Our main objective here at the National Coach Academy is to enable aspiring coaches to reach their full professional potential. One of the most effective ways to educate students about the world of coaching is by offering them a window into the world of real, practicing coaches and showing them all the different ways coaches make a difference in the lives of their clients.
We hope today’s interview adds another insightful glimpse into the dynamic world of coaching.
Today we are interviewing Leticia Montiel, DCH. Leticia is a Life Coach and Hypnotherapist and the owner of Intuitive Trance-Formations in Orange County, California.
NCA: Can you describe your coaching practice and the kinds of clients you typically work with?
Leticia: I got a degree in Clinical Hypnotherapy back in 1991 and I trained with many other modalities, including with Michael Stevenson at Transform Destiny. I do NLP, Time Line techniques, and I also trained in shamanic practices.
I serve a variety of clients from children, adolescents, and adults in many, many issues that they have. I like teaching and I like coaching people to empower themselves. My passion is to help them discover that they are enough and they have a lot of resources but unfortunately they either never realized it, people have told them, “You’re not good for this,” or circumstances in life made them feel that they are not good enough.
NCA: What initially got you interested in this career path when you first got started?
Leticia: I have always been the weird person in my family. [laughing] The black sheep, the crazy one, the one that does not conform to regulations. When I was in high school I started going for psychology because I wanted to help people. I found meditation and all of those practices from India. Back in the day, I wanted to go there but they wouldn’t let me in because I was only 14.
Then in 1987, I discovered the wonderful wizard of hypnotherapy, Dr. A. M. Krasner, who was advertising a weekend certification training in hypnotherapy. He founded the American Institute of Hypnotherapy which back then was the only educational institute that was allowed to grant such degrees by the Department of Education. I found my passion. I could tell people and it didn’t feel as cold or as dry as psychology. I took the weekend certification, I enrolled in the doctorate program, and I ended up working for the Institute.
Every year we had a convention and in every convention, I completed another training. I’m a certified NLP trainer and I have a doctorate in Hypnotherapy, so I’ve moved around many things.
Like I mentioned, the “weird” things are my passion as well. I combine energy healing, if we can call it that, shamanic work, trance, intuition NLP, and many other techniques like EFT.
NCA: In working with your clients, what would you say is the most rewarding part of that process and on the flip side of that, what is the most challenging aspect of the work that you do?
Leticia: The most rewarding part of it is when I get a client that’s down on their luck or they feel like they can’t overcome certain situations and traumas that they’re dragging in their life and I help them discover there are strengths in those situations that they can learn and empower themselves. They can accept themselves for who they are and move from there to live a better life.
The most challenging part of this work is all the hype, the taboos, and misconceptions of my practice. It’s helping people understand that I’m not trying to take over and control your mind. It’s not a magic wand that you wave one time. I know many people do a one-time session for, let’s say, stopping smoking. They might be very successful but I know there’s many other layers underneath.
This is not witchcraft. Every part of our process of overcoming things or growing is a process that needs to be taken seriously in steps and not just “Come here and sit one time.” Sometimes clients feel really good in their first session and then they think they’re done with that and they just don’t come back. But it’s like peeling an onion, I’d say. You’ll feel good, of course, because you’re unloading a lot of things, but then there’s more to uncover. That’s my biggest challenge.
NCA: Can you think of a mentor or a coach that you’ve had who was the most vital to your success as a coach and in what ways did this individual help you thrive in your career?
Leticia: Right now, I would say that would be Michael Stevenson. He is incredibly creative and he keeps developing more and more techniques to help people. I trust him 100% unlike other people that just keep promoting themselves with all this hype and then they don’t deliver truthfulness. That’s an important thing. Honesty and integrity. And I have dealt with some others that are — ayayay.
It is important to be working from integrity and following the rules because some people want to delve into areas that you’re not supposed to. We’re not psychologists or licensed practitioners in that way and a lot of other people tend to do that, and that’s not okay.
NCA: What is one piece of advice you would give to somebody who is just getting started in their coaching career?
Leticia: If coaching is your passion and you want to help people, make sure you find a school that really delivers and is focused on training you the best way possible. One that also helps you protect your rights and protect the rights of others legally.
Anybody can read a book. Anybody can go online, take this course, and boom, you’re a coach. And then suddenly you have a person with you and you’re coaching them and you say one thing and then you trigger their PTSD — what do you do? Nobody trained you on how to deal with that or even how avoid getting there.
Consider this as a livelihood. Your passion for helping people needs to be the best way possible for you and for your client if you want to feel good at the end of a session watching and noticing that your client is doing much better.