One of the core ideas in coaching is that the coach is supposed to help the client discover their own solutions and not give advice. The posture of teaching, being an expert who instructs another, usually is considered anathema to most coaches. This idea is not just one of many elements to successful coaching. I think you can make a strong case that it’s one of the few foundational paradigms on which the coaching industry and movement is built. However, after talking with hundreds of professional coaches and training coaches professionally I have noticed an ironic motif. It seems that the vast majority of people who are eager to become coaches—people who pay noteworthy amounts of money to be trained as coaches—self-describe themselves as prolific advice-givers. Certainly, by the time they complete their training they hold the value of drawing ideas out of others rather than offering their own ideas. But coming into the program, a great number of the coaches I know name that aspect as one of the most significant changes they had to make to become an effective coach. And, to be authentic here, that would be my story as well.
So my questions are: What is it about coaching as a field that draws people whose “natural” posture is antithetical to the coaching field? Is it a misperception in how coaching is understood? Is it something in the personality wiring of would-be-coaches? If this sounds like your story, too, how do you explain it in your own life?
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i just completed my the coach training implementation track and would like the resources that are available to members. would i be entitled to these? if so, i would need a password. can u email to chiakay1989@hotmail.com
many thanks........sy
I think it is great that people are helped by "coaching". I am troubled, however, that there is the misconception that therapist aren't coaches and that they focus on delving into the past, healing old wounds, etc.
The "coaching profession" seems to try to justify or explain their benefits by laying false claims for their success or approach and by making false accusations against therapist and/or incorrectly characterizing what therapy is.
In reality I believe that certified coaches may unwittingly be practicing psychotherapy without a license. I have taken official coaching courses- and it is a very, very fine line- if one at all between what coaches try to do and what modern and post-modern licensed therapist are licensed to do.
after two years of graduate school and years of supervised internship.
Modern and Post-Modern therapies are very much focused on building on strengths,creating specific goals and objectives and working with the now to enhance life.
While your site states that coaching evolved in the 80's etc. Family systems therapy evolved in the 60's. Solution focused, Narrative Therapists,
Cognitive Behavioral Therapist came soon after- and all utilize skill sets which are now being called "coaching".
As to coaching providing improved access for those who wish to excel, I do not see how it is so, when coaches command as much or more in fees than a licensed therapist. Why would I use the services of a coach if I can work with someone with depth of knowledge and coaching skills?
Perhaps because coaching does not carry societal stigma- it does open possibilities. Wouldn't it be a good idea to better educate the public about the broad range of types and benefits of therapy, rather than creating a field which defines themselves by misrepresenting another profession?
Coaching concepts are great. As a licensed therapist I use them every day. These skills simply are not a special domaine of "coaches".
My name is Juan Belmonte. I also finished my implementation track last year. Could you also email me a password to jbelmonte@belmontetraductores.com
Thanks!
Thanks for your candor. It seems clear that you don’t take coaching as a profession seriously and I think I can see why. I’ve written another post for this blog noting the confusion between the two fields.
I would suggest that your dismissal of coaching as a distinct field is hard to maintain in light of the increased amount of literature, organizations, and conversation which name the two as distinct fields. I’d especially like to point out that I personally know several licensed therapists and psychiatrists who have certifications in both fields and make strong distinctions between the two roles themselves.
You mentioned that you had taken some coaching courses. It may be that the courses you took were not what many of us who are professional coaches would consider representative of our industry. Unfortunately, in this early stage of the industry, a lot of people are calling their courses “coaching” but fail to meet the rigorous standards that many of us demand. It sounds like you know the counseling world well—but not like you know the coaching world very well.
You mentioned that in the 60’s some therapy methods that are similar to coaching became prominent. I would agree. However, these models/methods alone are not what we talk about when we say that coaching really began in the 80’s. If you want to say that the ideas and practices predate the 80’s then you should go much farther back than the 60’s. What began in the 80’s was a distinct industry—a professional group using similar language and methods that was unique.
I haven’t heard other coaches try to promote coaching by saying that it provides improved access for those who wish to excel. I suppose that could be true about the stigma that you mentioned. It appears you have a low view of coaches—at least as people without “depth of knowledge and coaching skills.” I wonder how you would view someone who was both a licensed therapist and a certified coach.
I am glad, though, that you use coaching concepts in your therapy. At the root of it all, we are people who want to help other people.
I believe people interested in coaching have a strong desire to see results in other's lives. Destinies fulfilled. The misconception is that handing out the answers or taking responsibility for another can accomplish this.
As a former micromanaging mother, I can attest that it is quite freeing and more productive to give up the "savior complex".
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