ABOUT ME
For two decades Gabe Shippam has worked in a wide array of positions within the non-profit sector, primarily as a leader in church and para-church ministries.
He has spent his time assisting needy populations, serving the poor and homeless, and counseling those struggling with addiction. This others-focused journey allowed him to do a little bit of everything. He established internship and missions programs that impacted the lives of thousands; spent countless hours counseling in recovery centers; developed transitional housing solutions for those escaping poverty; managed large and small homeless shelters; and advocated for emergency resource centers.
He is skilled in strategic planning, non-profit management, cultural assessment/triage, leader development, and personal coaching. He has gained valuable experience in motivational interviewing, active listening, trauma-informed care, chaplaincy, pastoral care, biblical counseling, recovery coaching, and social work. He has been an integral part in capital campaigns, facility acquisitions, mergers, large structural adjustment, and org-wide philosophical changes. He is a gifted public speaker - adept at preaching, leading small group discussions, and training large groups. He cares deeply about helping leaders lead well. This often means making sure all employees, board members, volunteers, clients, and donors flourish alongside their leaders.
During his career he has come to know that life is more than a resume, and leadership is more than a skillset. On his journey, he’s experienced burnout, identity-crisis, mental health challenges, and the realization that trauma has indeed formed the way he functions and relates. Several years ago, he began his own recovery journey that has led him into deeper emotional awareness, story-informed freedom, and miraculous healing.
He lives in Spokane, WA with his beautiful wife and three kids, where he enjoys all things outdoors and everything a beautiful city has to offer. He serves as the Executive Pastor at Soma Spokane and oversees staff, ministry leads, and counseling/care.
WhAT IS COACHING?
Coaching is not psychotherapy or licensed counseling, although it may carry some similarities. Coaching is a solution-oriented process designed to help clients grow in their relationships and emotional health, as well as their leadership ability.
As a trained personal coach I will create an environment and structure designed to be deeply healing and empowering. We will visit themes from your past and work through real-time implications of those life-shaping events. In our sessions you will learn to be more fully present and in turn more fully alive.
As we make this quest, you will discover reasons that may hold you back from living authentically and without shame. My approach is rooted in the attachment theory and is highly relational. We will give lots of room for story work while remaining focused on current identity and relational alignment. By the end of our sessions you will have a plan for continued growth and resources to continue to develop emotional and relational health.
MY APPROACH
My approach to coaching is rooted in the Scriptures, trauma-informed care, and grounded in story. If you feel like the way you are living isn’t fulfilling, but you don’t know why, that’s not unusual. But it’s also not the way God intends us to live. If your outer successes aren’t matched by inner peace, you aren’t alone. But may often feel like you are. If you think you might need help, but don’t know what kind of help to ask for, coaching may assist.
Coaching is a customizable process designed to bring you more in touch with yourself and develop you as a leader. The aim is to bring congruence, emotional health, genuine identity, and joy/full-life back into your leadership.
You will be doing left and right brain learning, deep heart-work, and challenging practical application. This will take a lot of time and energy. It will require you to feel real emotions - grieve, get angry, be overcome with sadness, etc. The process works if you work it, and you should because you’re worth it.
