This article from the Sydney Morning Herald includes good advice from Dr Suzy Green, a Coaching Psychologist in Australia, commenting on the lack of training and qualifications among some life coaches in Australia. The same issues seem to apply equally in the UK.
Dr Green would like to see more coaching psychologists step into the life coaching field: ''Psychologists are trained not only to help people deal with issues from the past and manages stressors in the present, but to help individuals design flourishing future lives, which is what life coaching is about.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/anyone-can-be-a-life-coach-so-is-it-time-to-ask-who-is-really-coaching-you-20140618-zsd44.html#ixzz34zg4eqbI
I agree wholeheartedly that coaching psychologists are well qualified to help people work through their stuck points in life as well as business coaching areas. Moreover, clients may have more deep seated problems, for example with anxiety, depression or trauma history, which an untrained coach would not recognise or know how to work with safely. Dr Green points out that life coaches will attract such clients, and so should have good referral contacts . I would add that supervision is also vital in working ethically and safely, and is a requirement for Coaching Psychologists associated with the British Psychological Society Special Group in Coaching Psychology in the UK.
Finding a coach trained and experienced in working with psychological phenomena such as developmental and attachment issues is vital if clients with complex histories are hoping to transform their work and personal lives. Unresolved problems in these areas can make change very difficult and coaching could even exacerbate problems if not worked with sensitively and safely.
Dr Green would like to see more coaching psychologists step into the life coaching field: ''Psychologists are trained not only to help people deal with issues from the past and manages stressors in the present, but to help individuals design flourishing future lives, which is what life coaching is about.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/anyone-can-be-a-life-coach-so-is-it-time-to-ask-who-is-really-coaching-you-20140618-zsd44.html#ixzz34zg4eqbI
I agree wholeheartedly that coaching psychologists are well qualified to help people work through their stuck points in life as well as business coaching areas. Moreover, clients may have more deep seated problems, for example with anxiety, depression or trauma history, which an untrained coach would not recognise or know how to work with safely. Dr Green points out that life coaches will attract such clients, and so should have good referral contacts . I would add that supervision is also vital in working ethically and safely, and is a requirement for Coaching Psychologists associated with the British Psychological Society Special Group in Coaching Psychology in the UK.
Finding a coach trained and experienced in working with psychological phenomena such as developmental and attachment issues is vital if clients with complex histories are hoping to transform their work and personal lives. Unresolved problems in these areas can make change very difficult and coaching could even exacerbate problems if not worked with sensitively and safely.
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