[ June, 2024: I'm honored to be on the "Coaching Revealed" podcast from the IOC. Thank you, Emily and Austin for a great conversation! (LINK) ]

Greetings. I'm Richard. Some clients call me Rick. I help folks who are inspired by the phrase "dare to be calm". 
 • I help people feel Seen, Heard, Valued, and Effective.
 • Practice "Mind-Body-Relationship" coaching, incorporating Internal Family Systems® (IFS) and somatic integration skills.
 • Am educated as a biologist (University of California, Irvine).
 • Worked for decades as a technical engineer, both as a member of a critical-systems team in enterprise, and as an independent, small business owner/employer.
 • Have long been on the same journey of self-awareness and development that I promote as a coach. 

Have you stepped into your journey to better connect with your whole Self, your family, and those whom you lead?
"It's hard to get enough of something that almost works." This is from Vincent Felitti, MD, and his colleagues at Kaiser-Permanente in California, where the Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale (ACES) was developed in the 1990s. At that time, the scale, and the large study which corroborated it, were ground-breaking. Similarly, colleagues I know at The Institute of Coaching who also have decades of experience as primary care physicians, lament how their patients' psycho-social needs can exacerbate or overshadow their seemingly overt medical conditions. That's a serious problem. And it's also a real opportunity for change!

I am an IFS-skilled coach. I'm not a therapist. I help clients develop their innate openness, curiosity, and – dare I say – willingness to unwind the harmful life-effects of unresolved childhood trauma, distress, turmoil, or other invisible injury – harmful to our bodies, to our souls, and to our relationships. (Guys, this includes us!)

From our foundational biological roots to our complex connections with others, I bring respect and appreciation for human nature and how dynamic and adaptable we are. I’ve been on the path of committed self-improvement for more than four decades. I’ve been characterized as an asset, an ass, and an angel at different times, always while making my way to a place of purpose and service. 

Clients are deeply and patiently listened to. I have joined with them to celebrate wins and opportunities, grieve losses, and support them in their challenges, illnesses, recoveries, and triumphs.

Linda and I met and married more than 30 years ago and I have worked diligently to be a spouse worthy of her love and commitment, and a father worthy of recovering and honoring our adult daughter's love, trust, and respect.

As with many professions, mine has evolved over decades.
My journey in self-discovery and improvement began in my mid-twenties. I was the founder of a small field service company which served the hospitality industry. The business was technically successful, but I felt lonely and disconnected from the people whom I employed. I cared about them, and I recognized that I needed to change how I thought and behaved, and related to them as their leader. That initial phase of my growth as a young adult was both painful and inspirational. My mentors urged me to heal – not merely manage – the distresses and tribulations that had initially energized my competitive pursuit of outward success and recognition. As that self-discovery gave way to understanding, I recognized how my commitment to relate differently to my team was igniting a wider desire to serve people in a different capacity. With time, my expanded self-perspective led to an opportunity to leverage my skills differently and transition to a second career where I was a member of an enterprise technology team.

After many years in that position, I looked within and recognized how my decades of "skilled technical service for people" was directing me to my third career, where the focus is "inter-personal service with people." Along the way, I encountered psychiatrist and trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk, MD and his widely recognized book, "The Body Keeps the Score" (2014). The book was my introduction to Internal Family Systems. It also provided a clearer understanding of 'trauma' and internal 'turmoil' as a spectrum, not as a singular thing.

Being a systems-oriented person at my core, I wondered whether IFS could help me untangle the decades-old Gordian Knot of emotional pains that were still driving some of my persistent, defensive behaviors. It was a gift when my relationships improved in ways that I could only have imagined in the prior decades, and a marvel when I recognized how and why IFS can produce such beneficial 'embodied' results so readily. 

IFS, combined with complementary skills which I had learned previously and others which I have studied since, has brought a new and different level of presence and flow into my personal, family, and professional life. 

"Tomorrow's mastery begins with mental calm today." 
As a coach, I assist people to journey beyond their efforts, activities, and habits "that almost work." Together, we co-create an appropriate level of release and relief for their system. Using my training and experience in IFS, autonomic nervous system co-regulation practices, somatic integration, and similar skills, we find answers from within. The 3-dimension framework of: Discover > Distinguish > Discharge, helps people heal from the inside-out. In a calm and safe setting, clients can level-up their connections, their leadership, their relational enjoyment, and their well-being. 

Are we a match to work together? Do you endorse the idea that calm includes "to lead with curiosity and equanimity"? Connect (or reconnect) with your essential humanity and your whole Self on your journey to sustainable wellness and fulfillment. Let's have a conversation!  

In addition to The Institute of Coaching, I'm on LinkedIn (LINK)
Watch my 2-minute intro vid on YT (LINK)
Email me: [email protected]
Select an appointment time from my Calendly (LINK)

{ Live – Grieve – Belong – Connect – Honor – Play – Thrive }