Cathy Liska Given that we all face challenges, approaching them with a solution focus is smart. Whether you are facing challenges yourself or supporting coaching clients facing challenges or both, following are questions to explore yourself and/or to ask your clients. 
Loss of Income
- What is the financial impact?
- What are your reserves to carry you through?
- What are your options for cutting expenses?
- What are your options for accessing resources in a different way?
- What are your options for adding to your income?
- What support is available?
- What happens is you do not change anything?
- What changes are possible?
- How will you move forward?
Closure of Children’s Schools
- How does it impact childcare?
- How does it impact your children’s education?
- How long will this be a consideration?
- How can you adjust your work schedule?
- What flexibility do you have with your job?
- Who can help?
- Who can you exchange help with?
Inability to Get Home
- Where are you now?
- What are the travel limitations?
- What are the travel alternatives?
- How long will you be dealing with the circumstances?
- How are you impacted by staying where you are? (Ask follow-up questions about: Financial, Family, and Work Considerations, etc.)
- Who can help your family?
- How can you address work considerations?
- What are your options in terms of expenditures?
- How will you take care of yourself?
Quarantines
- What are the challenges with being quarantined?
- What are the benefits?
- What protocols do you want in a place to ensure maximum safety?
- What necessities to you have?
- What necessities do you want to acquire?
- How will you acquire those necessities?
- What services are available to help?
- What other support is available?
- How will you take advantage of the time?
Lack of Access to Basic Necessities
- What is available to you?
- What is missing?
- What are the resources for acquiring necessities?
- How can you ration what you do have?
- What opportunities do you have for sharing resources?
- What alternatives are available?
- How can you maximize what you have?
- What are alternatives for what you lack?
Illness
- What is the status now?
- What is the prognosis?
- What do you know about taking care of someone with this illness?
- What additional information do you want?
- Where can you get that information?
- What is the best way to take care of yourself and / or the person who is ill?
- What protocols do you want to have in place?
- How will you take care of others who are nearby?
- Who else do you want to connect with during this time? How?
- How can you make this time as comfortable as possible?
- How can you maximize this time?
Death
If there is time available:
- How can you best support the person who is dying?
- What do they want in their remaining time?
- What conversations are important to complete?
- What people are important to connect with?
- What planning do you want to do?
After Death:
- How do you want to honor their life?
- What memories do you want to preserve?
- What planning is required now?
- What must be decided?
- What must be managed over time?
- What will it take for closure?
- What would they say to you if they could?
- How will you hold on to the good?
- How will you move forward?
- How will you celebrate them?
These questions are intended to help whoever is facing a challenge moving forward in the best way possible. The questions are coaching questions based on the tips taught during coaching certification. There are more questions to ask based on individual circumstances. Use what you learned during your coach training to best help yourself and / or others.
