Andrew J. Billups, Psy.D.
provides life coaching and positive psychology services for individuals who under-function in personal, business, and academic endeavors for reasons they cannot fully recognize or address successfully. Stated simply, in their current way of being in the world, they languish rather than flourish. Positive psychology offers a model for change.
Life Coaching is often compared to traditional psychotherapy, which works from a “disease model” and dates back to the time of Sigmund Freud – generally regarded as “The Father of Psychiatry.” As modern-day psychotherapy is usually practiced, a service provider utilizes a professional service called “treatment” and attempts to help people called “patients,” who have a level of functioning deemed symptomatic in some way.
Psychotherapists have a therapeutic focus on treating conditions considered to be diagnosable within the parameters of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as promulgated by the American Psychiatric Association.
Life Coaching and Positive Psychology, on the other hand, emphasize client (i.e., not “patient”) strengths and build upon those strengths. The service provider coaches the client and brings forth the best in the client’s style so that life’s joys and rewards are more accessible, and client potential is realized to a higher degree.
The role of mentoring and strength-based assistance is as old as recorded history. In recent decades, the expressions life coaching and positive psychology have grown in popularity as have the services to which they refer. The coaching experience that is so commonplace in the world of athletics (e.g., the football coach and the golf pro) has become increasingly commonplace in everyday life.
From an administrative point of view, psychotherapy services are often regarded as mental health benefits in various insurance programs, and recipients of such services are thought of as being in treatment for a health-related condition.
Individuals who do not meet the criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis, and who place a premium on privacy, appreciate the fact that Life Coaching and Positive Psychology do not entail the development of a medical record, filing of health insurance claims, the undue exploration of one’s family of origin, or the uploading of personal information to the cloud, where it is accessible to various forms of data mining.
Individuals who wish to discuss their unique situation are invited to call 804-435-6777 to explore the possibility of our working together
