Reply To: What do you know about lifecoaching?

I couldnt help but join in on this topic that is very close to my heart. I am going to try to put this as simply as possible. People go to school to learn many different things. I think there is a lot of bad rap out there about life coaching which I think if we need to understand where the rap is coming from, then we will have more clarity. Some people in the helping field, that have schooled, worked, invested years of time, have a hard time understanding the life coaching dynamic, and respecting it. I can only say, that any provider be it a social worker, LMHC, family therapist , life coach, if honest and clear about his or her boundaries, of what he/she can and can not do, is providing an amazing opportunity for a person in need of that service, to do some good work. As providers we must realize that many times people do not know what type of service they need or will accept,at a given time. So oftentimes will arrive at the wrong address for work that needs to be done. Aries was very clear about what coaching is and is not, but we can not always assume that a “healthy” person is arriving to your doorstep, and you may not know it until you have already established a good working relationship, and they make you suddenly privy to some deep dark past trauma. Can you honestly say that you will send this client packing to someone who specializes in EMDR or such? The client likes you and feels safe with you. There are coaches that will do some psychodynamic approaches and sometimes they are not trained as such. If you do that type of work, please make sure you have the training and experience to go there with a person. The bad rap is with providers that are overstepping boundaries and losing track of the goals which is to get people to the right place to do what needs to be done with a client so they can break free from the chains that bind and blind them. Any professional needs to remember what “service” really means. Well said Aries, people are not coming in to walk out and think OMG I am so broken, I need fixing. The canvas for any good work in therapy begins with honoring a person for even reaching out and walking into your door. What courage it took for them to want to take that step. That is the stepping stone to accomplishing goals. I think that all people involved in this field, if clear about what our specialty is, will have success in effectively reaching goals with our clients, be it in whatever modality he is specialized in. The goal is to get better, different things work with different situations. They are all worth praise and respect. There are many times for various reasons that I choose to remain open to the different opportunities that I can recommend clients take advantage of. To answer the original post, coaching is nice just as some other professions within the field, but we need to be open and humble to know that nothing and no one is a fix all. We need to work together and step aside for each trained person and allow them to do what they are good at. When a PCP gives a psychotrophic drug to a patient, it may work. Is it the right way to go? I feel strongly that a psychiatrist is the person that is specialized to evaluate this person. I also believe in teamwork, and all providers being on the same page. I do everything in my power to make that happen. It works.