With each new session of our Certified Relationship Coach Training, we are seeing more and more licensed therapists integrating coaching skills and tools into the work they do with clients. Personally, as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist myself, I find this very exciting for the clients who chose to step into a relationship with a therapist.
The main distinction between therapy and coaching is that therapy treats DSM-IV diagnosable disorders; coaching involves being in partnership with another person to identify and take action on centrally important professional and/or personal goals.
In an article entitled, Coaching Vs. Therapy: a Perspective, Hart, Battner and Leipsic asked coaches who were trained both as therapists and as coaches to report on the critical difference they saw between coaching and therapy.
Their answers varied, but one important difference reported was in the relationship. They reported themselves as more "self-revelatory," as "having a skilled friendship", and as being "in partnership." The boundaries are looser, transference issues are not addressed and they use more humor and are more actively engaged.
Coaching is perhaps the most exciting, remunerative, and cutting-edge arena for practice diversification around today. When properly structured, coaching offers impressive and unexpected rewards:
- It pays well - $200+/hour for individual clients; $1,000+/hour for virtual groups.
- It's 100% free of managed care; clients are completely self-pay.
- It's a natural fit with the 50-minute hour.
- It builds on the existing clinical and practice management skills most mental health practitioners already possess.
- It's personally freeing since it can be delivered from your office during a typical day, or from home, reclining on your chaise lounge in comfy pajamas.
- It's geographically freeing since it can be delivered as easily from the beach as your office, as easily from Vail or Monterey as your hometown.
- It exponentially increases both your "catchment area" and referral base because you are jumping from a local to a national or international practice.
- It's fun! Coaching is generally directed to high functioning, interesting, and appreciative people
Future trends, according to Juliet Austin, MA, as the coaching profession continues to evolve are likely to become more obvious:
- For the consumer, the availability of coaches will mean a change in the way some people seek support, especially those clients outside EAPs and agencies.
- Some of the distinctions between therapy and coaching will be made more explicit and will becoming clearer to the public. An increasing number of therapists will receive coach training and offer coaching services instead of, or in addition to, their therapy services.
- More sophisticated models of coaching will continue to emerge incorporating theories and concepts from psychology and therapy.
- Therapists are likely to refer to coaches more often once their clients reach a place where they are ready to take more action or achieve excellence in their lives. Coaches will increasingly refer a client to therapy when the client seems inappropriate for coaching or gets stuck on an issue that is not being resolved in coaching.
Source Point Training continues to receive the highest acknowledgments from participants of our Certified Relationship Coach Training and therapists who have attended leave knowing they have a full, rich and highly impactful new set of tools and resources to integrate into their practice as they expand their services to include coaching for their clients.
I can't say enough about the excellence of training I received from Lou Dozier and the staff at Source Point Training! I have been working with clients for over 20 years as a Hypnotherapist, Regression Therapist and Anger Management Facilitator and have been absolutely delighted to add Source Point's material to my repertoire of skills. I use the workbook, and the general knowledge I received from Lou and staff on a daily basis with my clients. This is incredibly insightful, logical and universal material that facilitates deep, lasting and positive change with people. I have recommended This Certified Relationship Course Training to colleagues, with only glowing reports from them. This is an outstanding coaching curriculum and certainly a first choice for anyone who would like to be a coach or add coaching to their other skills. Catherine Cardinal, Ph.D., CRC
Relationship Coaching with Source Point Training takes relationship further than any time or place with support and guidance that can be creatively provided without the hydraulic nature of most therapy. In coaching two souls come together in comfort to bring optimal results for the client while the coach shows the benefits of manifesting the dreams and goals of another.
A therapist wanting to be a coach is ideal since they have the training and are aware of boundary and emotional issues that need to be honored and observed. Clear lines can be drawn and there is no need to choose one career over the other. Relationship Coaching provides freedom and the dynamics for real self awareness and healing. Leesa Skolver, PhD
Want to learn more? Join us for our upcoming FREE webinar:
What is Relationship Coaching?
Wednesday, February 6 @ 6:00pm PST
Register Today!
2013 Tip for Creating Intentional Relationships: Creating intentional relationships is possible when your relationships are solid in what we call The 3 Legged Stool: Commitment, Trust, Communication. Our tip today will focus on how we build and break trust in our relationships.
Keeping Your Promises - Being in integrity with your word.
When was the last time you stopped and considered what the impact on your relationships is when you break a promise or don't keep to your word. Think of it in terms of deposits and withdraws from your "Trust Account". When we break a promise, with ourselves or others, we are withdrawing from our self-esteem and the confidence while weakening the level of trust in the relationship. In today's busy world, most people don't even realize just how often they are not keeping to their word. Circumstances will always challenge us and our commitment to keeping our word, building strong, trusting relationships will show up in our actions. With raised consciousness, we can each raise the levels of trust in all of the relationships in our lives, and most importantly with ourselves. Here's a great exercise to assist you in raising your consciousness.
For the next 7 days, keep a log of all of the promises you make and whether you kept the promise or not. Remember, we make lots of promises each day - sometimes we may not even realize it. Even something as simple as "I'll take care of that" is a promise. And don't leave off the promises you make to yourself. You may want to invite someone significant in your life to join you in this exercise by keeping their own log and at the end of the week, have a "date night" to share your new awarenesses and what you might want to declare going forward. With this heightened consciousness, you will become conscious of overcommitting and having the resources to make different choices or to make requests of others in your life. Enjoy the experience!!
