’s precisely what Julie Shore of Carmel, Ind., was looking for when she came to Stavale three years ago.

“I had no idea what to do with my life and when I started working with Joani, I discovered that all along the answers were within myself,” Shore said. “I don’t know that I would have found the answer without her, and if I did, it would surely have taken another 20 years.”

The pair worked together — over the phone — for two months, during which time Shore realized she didn’t need to go back to school or start training for a new career. Instead, she tapped into her flair for writing and is now on the verge of publishing her first children’s book, “Howard the Fish.”

As opposed to psychiatry or therapy, which involves looking into the past, life coaching is about starting where you are and moving forward, Stavale said, citing figures like Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt and Henry David Thoreau as sources of inspiration. It focuses on developing new skills and strategies for problem solving and formulating an action plan.

“Change is very difficult to do alone,” she said. “Coaching works because it challenges you to do things you think you can’t do on your own and it holds you accountable.”

Without an established governing body or training standard for coaching, there are no specific requirements for becoming a life coach, which has led to some criticism of the field.

“I think any service that helps people get though a challenge or difficulties with support is something good,” Stavale said, adding the number of life coaches has doubled in the last three years and the International Coach Federation is pushing for the licensing of all coaches.

Unlike the supportive advice a friend may offer in a time of crisis, a coach provides an unbiased opinion, free of subjectivity and focused on responsibility, Stavale said.

Anyone interested in Stavale’s workshop is invited to a sample session at 9 a.m. Sept. 12 at the forthcoming Newport Coast Community Center. The class is set to begin at the center Sept. 26. To learn more, go to www.breakoutlifecoaching.com.

JESSIE BRUNNER may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at jessica.brunner@latimes.com.