A coach with lucid dreaming expertise can assist you in ways that self-instruction methods cannot. Most means of learning lucid dreaming, including online courses, provide the student with general information that may or may not be relevant to that individual. More complex issues with implementing practices are often not adequately addressed by cookie-cutter courses in lucid dreaming. A coach will make the time and effort to get to know you personally. Your training will be individualized to best help you reach your goals. Moreover, Kristen's doctoral training has given her expertise in human behavior and learning, making training under her guidance advantageous. There are many other ways to learn lucid dreaming besides coaching. It is entirely possible to learn lucid dreaming on your own with a little reading, research, and practice. The classic go-to book on lucid dreams is Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming (LaBerge & Rheingold, 1990), though there are many other titles or resources available. Kristen also posts free information on her blog and several social media sites.

The various online courses in lucid dreaming all have their own unique style and you will likely learn valuable things about lucid dreaming from many of them. Some disadvantages, however, include that many courses are highly intensive and fast-paced. The scope of lucid dreaming is vast, so crash courses on the topic make it more difficult to learn to apply the material in a meaningul, sustainable way. The general information on techniques presented in many courses are lacking in depth and amount of personal attention needed to become a skillful and frequent lucid dreamer quickly. When you are encountering the common obstacles to becoming an advanced oneironaut, it can be discouraging and demotivating when standard coursework does not meet your needs despite your efforts. What makes Oneironaut Coaching different from these programs is that it does not give the same standard information to everyone. Coaching is a personal relationship. You partner with your coach to learn and regularly apply lucid dream skill sets in ways that will work for you personally. Oneironaut coaching allows you to not just develop but also to refine your skillsets to a more sophisticated level so your lucid dreams can become more habitual and less effortful. The program's pace is designed to be more practical than intensive, short-term trainings by allowing you the time and space to practice and solidify skills, receive meaningful feedback specific to your practice, and develop a lifestyle that promotes regular lucid dreaming. The structure of live and between-session coaching using the online system is also unique in that it will keep you accountable, motivated, inspired, and focused on the tasks most important to your development as an oneironaut. The social aspects of group coaching, in particular, can greatly enliven the process of learning lucid dreaming.

Coaching in lucid dreaming with Kristen is based on quality and highly personalized attention. In order to do this, she maintains a low, manageable number of active coaching clients at any given time. The Essentials package is more intensive, and may have more frequent interaction due to the faster pace of the program. Sometimes you will be in contact most days of the week, depending on your level of input. The Advanced and Alumni packages include regular interaction with Kristen, but due to the depth and time required of more advanced teachings, these may take place at a slightly slower pace. This also allows you to put more time into implementing and integrating lucidity practices into your daily and nightly routines. Kristen will regularly be reviewing your dream reports, journal entries, assignments, and progress while directly providing you with feedback, tailored suggestions, and encouragement as you go along. This is to aid your own development, but also helps her to use the time in your live coaching sessions most effectively. Since you will be regularly submitting information and updates during your coaching period, it may not be possible for Kristen to provide extensive feedback to every one of your contacts online. Keep in mind that some skills-training issues should be reserved for live coaching sessions for best effect. Both group and one-on-one coaching formats include regular and frequent feedback with your Kristen. Personalized feedback from Kristen may be slightly less extensive and/or frequent in group compared to one on one coaching. Some interactions in group coaching formats will address the group as a whole, and some may be tailored specifically to you. Advantages of group coaching includes that it tends to be more dynamic, reinforcing, and lower cost, and group members learn things from each other that they may not have learned otherwise.

In order to provide the highest degree and quality of personal attention to committed clients, Kristen is unable to provide free consultation about working with her to everyone. Instead, she lets her years of experience and the quality of her work once you engage in coaching to speak for itself. If you have specific questions in need of answering prior to committing to a program, you can contact her by email. She typically responds to potential clients in 1-2 business days.

Coaching packages should be purchased when you are able to make a commitment to fully completing the program without disruption. With that in mind, emergencies and other life priorities do come up. Individual coaching clients with special circumstances that arise may contact Kristen if they will be absent for more than 2 weeks. Together you will determine if your program should pause and resume when you are ready. Group coaching clients may not have as much flexibility to pause the program since they are working with others. Nevertheless, bring up any prolonged periods you will be absent to determine if there are other options available to best complete your training package. Also keep in mind that the group coaching schedule for live sessions has little flexibility. If you miss a live session, you will be unable to make this up. Unfortunately, we are not able to record live sessions due to the sometimes intimate nature of the material discussed. On the upside, you will have access to the live session summary so you can remain up to date. Certainly your peers can also get you up to speed, so don't be shy to ask someone. Most live group coaching sessions take place on weekends. If you have scheduling limitations, bring these up immediately and Kristen will attempt to take this into account.

No, you are welcome to share as much or as little as you like with your coach. The online platform allows you to specify if the information you enter into the system should be kept private or shared. If you are participating in group coaching, you can also specify what information is shared with your coach, other group members, or kept to yourself. However, group members are encouraged to be active with others, sharing experiences and encouragement. If this is not your preference, please consider an individual coaching experience instead.

Even if you are already knowledgeable in lucid dreaming, in most cases, the Essentials package is a pre-requisite to the Advanced program. This is due in large part to the amount of disinformation on the web about lucid dreaming, and the likelihood that basic skills could still be improved. Additionally, it is best to learn skills and concepts from perspectives that are based on solid theoretical, scientific and practical grounds (not just personal experience), which Oneironaut Coaching does provide. By completing the Essentials experience, you will also be familiarizing yourself with Kristen's teaching style, developing your coaching relationship, and building a fertile foundation from which your lucid dreaming practice can flourish. It also helps to keep in mind that no matter your experience level, Oneironaut Coaching is designed to meet you where you are at.

Oneironaut coaching is not suitable for individuals who are struggling with active mental disorders. Individuals residing in California may contact Dr. LaMarca at her private practice if interested in lucid dream therapy (See Lucidity Sleep & Psychiatry for more information). In addition to being a coach, Kristen is also a licensed psychologist in the state of California (PSY26819) who diagnoses and treats mental problems. Please be clear that coaching is not to be confused with psychotherapy. Though these may have some similiarities, coaching and psychotherapy are different activities and it's important you understand the differences between them. Psychotherapy is a healthcare service and coaching is not. Both activities use knowledge of human behavior, learning, motivation, behavioral change, and interactive counseling techniques. ​The major differences are in the goals, focus, and level of professional responsibility. Coaching focuses on developing and implementing strategies to meet client-identified goals of enhanced performance and personal satisfaction. Coaching may address personal projects, life balance, job performance and satisfaction, or general conditions in your life, business, or profession. Coaching utilizes personal strategic planning, values clarification, brainstorming, motivational counseling, and other counseling techniques. The primary foci of psychotherapy are identifying, diagnosing, and treating mental disorders. The goals include alleviating symptoms, changing dysfunctional behaviors which are the result of the disorder, and developing new strategies to cope with stress and manage symptoms. Psychotherapy patients are often emotionally vulnerable, which gives psychotherapists disproportionate power that creates a fiduciary responsibility to protect client safety and do no harm. The coaching relationship is specifically designed to avoid the power differentials that occur in psychotherapy. You set the agenda and your success depends on your willingness to take risks and try new approaches. The coaching relationship is designed to be more direct and challenging. At times, the roles of coach and psychotherapist can become a potential conflict and under most circumstances it is ethically inappropriate to play both roles with a client. If you or your coach recognize that you have a problem that would benefit from psychotherapeutic intervention, you will be referred to the appropriate resources. In most cases, Kristen does not provide coaching to individuals with untreated or unstable psychological conditions. Contact us if you need more information as to whether Oneironaut Coaching is right for your specific goals.