Is Shift therapy, or coaching?
Coaching, and not a substitute for therapy. Therapy treats mental illness and works with clinical diagnoses. Coaching works with functional adults who want to change the relationship they have with their past and their present. The workbook is a self-guided piece of that coaching work — it asks you to look honestly at seven areas of your life and notice where the gap is. It's informed by psychoanalytic and attachment theory because those are the most honest frameworks for this kind of reflection, but it isn't a clinical tool. If you're in acute crisis, please be with a therapist.
How long does the Shift workbook take?
Most people finish in about thirty minutes. Some take closer to an hour because they actually want to sit with the questions. A handful come back over a few days and do one life area at a time. There's no correct pace. Your answers are saved in your browser as you go, so you can close the tab and come back to it.
Is it really free? What's the catch?
It's free. There's no paywall, no credit card, no trial. The one thing it costs is your email address, which is how I send you the summary of your answers and, if you opt in, the occasional note from me. You will also, at the end, be invited to book a free discovery call if you want to talk about what came up. You are not required to, and nothing about the workbook changes if you don't.
What do I get at the end?
A summary of your responses — your ratings across the seven areas, your answers to each question, and the "one small shift" you named for yourself in each one — delivered to your email so you have it to return to. You'll also see, at a glance, where the gaps are: the areas where you rated yourself low, or answered honestly in a way that surprised you. That picture is the thing most people walk away with.
What happens to my answers and my email?
Your answers stay in your browser unless you choose to share them with me when you submit. Your email is used to send you the summary and, if you checked the consent box, occasional emails from me — coaching reflections and new offerings, nothing frequent, nothing sold to third parties, unsubscribe any time. Basic technical data (page views, submissions) is logged so I know the thing is working. Full details are in the privacy policy.
Is this right for me if I'm going through a big life transition?
Usually, yes. A transition — a divorce, a layoff, an empty nest, a new diagnosis, a career pivot, a first year sober, a recent move, a birth — is exactly the moment this workbook was built for. It gives you a structured way to look at where you are across all the parts of your life at once, which is hard to do in your head when one of them is on fire. If the transition is acute and you're in crisis, a therapist is the right first call; the workbook will still be here after.
Can I come back to it later, or do I have to finish in one sitting?
Come back. Your progress saves automatically in your browser, so you can close the tab, walk away, sleep on a question, and pick it up again. A fair number of women do one life area per day for a week. That's a perfectly good way to use it.
Do I have to book a coaching call after?
No. At the end you'll be invited to book a free fifteen-minute discovery call if you want to talk through what came up in your responses. If you don't, nothing else happens — you keep the summary, you keep your answers, you get on with your life. The workbook is built to stand alone.
Can men or non-binary people take this, or is it only for women?
The workbook is written for women, and most of my coaching practice is with women — that's who I know best and who the language is tuned for. That said, nothing about the seven areas or the questions themselves is gated. If you're a man or non-binary and the framing speaks to you, you're welcome to use it. The main site and coaching offerings are designed around women's lives specifically.
Is there a paper version?
Yes. If you'd rather not do it online, there's a printable PDF version — same questions, same seven areas, yours to write in by hand. The link is on the welcome screen once you begin, and in the footer of the email you'll receive.
Do I need to have my life "figured out" before I start?
No. The workbook is built for the opposite — for the place where you don't yet know what you want, or you know and haven't admitted it. You don't need a plan to take it. You need thirty minutes and a willingness to answer honestly.