A
true and professional Coach will NOT impose their personal opinions on you,
give you answers or tell you
what to do, nor will you be analyzed or 'treated' like a patient in psychotherapy. In fact,
the majority of Coaches are not licensed to
practice therapy. I personally would not be interesting in working with a Coach who actually is a licensed and practicing professional in the field of therapy or
psychology because, there is simply too much opportunity to turn a coaching session into a
counselling session. This is not what
Coaching is about. It definitely is NOT what I do.
If you require counselling or therapy, please seek a licensed professional from the mental health
field.
Therapy looks into your past, and tries to find the answers to 'why' things are
the way they are.
Coaching looks at the present and into the future of what YOU CAN BECOME and how
you can grow to be that person.
To work with a client the coach MUST consider
the person to be complete, naturally resourceful and whole, this is
definitely not true of many counselling situations where clients are often
considered 'broken' or emotionally out of control.
A good Coach will be there to support and draw answers from within you. A
true Coach will make you think about your options and possible solutions. You'll never be analyzed.
Coaching sessions should
never feel like 'therapy'. They should feel more like time spent with a wise and supportive old friend who really wants to know the real you and
desperately wants to see, and help you do well, at whatever you choose to do.
Coaching vs Counselling
In a
counselling situation the counsellor is generally considered an expert or
someone who has been trained to direct the dialogue. ‘fix’ and deal with
problems.
In a
coaching relationship the coach/client are equal partners. The coach will
ask strong questions to entice answers that will evoke deep thought and
feeling from the client.
In a
coaching relationship the client can always choose the direction or topic of
the session, although the role of the coach is often to keep the client
‘on track’ and focused on the chosen topic and to filter the
conversation with the intent of bringing the client to resolution,
clarification or revelation.
Clients
generally come to counselling when they are struggling with a problem or an
emotionally debilitating issue.
Clients
come to coaching when they seek clarity, direction, championing,
accountability and sometimes even just for a reality check or a ‘kick in
the pants’.
Counselling
tends to look into the past, deals with the processing of feelings and
emotions, attempting to understand why the client is having
difficulty.
The
goal of coaching is to deepen the learning and to accelerate the client’s
movement forward. The emphasis in coaching is to look more to the future and
what the client would like to see changed and what is happening in the
moment.
In a
coaching relationship the coach may make a powerful request or co-create an
inquiry (an open-ended question not intended to be answered immediately but
rather reflected upon) with the client. This is not typical of a counselling
relationship.
**There
are Life Coaches who are or were Licensed in the Mental Health field who have
stepped away or are able to 'turn off' their internal Analyst while conducting
Life Coaching sessions. I'm not suggesting this can't be done, many are quite
good at doing both. My suggestion is only that you make sure of the situation
and person you are going to work with, to ensure it is the best possible fit for
your needs.
