Work, bills, children, traffic jams, pets, keeping up with the Joneses –there's no two ways about it. Modern life is tough and it's getting tougher.

But with every problem comes a solution.

More and more people are turning to qualified life coaches to get them through the hard times, and to help them get the very best from their lives.

Dr Felicity Breet started her life-coaching business, The Next Level, in 2001, after training with the Coaching Academy and completing an extra diploma at Newcastle College.

Felicity, who grew up in Middlesbrough, has worked all over the world. In 1978 she was posted to Nigeria through the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) charity.

From there, she began working in teacher education in other developing countries, including China, Cameroon, Senegal, the Solomon Islands, South Africa and Poland.

She began working for the University of Sunderland in 1995 and is the principal lecturer in teaching English to speakers of other languages.

The move into life coaching was prompted by her own experiences.

She said: "When I turned 50 I became very stuck in my career and I wanted to find a way to earn my living which could continue after I retire.

"A friend of mine asked me a series of questions that opened my mind, that he had learned from his life coach.

"I decided to have some life coaching myself and it spurred me on."

Since then, Felicity has helped many people across Sunderland to "unstick" themselves and find new meaning and excitement in their lives.

Felicity believes that life coaching has always existed within families, and that professional life coaches are a sign of the times.

She said: "I suspect that when people lived in larger families, with a bigger family network, then people within that network would have acted as coaches: so aunty such-and-such would have been the person to talk to about marriage, and Uncle so-and-so would give advice about work."

These days, a large extended family is becoming rarer: people are staying single for longer, having fewer children, and are as likely to meet a new partner through the Internet as at the local pub.

Marriage has taken a beating too – figures from the Office for National Statistics showed a 10 per cent drop in weddings in 2005.

Felicity thinks our faster lifestyles mean life coaching can become a valuable time-out. She said: "I don't think we listen carefully enough now.

We often leave the TV on when we're having a conversation and I don't think we sit down and chat as much as we used to.

"Young people go to clubs and the music is so loud they can't hear each other speak.

"A life coach can really listen and give their whole concentration to the client, with no interuptions."

A good life coach will offer a free consultation.

Felicity explained what a newcomer can expect: "We sit and talk about whether coaching will hit the spot for that person and then I decide whether I think it's the right thing for them and we come to an agreement."

But coaching is not for everyone.

Felicity said: "It's not good for anyone who needs therapy. If there's something in their past they haven't come to terms with then life coaching will only scratch the surface.

"It's no good for people whose lives are out of control, perhaps because of alcohol or drugs.

"Issues like this need to be dealt with by experts in that particular field."

But in other situations, it can be just the ticket.

Felicity said: "It's great for people in their early 50s who want a fresh look at the next 25 years. It's great for people who wake up in the wrong job, it's great if your life/work balance is wrong, and it's perfect for people thinking 'there must be more to life'."

Statistics show that work-related stress is becoming a common problem: the 2006/ 2007 survey of Self-reported Work-related Illness showed that about 530, 000 people in Britain thought their jobs were making them ill through stress.

As lives become more work orientated, more and more business men and women are tuning into the power of life coaching to combat stress
Felicity said: "Business coaching is already very popular in the North East because we're a region of entrepreneurs. No one has a job for life any more, and we change partners more."

To compensate for our changing environments, Felicity believes that many people hide within their 'comfort zones.'

She said: "Many people have a comfort zone, and it's often anything but comfortable. They might hate their job but stay in it because it's part of their comfort zone. Change is very difficult, otherwise people would just do it.

"Whatever change a person decides to make has got to be worth the bother.

"There's got to be a positive goal that's not too big and not too small. People can move out of their comfort zone when they're clear about the next step."

While helping others find life satisfaction, Felicity has found her own. She said: "For me, a good life is a balanced life, where your heart, mind, body and soul are developing.

"It's so satisfying when people have a genius moment and realise something about themselves or something they can change."

* For more information about The Next Level, call: 07967556 695; email felicity@coachingatthenextlevel.biz or visit www.coachingatthenextlevel.biz

'I realise it's not a very British thing to do but I find it very useful'

Sunderland businessman Alan Greggains would recommend life coaching to anyone.

A year and a half ago he met Felicity Breet at a business event.

Felicity gave him a two-minute taster session, asking him to list the different parts of his life and grade them from one to 10 on how well they were going.

Alan dutifully jotted down the areas of his life and began to allot scores.

At the end of the two minutes, Felicity pointed out that nowhere on Alan's list was there any reference to holidays.

Alan, 62, had a Eureka! moment and realised his life/work balance was skewed, and promptly signed up for six months of life coaching with Felicity.

Alan, who owns and runs E-cat Partners, a website design company at the Business and Innovation Centre in Wearfield, is now hooked.

He said: "My wife and my daughter work at E-cat with me, so obviously the boundaries between the personal and the professional can be tricky.

"Life coaching gives me a platform – somebody who can listen to my personal and professional issues and comment in a supportive way.

"If I have an idea I want to discuss with the other people in the company, I run it past Felicity first.

"That way, the idea is thought-out much more thoroughly.

"I understand myself better which helps me to make better decisions.

"I realise it's not a very British thing to do but I find it very useful.

"You can treat your whole life like a business and take it where you want to go rather than just getting on with it.

"Felicity says her greatest success is getting me to take more holidays."

Simple ways to improve your life

1 Volunteering or making the effort to help other people is good for everyone – especially those doing the helping.

Felicity says: "They say helping other people is a good place to start.

"Often when people get stuck in their lives they realise they're not doing much for others and they've become stuck on their own difficulties.

2 Don't be afraid to ask and seek help and support.

Says Felicity: "People are often frightened to ask for help now but actually, most people like it when people ask them for help.

"During the Second World War and afterwards, people's needs were so overt that they had to ask for help – and they benefitted enormously."

3 Don't ignore your dreams

Felicity said: "Being realistic is accepting that almost anything is possible.

"I like to take people back to when they were children and they had ambition, before it gets buried in everyday life.

"Often that ambition hasn't really changed and they can get themselves back on track.

4 Don't forget to reward yourself when you've achieved something.

Felicity says: "We plan to do things, difficult things, but once we've done them we don't reward ourselves!

"It's important to allot yourself treats when you've achieved something.

"It can be anything from playing with the dog to pulling into a lay-by and listening to the car radio."