IFS Coaching or Therapy?

I’m a Level 3 trained IFS practitioner who applies the approach in coaching and therapy to help individuals and teams improve their Self-relationship and thus their relationships with others.

​I received the same training as others including Therapists, Coaches and Practitioners and have been working as a Coaching Psychologist with IFS as my primary modality for over a decade with clients in professional and personal coaching to help them become clear about what they want to change and help them achieve it.

In IFS coaching as in therapy, the client is facilitated to go inside and connect to their inherent wisdom and knowing. 

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The Similarities between Coaching and Therapy
​An exploration based on the work of JJ Stamatelos (2024), an IFS Coach based in the US:

Coaching	Therapy
The client is capable, and we hold them as the expert in what is best for their life	The client has Self energy
Clients may become blocked, and their limiting beliefs can present obstacles to their happiness and success	Clients become blended with parts and Self is obscured
Coaches don’t provide solutions to clients’ difficulties, because clients are wise, capable and experts in their own lives. Coaches facilitate clients to connect to these qualities within	Therapists don’t fix their clients’ issues. The therapist facilitates the client to establish a healthy connection between Self and parts
Coaches ask questions, they don’t tell people what to do	Therapists ask questions, they don’t give answers or solutions
Coaching co-creates the relationship in which the client holds their own agenda and answers	Therapy co-create the relationship in which the client’s Self and Parts work out the answers
We don’t know what is going to happen in any given session or as a result of the work. There is an emergent process which we help to unfold fully and uninterrupted	The therapist helps the client's Self to lead the session and allow things to proceed without knowing what will unfold
Coaches don’t need to know everything about their client’s life or world, coaches assume the client’s wisdom, ask questions and trust the answers will follow	Therapists allow client’s parts to keep some information hidden and trust the clients and the process
Coaches aim to remain curious and not make assumptions, give advice or provide solutions	Therapists bring curiosity and remain aware of their own parts that might get blended with their client’s parts
Coaches notice when they are doing all the work or thinking too much and get curious. When Coaches are doing most of the talking, it’s no longer in service of the client’s work.	IFS therapists ask themselves “WAIT – Why Am I Talking?”  And then “WAIST – Why Am I Still Talking?”