Ilene Berns-Zare, PsyD, PCC, CEC
Are you looking for a professional coach to inspire you to tap into your best self? My coaching approach is tailored to the individual client, helping you leverage your strengths to maximize your performance and wellbeing. I combine coaching techniques with positive psychology, the scientific study of well-being, and strategies that empower individuals, organizations and communities to thrive. Research shows that people who leverage their strengths are happier and more engaged, experiencing greater meaning and a better fit between life and work.
As a Certified Executive Coach, I can partner with you to help you discover what matters most to you and create a laser focus to move into action — setting goals, overcoming obstacles, and reaching for your personal and professional best.
I’ve coached and led seminars with people in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, accounting, banking, entrepreneurs, professional coaches, education (Kindergarten-university levels), and other fields.
One of my passions is coaching with people who want to flourish in the second half of life – their next prime time. 21st century views of adult development invite us to revise how we see adulthood and reimagine what’s possible as we navigate the changing seasons of our lives.
I invite you to explore your next steps in this season of your life. Coaching is a collaborative relationship through which you can access your own answers, strengths, and choices.
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“Why do I love your newsletter? It’s written in simple, understandable language that I can grasp as a non-native American. You concentrate all the best in the subject you want your reader to get. If I want, I can go deeper because you add the references at the end. You offer informative ideas and maybe of all of them, there might be a few I can use. I ignore the rest and I have a feeling it’s OK with you. This is not the newsletter I want to delete. Your newsletter talks to me.”
– Magda G
The coaching process is based on the premise that YOU are the expert on your life. Together, we would co-create a coaching process designed to help you move from ideas to action, prioritizing your goals, clarifying your strengths, and empowering yourself toward greater fulfillment, balance, and effectiveness. We would help you explore your strengths, resources, and creativity to discover solutions and move towards your personal and professional best. Coaching helps you design actions and uses accountability strategies to help you stay on track to create the actions you desire. No two people are the same, and everyone’s coaching journey is different. The Awareness, Choices, and Actions are yours. Learning to listen to yourself and make better decisions that fit with your goals, you can learn to be your own coach!
Coaching is NOT mentoring, consulting, or psychotherapy. It is an educational and personal/professional development process for people who are already functional and want to move forward in their lives. Coaches help people build on information, strengths and skills they already have, develop their vision, and implement an action plan to realize their goals. A successful coaching relationship is a process in which coach and client co-create an alliance in which the client can discover and build on her/his own strengths.
Anyone can say they are a coach because coaching is not currently regulated by the government. The International Coaching Federation represents the highest quality in professional coaching with standards of practice, core competencies, and specific education requirements to credential coaches.
You can be in any location you choose during your coaching meetings. Most clients prefer meeting by phone, but other options are available. We typically meet one-to-one weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly, usually for 45 minutes.
I welcome your questions about coaching and offer a free 30-minute consultation to discuss what matters to you, your goals, current life circumstances, and any obstacles you’ve been facing as you strive to reach your most important goals. During this conversation, we can become acquainted, and mutually establish if we could be a good fit as a coaching team. To explore whether coaching is a good choice for you, please contact me at [email protected] or click here.
“At year’s end, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your wonderful newsletters. Just now I listened to your podcast. From that 15 minutes, I have gained some motivation to review the notes from your seminar. In turn, that will give me an extra boost that I need right now. As you can see, your wisdom keeps extending itself to me! Thank you for all you have done for me. I am wishing you all the best!”
Renee
Northwest Suburban, IL
“Thank you so much for today – it was a wonderful webinar. Very insightful, very calming and reassuring. You always have so much to offer, and I’m truly grateful for your willingness to share your time and talent with us.”
Lynndah Easterwood Lahey, Wheeling Township
Arlington Heights, IL
“As a library program coordinator, I greatly appreciated Dr. Berns-Zare’s willingness and enthusiasm to try an online webinar format in response to our need to cancel in-person events at this time. She did an excellent job adjusting her presentation to this format and kept it engaging.
Our patrons also gave positive feedback, stating that they enjoyed the “Hitting Your Stride at Midlife and Beyond” program and felt they walked away with concrete suggestions for ways to enhance their lives, especially during this difficult time. I think so many of the topics that Dr. Berns-Zare speaks on are especially relevant right now and would recommend them to other program coordinators, whether in-person or virtual.”
Stavroula Harissis, Indian Trails Public Library
Wheeling, Illinois
“I’ll admit I had my doubts about coaching before working with Ilene. As a high-performing “Type A” personality, I had never thought of myself as someone who needed coaching. Wasn’t that just for people who weren’t cutting it? I knew my craft as a marketer and had plenty of job-specific training under my belt. How could a coach who has never worked in my field help?
I’m glad I took the plunge. You are in charge with Ilene. Her structured coaching process forced my thinking into new areas of opportunity, and helped me see key areas of my business that I was ignoring. Even though I was already making progress towards my goals, I feel even more certain that I am on the right path today. I highly recommend Ilene to anyone interested in maximizing the contribution they make to their business.”
Rich Delaney, Rich Delaney Marketing
Oak Park, IL
“I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Ilene Berns-Zare on a presentation that she gave for the Community Parent Network of Stevenson High School. Ilene was thorough and worked hard to understand what our committee was looking for, while also offering her own ideas. Her approach to the topic of mindfulness was flexible and she was willing to meet our community needs. Ilene was warmly received by the community while speaking in a knowledgeable and engaging manner. Everyone left the presentation feeling like they learned something valuable.”
Mara Heichman (CPC, ELI-MP)
Mindfulness and Aging Well
Monthly Discussion Series – Flourishing at Midlife & Beyond: Invigorating Resilience & Wellbeing in a “Post-Pandemic” World
