Tessa Spring

Attending Health and Wellbeing Cognitive Behavioural Coaching training in January 2025 was a valuable step for this service. The World Health Organisation describes health education as learning that helps people “improve their health by increasing their knowledge or influencing their attitudes.” That definition feels very close to the heart of what I do.

Whether it’s reflection and planning sessions or home and moving support, each is a learning process. The chance for reflection, clarity and practical steps that help people move forward in ways that feel possible and sustainable.

Why wellbeing coaching is a good fit

Wellbeing coaching is preventative in nature, focused on enhancing personal wellbeing and creating stability. Sometimes this looks like moving to a home or community that better supports your life stage. At other times it means building self-acceptance and inner resources to feel confident about the choices you want to make.

This might be a first-time buyer navigating the stress of the property process, or someone considering later life needs and how their living environment supports them. It might also be someone not moving home at all, but facing a major life transition – such as becoming a mum and wanting to talk through a changing sense of identity and purpose (something that I personally would have found helpful).

Supporting transitions with calm clarity

Home moves and life changes can both be stressful and uncertain. Coaching models designed for stress management can be a useful tool to help people through these times. I draw on approaches that include:

• Checking in and setting a shared agenda
• Reviewing progress since the last conversation
• Identifying current challenges
• Agreeing next steps or small, achievable actions
• Seeking feedback and reflecting together.

I also use techniques such as motivational interviewing and coping strategies to support people in ways that feel practical and manageable.

Performance, wellbeing and navigating change

Alongside wellbeing coaching and general cognitive behavioural coaching, I also draw on approaches from performance coaching. This can be particularly useful when someone is facing a life shift or a home move, because it helps to identify what may be getting in the way and how to move forward.

A key part of this is understanding the balance between performance and wellbeing. The framework above shows four broad positions people can find themselves in:

• Distressed and dysfunctional: feeling stuck, struggling to cope, or unable to take meaningful action
• Distressed but functional: still managing day-to-day, but at risk of burnout or relying on a narrow set of coping strategies
• Content low performer: coping but underperforming, perhaps avoiding change or putting things off, while wellbeing feels steady
• Consistent high performer: experiencing higher wellbeing and higher performance, thriving through balanced coping and effective action.

Reflecting on where you currently sit in this balance can be a powerful step. Perhaps moving home feels overwhelming, or you know change is needed but confidence and decision-making are proving difficult. Or maybe life has shifted in another way – becoming a parent, starting again after loss, or preparing for a new chapter – and you feel your sense of purpose or identity is unclear.

Performance coaching models help to raise awareness of what is holding you back and clarify what actions will move you closer to where you want to be. This might mean fine-tuning skills, strengthening confidence, improving task management, or learning to sustain performance without compromising wellbeing.

The cognitive view is that by becoming aware of limiting beliefs and assumptions, it is possible to open up new perspectives and choices. Solutions-focused and step-by-step coaching approaches are also invaluable for breaking down big challenges into achievable actions. By working this way, the gap between where you are now and where you want to be begins to close: building confidence, resilience and clarity for both short-term goals and long-term plans.

Services

My focus is helping change feel possible, whether in life, at home or in ourselves.

Whether you are:

• Buying your first home and feeling in need of guidance
• Planning a move or preparing your home for sale
• Weighing up whether to stay put or relocate
• Adapting to a new chapter such as parenthood or a career change
• Going through later life changes that affect where or how you live.

I offer space for reflection and planning alongside practical home-finding and moving support to help you take clear, confident steps.

Optional wellbeing services such as yoga or reflective writing can also support change, when appropriate.

A supportive way forward

I work with people remotely across the UK by phone or video, and also in-person, if desired, for those local to Elmbridge or Kingston. Start the process with an initial chat. Find out more here.