ABOUT mE
David in Woodstock, New York. Credit: Neil Genzlinger
I started coaching after much study and helpful experiences as a client. I’ve trained with the CoachVille school (founded by the father of modern coaching, Thomas Leonard) to practice the core competencies of the International Coaching Federation, as well as its ethical standards, which I take quite seriously. I love this work.
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Beyond four degrees and some doctoral study, I have extensive experience in journalism (18 years at The New York Times, plus work at five other newspapers and plenty of freelance jobs), education (teaching at six colleges and two Bronx high schools), and the performing arts (as a member of Screen Actors Guild and Actors’ Equity) — so I know a little something about shifting careers. ​​​
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Currently I’m also working as a writing coach and editor with Bionews, where I help writers with rare diseases or their caregivers as they craft personal columns.
In fact, my coaching experience goes back to 1979, when I co-led a six-week course in career planning for high school seniors. In the years since, I’ve led yearlong social-emotional classes, taught career development sessions in journalism, and assisted at personal growth workshops. Plus, I’m a mentor with the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Journalists. Throw in my time as the offensive coordinator of a powder-puff football team, too, and that makes lots of coaching in my years!​​
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In my time away from coaching and editing, I’m into running, reading, meditation, and (at one time) acting -- in fact, I’ve got 35 years of theater experience in that, directing, and playwriting in New York and beyond, so I understand much about the creative journey and have been strongly influenced by the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (“Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life”), among others.
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Though I offer several prepared programs, I fashion everything to the individual client. ​
David as Shamraeff in "The Seagull" in Riverside Park, New York City. Credit: Hudson Classical Theatre Company
Interested? Please contact me for a free 15-minute Zoom consultation to learn more and see if we’re a good fit. Then we can get you started on a plan that helps you go your own way. ​
Coaching & Rates
As a life coach, I practice the flow between going your own way (working with your own, authentic intentions, principles, and desires) and going with the flow (working with the world as you're experiencing it). I love partnering with folks who are making life transitions or who simply want richer lives more awake to possibilities. Though I have particular expertise in working with second career, academic, LGBT, spiritual, and especially creative life coaching, your reason for seeking it is good enough for me.
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My focus in our sessions is to help you solidify what you want and then experiment with how you can make it happen. I'm able to work with narrow, specific, and short-term goals (“I want to be less cluttered") as well as broader dreams (“I want to live more independently"). Maybe you want to establish new habits, or maybe break some patterns that are no longer useful.
Whatever your thoughts, we can work together to design a program that’s right for you.​
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David in January 2025, visiting northern Connecticut. Credit: L.S.
Much of my practice is devoted to the balance between the (healthy!) pull to "go with the flow" and the more intentional push of "go your own way." And there's a story there.
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I was 15, learning to drive with my sister, Susan, in backwoods Clarendon County, South Carolina. I’d already begun to see her as my most important mentor; nine years older, she’d helped me gain the sense that each of us has our own spark of divine fire, as George Bernard Shaw once wrote, and that we aren't meant to repress our emotions (as many people do). She taught me about authenticity and exploration.
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On this particular driving lesson in 1976, Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” came on the radio. Susan, who passed away in May 2024, looked at me with urgency and passion to say, “Never forget that, David. Never! You can ALWAYS go your own way. Always!” That’s the gist of it — and given that moment and the times, the idea took hold.
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Now, let’s just forget, for a moment, that Lindsey Buckingham’s lyrics might instead evoke some not-so-pleasant breakup. We make what we want of art, of course, and I liked the song’s imperative to honor my own independent spark of divine fire. (Plus, it's a great record.)
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Still, while I’d like to tell you that I set out on a life perfectly aligned with that premise, that’s not the way it went. At the least, you can delete the “perfectly.” But in fits and starts, I've learned to welcome the adventure of life, even when it presents challenges. I'm still learning. Thankfully!
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In the meantime, of course, we’re living in the real world and are shaped by it all the time. We’re not an island; we're always in communion with what's around us, and sometimes we have to find a way to dance with the world — going with its flow — even as we set intentions and listen to instincts to go our own way. ​
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​So that’s the backdrop of my approach. I invite you to a 15-minute free consultation so we can discuss just how you’d like to go your own way — and how coaching can help. You can also book a session below.
Susan DeWitt in Spain, sometime in the early '80s.
Consultation
I offer a one-time 15- to 20-minute consultation so we can get to know each other and trade ideas about the coaching partnership we might have.
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Free!
Session by Session
Hourlong, session-to-session coaching for short-term issues.
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$45/hour
Packaged Programs
Best value! A series of 10- to 12-sessions on a single goal or "dream," which you're welcome to change at any time. I offer self-created programs as well as Coachville's popular Transformation Coaching, 9 Life Environments, and Inner Freedom programs.
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$380/program
Click the image for a YouTube clip of the band playing the song!.
Testimonials
I’ve had so many insights and lightbulb moments from my ongoing coaching with David DeWitt!
His detail-oriented, highly personalized approach has helped me identify paths to explore and focus on as I work towards an overarching goal for my life story as it plays out.
Coaching does work - if you also put in the work.
— Alliah C.
I did this with David, and it was fantastic! Grab a spot now before he gets so popular you won’t be able to get one.
— Natalie P.
David is a wonderful, kind coach full of insight and guidance. I would recommend him to anyone looking for a life coach. You won’t go wrong working with him. He is helping me change age-old habits that clearly haven’t worked so well for me in the long run. I am grateful to be able to work with him.
— David B.
It is a rare gift when someone can reach down into your soul and pull out what you have deemed less-than-perfect ideas about yourself; then observe the thing without judgment that you have judged for years; and then carefully, easily redefine the thing and devise through gentle education how to move past all that holds you back. David is this gift. Do you and your life a favor and give yourself this gift. It changes everything. I know because it changed my everything.
— Tere' B.
Contact
Got a question? Ask!
Go Your Own Way Coaching LLC
31724 Impetus Road
Lewes, Delaware 19958
​​​Email: david@goyourownwaycoaching.com
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson