Hello, welcome to my website. Personal coaching can help you achieve goals, increase self-awareness, and create space to build a thriving personal and professional life. In our work together, we will get to know you, with emphasis on your specific personal context and history. This journey can lead to a deeper understanding of self, the naming of unconscious dynamics operating that are inhibiting your growth and leadership. Most of all, the process of talking about your goals and story to a coach who offers emotional resonance can provide containment and reflection, creating fertile ground for growth.
We can help you with:
Living a life aligned with your values Professional growth Improving personal relationships Balancing work and personal life Navigating a variety of life transitions Grieving the end of marriages or other losses
“I was recently contacted by someone who attempted to end their life a couple years ago. Ryan's blog post was a key asset in helping move this person to a place of openness.” — Dr. Shauna Springer, Licensed Psychologist, Author of: Warrior: How to Support Those Who Protect Us
A little about me
My name is Ryan Berg, and I am the creator and principal coach at Essential Beginnings. I have a deep and sincere interest in serving clients who are passionate about making positive changes in their life. I am a two-tour, Marine Corps combat infantry Veteran of the Iraq War, internationally read blogger, and bring a unique set of skills and experiences to coaching. I employ a relational coaching approach rooted in compassion. I am most inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche, who said, "Never criticize someone for taking steps backwards. They could be articulating a very large leap forward." Curious how to get in touch? To learn more, please contact Ryan directly:415.852.2734 or ryan@ryanbergconsulting.com
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Pumping the Breaks on Tears
My friend Alex committed suicide a month ago. For context, he was not a Veteran. A week prior to his...
Read
Leadership and Healing: Creating Space for Transformation
- By Ryan Berg • The first time we took enemy contact was on our first patrol. We had just...
Read
Thank God for Emotional Pain
“Thank God for emotional pain”… was a thought that I had as I entered the park on an afternoon walk...
Read
For Me, The Marine Corps was a Suicide Mission
I joined the Marine Corps in hopes of dying an honorable death and restoring dignity to my family name. My...
Read
How I Transformed My Relationship
I met my wife on the internet. Eharmony to be precise. It was early 2015 and I just got out...
Read
The Soul Crushing Pain of Family Estrangement
My mother was sexually abused by her father. Growing up, I was completely blind of this horrible fact. Yet I...
Read
How to Stop Smoking Marijuana
I used to sneak outside into the backyard, in the early morning hours before my wife awoke, to use marijuana....
Read
Scraping the Skull of My Psyche with a Scalpel
I’ve traveled to the center of my soul. Doing this has been the single most profoundly difficult, exhaustive, and emotionally...
Read
I Understand Your Deep Sadness
A few days ago I was having a really rough time emotionally, feeling heartbroken. To be up front, today isn't...
Read
Pain Is Never Weakness Leaving the Body
...You walk into your bedroom and clang your pinky toe on the sturdy, round wooden leg of the bed frame....
Read
Personal Coaching in Bay Area
Essential Beginnings provides personal coaching to individuals in service of creating positive, sustainable, transformational change, growth, and development...
Hello, welcome to my website. Personal coaching can help you achieve goals, increase self-awareness, and create space to build a thriving personal and professional life. In our work together, we will get to know you, with emphasis on your specific personal context and history. This journey can lead to a deeper understanding of self, the naming of unconscious dynamics operating that are inhibiting your growth and leadership, well-being and fulfillment. Most of all, the process of talking about your goals and story to a coach who offers emotional resonance can provide containment and reflection, creating fertile ground for growth.
We can help you with:
Living a life aligned with your values Professional growth Improving personal relationships Balancing work and personal life Navigating a variety of life transitions Grieving the end of marriages or other losses
“I was recently contacted by someone who attempted to end their life a couple years ago. Ryan's blog post was a key asset in helping move this person to a place of openness.”— Dr. Shauna Springer, Licensed Psychologist, Author of: Warrior: How to Support Those Who Protect Us
A little about me
My name is Ryan Berg, and I am the creator and principal coach at Essential Beginnings. I have a deep and sincere interest in serving clients who are passionate about making positive changes in their life. I am a two-tour, Marine Corps combat infantry Veteran of the Iraq War, internationally read blogger, and bring a unique set of skills and experiences to coaching. I employ a relational coaching approach rooted in compassion. I am most inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche, who said, "Never criticize someone for taking steps backwards. They could be articulating a very large leap forward." Curious how to get in touch? To learn more, please contact Ryan directly:415.852.2734 or ryan@ryanbergconsulting.com Click to read more
Pumping the Breaks on Tears
My friend Alex committed suicide a month ago. For context, he was not a Veteran. A week prior to his death, he visited my wife and I at our home. I met Alex in community college in 2007, and we remained in touch intermittently. I was drawn to Alex because he made me laugh hysterically every time I saw him – without fail.
Read
Leadership and Healing: Creating Space for Transformation
- By Ryan Berg • The first time we took enemy contact was on our first patrol. We had just arrived in country, and we had not yet gained enough experience to conduct a foot patrol that didn't leave us exhausted. Despite having trained for the past three months, the sweltering heat, and the weight of carrying a full combat load weighed on us. We carried around 60 pounds of gear, and some even more...
Read
Thank God for Emotional Pain
“Thank God for emotional pain”… was a thought that I had as I entered the park on an afternoon walk a few weeks ago. “Wait, what?”, I said to myself internally. “Did I really just utter that?” Something within me stood resolute and firm. Was their truth to this utterance? I sat down on the bench in the park as a deeply intense sadness pulsed through my body, and a warmth took over my skull. ...
Read
For Me, The Marine Corps was a Suicide Mission
I joined the Marine Corps in hopes of dying an honorable death and restoring dignity to my family name. My reaction to knowing that I would be deployed to Iraq in 2004 was nothing short of hysteria. “Finally”, I thought, “If all goes ‘right’ (or wrong) I can put an end to feeling unworthy and living this miserable life in one of the most honorable ways possible.”
Read
How I Transformed My Relationship
I met my wife on the internet. Eharmony to be precise. It was early 2015 and I just got out of a tumultuous short-term relationship, which ended because the woman forgot my middle name — I became enraged, packed up, and left her.
Read
The Soul Crushing Pain of Family Estrangement
My mother was sexually abused by her father. Growing up, I was completely blind of this horrible fact. Yet I experienced its profoundly devastating ripple affects: from countless men entering and exiting our lives and home, exposure to my mother’s rampant sexual life, a gaping void of maternal and paternal nurturance, constant instability, role reversal — where I often behaved like a father to my mother — to pervasive feelings of depression, worthlessness, anxiety, stress,...
Read
How to Stop Smoking Marijuana
I used to sneak outside into the backyard, in the early morning hours before my wife awoke, to use marijuana. It numbed me, and that’s how I made it through the day. I couldn’t feel, and I hated myself. I was addicted and depressed.
Read
Scraping the Skull of My Psyche with a Scalpel
I’ve traveled to the center of my soul. Doing this has been the single most profoundly difficult, exhaustive, and emotionally arduous inward journey of my entire life. As I write this, my heart feels battered, bruised, its veins are sore, the wound still bleeds through capillary walls — has yet to clot.
Read
I Understand Your Deep Sadness
A few days ago I was having a really rough time emotionally, feeling heartbroken. To be up front, today isn't all that glorious either. Things periodically get difficult since I'm currently in psychotherapy talking about very painful things - not to mention the fact that I'm human and inherently vulnerable to a universal spectrum of suffering.
Read
Pain Is Never Weakness Leaving the Body
...You walk into your bedroom and clang your pinky toe on the sturdy, round wooden leg of the bed frame. A mind-numbing ache ascends instantly from your foot to your skull. You lie down on your mattress and clinch hard your eyelids as you whisper hateful obscenities. The pangs climax into one loud verbal curse. The pain pulses, but the worst is over, and a little laugh slips out for there is mercy after all...
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Located in Concord, CA
"Coaching is definitely one of [Ryan's] many gifts. His sessions are soothing and reflective."-Samantha, Pleasanton, CA, Essential Beginnings coaching client, 2021
"Ryan is such a deeply caring person."-Jonathan, Castro Valley, CA, Essential Beginnings coaching client, 2021
Let's touch base.Call or email
415-852-2734
ryan@ryanbergconsulting.com
Life Coaching • SF Bay Area
Website by Ryan Berg
