Michelle E Vasquez, LPC, MS - Expert

I just completed my first book, called Creating Happily Ever After: A Marriage Manual for What to Do After the Honeymoon is Over. I invite you to check it out and get your copy here.

I have a long history working as a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas (18 years). In 2001, after 8 years working with the Family Violence Prevention Services, I set up my private practice specializing in helping couples with their relationships.

Who are your clients exactly?

I work with couples whose marriages are in crisis and who want to make their marriage happy again. I help them learn how to solve problems more effectively and quickly by teaching them the skills they need to create a happy marriage, including communication skills, conflict resolution skills, and self-control (versus continuing to try to control each other).

I also work with single women over 35 who want to find their dream man. They may be divorced or may have never married. They may have had a series of failed relationships and wonder why they cannot make it work.

How are you different from a therapist or other “Relationship Coaches?”

I am a therapist, though I do not practice therapy unless you live in Texas and we work together by phone sessions. However, as a long-time therapist, I can tell you that my training in graduate school was very coach-like. There are so many different types of therapy, some of which spend a lot of time talking about your childhood and gaining insight into why you are the way you are as an adult.

Each different type of therapy has its merits and limitations. Different styles work for different people at different times. One of the styles of therapy I was taught in graduate school was called Solution-Focused or Solution Oriented Therapy. What I like about it is that we work on what is going on right now and find solutions together that will work for you. That’s very similar to what a coach does.

My style of coaching is similar to how I did therapy, which as I have said, was more focused on finding solutions that will work right now, rather than delving into your childhood and your relationship with your mother to find out why you do what you do. Grant it, coaching does touch on these connections and patterns, albeit briefly, for the sake of that “aha moment.”

Action is the name of the game with coaching. Once you get your “aha moment” your job is to figure out what you are going to do with your new pieces of information. As a relationship coach, my main task is to help you specifically with your relationships. Because you always bring yourself into any relationship you have, our work together will begin with you working on your relationship with yourself. I am not a life coach. My focus is on helping you improve your relationships.

If you are single and seeking a life partner, our work together is about getting you ready to date, removing the obstacles you have unknowingly put in your path, and creating a dating plan. Once you have found someone to date that you are interested in, our work becomes helping you to determine if the person is right for you. Just because you have decided you want to create a relationship with someone, our work is not over. My task at this point becomes to help you with the work of creating a sustainable, happy relationship. For more information, go to the Interview with Michelle page on my web site: http://trueloverelationshipcoaching.com.