Intentional Choices Coaching & Consulting

How do you move forward when the road ahead isn't clearly visible?

You may feel caught between a life that no longer fits and a future you cannot yet imagine. You know something needs to change, but uncertainty can make every choice feel risky. What if you choose the wrong path—or make a decision that costs you the independence, freedom, or sense of agency you have worked hard to preserve? I understand those fears because I have faced them in my own life. Moving forward begins with finding enough clarity to choose—not the whole path, but the next intentional step.

A highway stretching toward the horizon under open clouds
When the path begins to shift

Sometimes the path you have been walking begins to shift…

I know how unsettling it can be to want to move forward while questioning whether you can trust yourself to make the right choice. My own experiences with that uncertainty have deeply shaped the way I support others as a coach.

Where the forest path divides

When we work together, we slow things down enough to understand what is changing, clarify what matters most, and explore your next step with greater steadiness and intention—guided by your core values.

“A cliff is a significant event that alters the trajectory of a life and forces choices about what’s next.”

— Jim Collins

Coastal cliffs
Cliffs you may be facing
You May Be… And Asking Yourself
Approaching retirementWho am I when work no longer organizes my life?
Newly retiredWhy do I feel unsettled when this is what I wanted?
Widowed or post-caregivingWhat remains of me after so much loss or responsibility?
Leaving or changing workWhat do I still have to offer?
Facing an identity shiftWhat matters now that the old role is changing?
Carrying an unrealized desireIs it too late to choose differently?
Successful on paper but uncertain insideWhy does the life I built no longer feel complete?

You are not alone in these questions.

The Intentional Choices Approach

It's not too late to change, learn, or create a different future. You do not need to rush an important change—or remain indefinitely on a path that no longer fits.

My five-phase Intentional Choices approach offers a reflective structure for slowing down, understanding what is changing, clarifying what matters, and choosing grounded next steps that remain your own.

1
Pause
What is changing?Create space to notice what is happening, what may be ending, and what needs your attention now.
2
Listen
What matters now?Pay attention to your values, needs, longings, responsibilities, emotions, and inner wisdom.
3
Clarify
What choices are available?Name the possibilities before you and consider their emotional, relational, practical, and financial implications.
4
Choose
What is the next honest step?Identify a right-sized next step that reflects your values rather than fear, pressure, or old expectations.
5
Move
What will support the path ahead?Begin moving forward with greater clarity, steadiness, and self-trust — adjusting as you learn.
A quiet canyon path
What makes this approach different

Not advice. Not a formula. Not pressure.

In our work together, you can expect:

  • Focused space to think clearly without being pushed.
  • Deep listening paired with practical structure.
  • Thoughtful questions that help you name what is changing.
  • Attention to your values, responsibilities, emotions, and real-life constraints.
  • Reflection prompts or right-sized explorations between sessions.
  • Support identifying next steps that are realistic, grounded, and your own.
Reflective Resources

Research-based tools for insights

When helpful, we may use research-based self-assessments to deepen self-awareness and support decision-making. They are not used to diagnose or label you, but to illuminate patterns that may be difficult to see on your own.

ToolHelps clarify
Life Values InventoryWhat matters most in this season of life
EQ-i 2.0Emotional patterns, stress responses, and relational awareness
DISCCommunication, decision-making, and change style

Swipe to see more →

Misty mountain lake

The tools do not replace reflection.
They support it.

What working together looks like

AI tools can generate possibilities. A coaching relationship helps you discern what fits—and understand why a particular direction aligns with your values, circumstances, and life as a whole. As a coach, educator, and adult-development guide, I draw on an earned doctorate and decades of professional experience helping adults make sense of complexity, navigate significant change, and move forward with greater clarity and intention. My role is not to provide therapy or prescribe a reinvention of your life. I will not tell you what your life should become or hand you a predetermined formula. Instead, I bring a calm, strategic presence to our work together. We begin by exploring what is changing and clarifying what deserves attention. Through conversation, reflection, and, when useful, assessment tools, we look for patterns, possibilities, and values-aligned next steps. Between sessions, small explorations may help deepen what is becoming clearer. The value of human coaching lies in this responsive relationship: being deeply heard, thoughtfully challenged, and supported as you choose a path forward that is genuinely your own.

Suzanne Dunn, PhD

Individual coaching sessions begin at $225 for 60 minutes. Packages are available for clients who want a more sustained coaching space, along with a limited number of reduced-fee spaces when full-fee coaching is not accessible. We can talk about what fits your needs during the free 20-minute consultation.

Wood bridge
“We don’t have to be perfect, just engaged and committed to aligning values with actions.”

— Brené Brown

Get to know me

This quote has stayed with me for years. It may be familiar to you as well:

Suzanne Dunn
"Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you."

— Parker J. Palmer

Before you choose a coach, it helps to understand who they are and how they think. In Intentional Choices on Substack, I write about the changes life brings—aging, loss, shifting roles, questions of purpose, and those times when an old path no longer feels right but a new one is not yet clear. I know this territory from my own life experience, my decades as a professional adult educator, and coaching people who are navigating change. You will not find many quick answers there. I am more interested in the questions that help us slow down, notice what matters, and make choices that feel true to who we are. Some pieces are practical. Others are personal. If something you read speaks to where you are, coaching may be a helpful next conversation.

Suzanne Dunn smiling in the desert
Free Consultation

If you are moving through a meaningful life change and wondering whether coaching might be a good fit, I invite you to start with a free 20-minute consultation. We'll use that time to talk about what is going on, what you are hoping for, and whether this kind of work makes sense for where you are right now. Twenty minutes. No pressure. Just a conversation. Please scroll down to complete the “Request a Free Consultation” form, and receive my free Reflective Guide for Noticing the Path Ahead as a thank you for submitting the form.

"Follow the grain in your own wood."

— Howard Thurman

Heart on wood

I'll be in touch!