VOA标准英语2011--Life Coaches Help With Tough Decisions

Life Coaches Help With Tough Decisions

You’ve probably heard about sports coaches, fitness coaches, voice and music teachers, career counselors¹, psychiatrists² and other specialists who teach skills and help us cope with daily life.
But there’s a rapidly growing kind of professional who does a little bit of everything. She or he is called a “life coach.” People who are at crossroads in their lives - and corporations that want to give certain employees a career boost - are turning to them for help.
The idea that one person’s success story can change other people’s lives for the better goes back at least to the 1930s and best-selling books with titles such as "Think and Grow Rich." Dale Carnegie’s famous self-improvement program “How to Win Friends and Influence People” came along soon thereafter.
But this new breed of life coaches includes more than enthusiastic speakers or writers. They use their own experiences in business, sports, military service, or psychotherapy to help others make critical life decisions.
They often give their approach a slogan, such as “energy coaching” or “fearless living” or “working yourself happy.”
This is the kind of coach one usually thinks about, but even the most unathletic people are seeking coaching about ordinary life as well. Dave Lakhani in Boise, Idaho, for instance, works with salespeople³ to develop what he calls a “road map.” He says an ongoing⁴ relationship with a coach is like having a personal fitness trainer for one’s career and life outside work.
Lakhani’s Bold Approach coaching firm also donates some of its time to help people who are anything but successful - including battered⁵ women and struggling single mothers.
One man in San Francisco told VOA he meets with his life coach once a week in person, and they talk by telephone twice weekly. “My life coach and I work on the future me,” he said.
An association of life coaches has more than five thousand members around the world. It has a code of ethics⁶, and it credentials⁷ members in four levels - up to “master coach.”
But others in the so-called “helping professions” are not thrilled about the life-coaching movement. They say that anyone, trained or untrained, can call himself or herself a life coach, and that slick promoters who mess with people’s lives can do more harm than good.

1 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

2 psychiatrists   

n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
• Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分

3 salespeople   

n.售货员，店员；售货员( salesperson的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The shop usually employs additional salespeople for the Christmas toy trade. 这家商店通常雇一些临时售货员来做圣诞节玩具生意。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Under our new system, salespeople sit down with each of our dealers. 根据新的制度，销售人员应逐个地同承销商洽商。 来自辞典例句

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

6 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

7 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。