One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began…
I’m here to help.
Are you exploring coaching because you long for change in your life but can’t seem to bring it about? Are you frustrated with a problem that just won’t go away? Or maybe you are simply exhausted and need some time to figure out why? If any of that feels like where you are right now, hear these words from Wendell Berry:
It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have come to our real journey.
No matter what you are dealing with, consider that you may be poised at the start of a new work, a journey of coming alive in a new way. If that is you, know that I am here to listen and to help. Together, we will develop skills and strategies that help you navigate the next stage of your journey with confidence and hope.
We heal in relationships.
The work we do in coaching is the work of relationship. Whatever you are facing, it is essential that you find the right fit and that you feel safe to be just as you are. Once you have found that, you are well on your way towards living with the freedom and aliveness your heart longs to experience.
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In his poem, Fluent, John O’Donohue wrote, “I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.” I would be honored to join you in the sacred pursuit of that kind of life.
Richard completed his BA at the University of Virginia (2001), MA at Covenant Theological Seminary (2006), and MEd at Vanderbilt University (2016).
Before starting his coaching practice, Richard worked as a Licensed Professional Counselor in private practice, the Director of Upper School at both The Stony Brook School and Saint Paul Christian Academy, and the Executive Coordinator of Nashville Psychotherapy Institute.
When not helping men live more fully in their personal and professional relationships, Richard serves as the Director of Development for Young Life Capernaum, is an elder at the Crieve Hall congregation of Midtown Fellowship, spends time with his wife and three daughters, builds all sorts of things out of wood, takes care of his golden retriever Skye, and tries to maintain a 3/4 swing off the teebox.
For the past six years, I have served the greater Nashville community as a Licensed Professional Counselor. When I began my new role with Young Life Capernaum on April 1, 2025, I decided to end my counseling practice and launch a coaching practice with a very limited number of spots per week. If you are curious what the similarities and differences are between Coaching and Mental Health Counseling, here are a few introductory thoughts.
Coaching focuses largely on the present and future, helping clients identify goals, overcome obstacles, and develop strategies for changing their current behaviors and building the lives they want. Mental Health Counseling can include all of the above experiences but primarily focuses on mental health concerns, past trauma, relationship problems, and/or emotional distress that may be impacting current functioning. A key feature of the work of counseling is developing and implementing a treatment plan to restore functioning.
Coaching does not require formal degrees or certifications, and coaches are not regulated by licensing boards or trained to diagnose or treat mental health conditions. Mental Health Counseling requires extensive education, and therapists are regulated by licensing boards, trained to diagnose and treat mental health conditions, and are bound by ethical standards and confidentiality laws.
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Cowan Coaching