What marks coaching out from other therapies is that it goes much further than just talking around a problem; it's all about taking action, setting targets and getting results.

Perhaps the mother feels inadequate about her parenting skills. With the help of her life coach, she'll work on building her confidence and finding a style that works for her and her child.

Or maybe she has lost her sense of identity and wonders what happened to the happy-go-lucky woman she once was. If so, there's a variety of techniques and exercises her life coach can employ to improve her sense of self.

If she's struggling to lose the weight she gained after having a baby, her life coach will help her to set realistic targets and to find a lifestyle that helps her to achieve them, and will encourage and support her along the way.

And if she wants to focus on work issues - for example a career decision or achieving a better work-life balance - her life coach will help her to explore different options, work on decision-making and confidence-building and find a solution that works for her and her family.

Coaching is great for providing perspective when you can't see the wood for the trees.

In a world where everyone from the assistant at the supermarket to the stranger in the playground has a view on how mothers should be running their lives and raising their kids, it can come as a great relief to talk to someone with no agenda except to help them to be as happy, confident and positive as they can be.

And every mother deserves no less than that.

© Patricia Carswell 2006