|
Coaching psychology explained
By Pauline Willis MAPS CPsychol CSci
This explanation of coaching psychology is provided for users of the www.coachingpsychologist.net forums
so the main audience is psychologists who are either already providing services as coaching psychologists or
who are considering doing so. Others may also find it useful and I hope that everyone
enjoys Michael Leunig's cartoons.
Why do clients use coaching psychology services?
Using 'self-help' approaches to personal and professional development can be risky.
Sometimes the right kind of help provided at the right time can be life changing.
Coaching psychology is a service that people access when they feel that professional
support in building a happier, more successful or satisfying life would be of value to them.
Copyright © Michael Leunig. http://www.leunig.com.au/
reproduced with permission.
How do coaching psychologists support clients?
Contrary to the stereotypical portrayal of psychologists in the popular media,
coaching psychologists do not judge, impose or assume that they are the 'expert' in what the
client needs to do in life, and they do not give 'advice'. Good coaching psychology
is about using the art and science of psychology in practical down to earth ways to support clients in
creating their own success at work and in life.
It is worth bearing in mind that most of the tools and techniques currently applied by
practicing coaching psychologists have been drawn from the domains of clinical, counselling
and organisational/occupational psychology and are predominantly cognitive behavioural in nature.
There are, however, many ways of applying psychology to deliver the type of services that
coaching psychologists offer.
One of the ways coaching psychologists support clients is by helping them set out
their own path for personal success in life and at work and not by providing a specific
set of answers or 'paradigm' to work with.
Coaching Psychologists will also constructively challenge the beliefs and assumptions
clients make that prevent them either from reaching their full potential or find a different path
to follow in support of
building a happier, more successful or satisfying life.
Copyright © Michael Leunig. http://www.leunig.com.au/
reproduced with permission.
Understanding and accepting the choices that are made in life can be fundamental to a
client's ultimate success within their personal journey. Coaching psychology supports future
happiness, satisfaction and success through compassionate exploration of the choices people
have made to inform better decision making practices in the 'here and now'.
Sometimes coaching psychologists use specific, focused techniques with long and scary sounding
names which can be daunting for people who are not from an academic or scientific background.
A good Coaching Psychologist will ensure that when specific techniques are used, that they do not get in the
way of the developmental process. Rather than using professional jargon the techniques used by
Coaching Psychologists are explained in clear every day language and explanations generally cover
what specific techniques are being used and why. Coaching Psychologists are able to offer a simple
explanation of scientific evidence for applying specific approaches in language that clients can understand.
Psychotherapeutic techniques are also sometimes applied by Coaching Psychologists within
coaching relationships. The exploration of serious issues such as unresolved childhood abuse
or coping with either psychiatric injury or disability can be dealt with in positive life
affirming ways. Using psychological approaches in ways that are
not 'clinical' or 'medically' focussed has significant scope for supporting
people with mild to moderate mental health issues in the wider community.
Some Coaching Psychologists are able to skilfully weave clinical or psychotherapeutic
approaches into their coaching work and address the complex boundary issue by making sure
this approach is agreed up front with the client at the beginning of the coaching relationship.
Other coaching psychologists will not deal with these issues and will not apply
either clinical or psychotherapeutic techniques within a coaching relationship, preferring instead to
on-refer clients to another service provider to address issues of a mental health or psychiatric nature
in another setting. This is done to manage the boundaries between different types of service
that have been contracted.
The client's needs, wishes and best interests are always paramount in considering the
structure of coaching psychology services and explicit client permission is needed if issues
of this nature are to be addressed within a coaching relationship.
A coaching psychology programme is complete when the client feels able to lay down their
own path to happiness, satisfaction or success without needing our ongoing support.
There is no set time frame for this because each client is different and has unique needs.
Clients are always welcome to re-engage with services at times of particular stress or
where big decisions are being made and additional support is felt to be useful.
Coaching Psychologists aim for appropriate use of services and are ever mindful
of the potential for clients to become dependent on the positive, life affirming
support they receive from us rather than developing and accessing these supports
from their social and professional networks.
The ultimate goal of a coaching psychology service is to provide a focused service
in support of clients in developing insight and skill in tapping their own inner resources.
One of the ways coaching psychologists achieve this goal is by supporting clients
to get in touch with their inner resources in the uniquely personal ways that make sense to them.
Copyright © Michael Leunig. http://www.leunig.com.au/
reproduced with permission.
How is coaching psychology different from other types of psychological service?
There are many sub-domains of psychology which is often confusing both for clients and psychologists alike. The many names
for the services psychologists deliver in society essentially cover the same kinds of services
delivered in different contexts and which draw upon different combinations of evidence based tools,
techniques and practices. At the end of the day, coaching psychologists are not really different at all from other
types of psychologists. What all psychologists have in common is that we use both the art and
the science of psychology to provide compassionate services for clients who come to us for
support in leading happier, more successful or satisfying lives.
What this means is that a coaching psychologist can be usefully defined as a helping professional
who applies the art and science of psychology to support clients in leading happier, more successful
or satisfying lives within a coaching relationship. If you are a psychologist and take this broad and
positive approach to your work then in my view you can legitimately call yourself a
coaching psychologist irrespective of what domain you practice in or what specific tools and
techniques you use in support of your practice.
If coaching psychology is another expression of existing psychological skills then
is it worth getting a specialised qualification to practice as a coaching psychologist?
Whilst there is common basis for all of psychology practice, attaining specific
qualifications or engaging with specialist professional supervision can be very useful
to support practice in each 'context' and coaching psychology is no different.
Specialised training or development will ensure that professional practices are delivered to
an appropriate standard. Whether you personally will benefit from a specialised training programme
will depend on what skills you already have and what approaches you use in your existing practice.
If you are not sure then discuss your needs with a coaching psychologist supervisor, and/or ask the
providers of training courses you are interested in to provide you with details of learning objectives
and outcomes for the course so you can make an informed decision about what the course offers relative to your
needs.
It is worth bearing in mind that most established coaching psychologists do not have a
qualification that is specific to 'coaching psychology' because
existing forms of accreditation do provide psychologists with a skillset that is appropriate
to this kind of practice. Interesting and valuable Continuing Professional Development options
are available for seasoned psychologist practitioners to address
a range of specific interests and skills gaps. And a range of exciting new University accredited
qualifications at Masters and Doctorate level are also available. However, if you are interested
in Coaching Psychology and live in a country where psychology is regulated, then it is advisable to refer to your local professional and regulatory bodies to ensure
that any training option you take will comply with local registration and licensing requirements.
Is supervision mandatory for Coaching Psychologists?
Supervision is a key aspect of supporting practice in coaching psychology because of the
multi-disciplinary and integrative nature of the services we offer. Supervision is not mandatory, however,
most professional bodies will advise that supervision should be accessed when appropriate to support
best practice.
A prescriptive approach has not been defined for coaching psychology practice. Supervision can be accessed
in many different ways. Peer consultation is one way of drawing on a range on multi-disciplinary
resources and the www.coachingpsychologist.net website is designed to offer a valuable online
resource of this nature. However, peer consultation and other forms of 'group' based supervision
do not replace a one-to-one ongoing supervisory relationship which is aimed at supporting coherence
and integrity in the way a multi-disciplinary coaching psychology practice is delivered.
All coaching psychologists are therefore encouraged to access appropriate post-qualification
supervision which includes a relationship with a supervisor at a one-to-one level and is
relevant to their practice. Coachingpsychologist.net is supportive of all collegiate
forms of supervisory practice.
A final thought
Perhaps the one defining feature of those of us who call ourselves 'coaching psychologists'
both now and in the future is that we have broken free of the limitations imposed on us by the
way the profession of psychology has been artificially subdivided into 'silos' within the
various professional bodies that we all belong to around the world.
What could ultimately define us as Coaching Psychologists is the creativity and courage
to apply psychological arts and sciences in ways that are as unique and individual as the
clients we support.
Acknowledgements
Warm thanks to colleagues who reviewed the early drafts of this explanation
- Kieran Duignan UK
- Marion Gillie UK
- Anthony Grant AUS
- Clare Huffington UK
- Peter Jackson UK
- Patrick Williams US
| 
