Who are HTK coaching sessions for?
HTK coaching services are geared towards law students who are approaching their 1L year or who are at any point on the way to graduation or adjusting to life after law school. Just as executive coaches are helpful for professionals who are already in their chosen fields, a law school coach — especially through HTK — is a similarly valuable asset.
Students who want to build or maintain resiliency and optimize their capacity to manage (transform) stress are great fits for HTK coaching. Students who are high-scoring in multiple forms of intelligence or who specifically want to develop the emotional aspects of their intelligence would benefit from HTK services as well. These are called ‘soft skills’ in the business world and they encompass the cultivation of empathy and the ability to connect and communicate effectively with others.
HTK coaching is also recommended for students who are seeking to deepen their leadership presence. Through exercises and conversation intended to boost awareness and compassion, this aspect of HTK coaching shows students how to take the ‘soft’ skills they have learned to apply with others and apply them to their own lives. This inward-focused, individual oriented form of education is based on the premise that in order to lead others in an inspired way we must learn to inspire — lead — ourselves. This is the essence of authentic leadership.
Students who struggle with perfectionism and anxiety, especially connected to ADHD, or those who are just more creative than they find the legal profession traditionally has room for may benefit in particular. These are often students who aspire to not just survive but thrive, in terms of mental focus and resolve as well as physical fitness and finding space for creative expression. Typically such goals are not supported in the legal education landscape. HTK coaching strives to change this.
What is the format? What should clients expect?
Coaching sessions can be as regular or as sporadic as clients feel they need. Beginning with an initial call to capture information & assess interests/goals, sessions evolve into conversations (either by phone or by Skype) that enable sharing of all kinds of progress in clients’ lives. This can be in relation to academics or to their development of interests outside of school. All of this goes into the work/life balance that students would ideally learn as part of their legal education, but in today’s approach to legal education this facet of learning is not valued or confronted.
HTK coaching services are about helping law students to connect with who they are as individuals and viewing with clarity who they may become in an increasingly integrative field. The substance of coaching sessions will therefore depend on the client.
For a sense of some of the material that is expected to come up in coaching sessions, foundational philosophies of HTK coaching, etc, click here to check out the HTK Blog.
General Phases of HTK Coaching
Coaching hinges on using a blend of mindfulness skill-building, reflective dialogue & various forms of creative or analytical engagement to prepare clients for the following:
- approaching & getting through, even thriving, students’ 1L year
- continuing to build strength and endurance, maintaing sense of humor and wellness and staying on track academically & career-wise students’ 2L year
- keeping sense of forward momentum as a 3L, stepping more and more into the person students are about to emerge as come graduation, bar prep and beyond
Who provides HTK coaching services?
At present, founder of HolisticToolKit.com Shoshanna Silverberg (click here for Shoshanna’s Story) is the sole provider of HTK services. If you are interested in becoming a provider of HTK services or becoming a client, or if you would simply like more information, please contact HTK using the form below. Your interest and questions are welcome.
holistictoolkit.com 