Coaching

What is coaching

Coaching focuses on creating a vision and getting clarity for our “what’s next”, noticing what makes us feel stuck, and then setting goals and developing a plan to get unstuck and achieve our goals.  Coaches can assist with life challenges such as developing healthy communication strategies; conflict management; interpersonal issues, and family dynamics.  They can also help with career and leadership challenges.

The difference between a coach and a therapist

Coaches are not licensed therapists and therefore cannot diagnose or treat mental or emotional disorders.  If a need for mental health counseling should arise, those cases would be referred to a professional counseling, social worker, or marriage and family therapist.

Professional coaching contains the following:

• An ongoing, confidential, one-to-one, fee-for-service relationship
• Setting goals and managing accountability with clients who desire change
• Use of questions and deep listening to gain forward movement – coaches do not advise – they believe the client has the answer within them, they empower clients to choose
• Actions between sessions that help with accountability and drive change
• Sessions either weekly or bi-weekly get best results

Conclusion

Coaching is a partnership, one in which both sides work to reach agreed-upon goals. The aim of the partnership is to bring about sustained behavioral change and transform the quality of the individual’s work and personal life.