Do you see coaching as an alternative to therapy?
Have you ever coached someone through a time of mental hardship,
or worked with a therapist to help a client?

Marjorie: “This is a very important question. As a therapist myself, I find it fairly easy to determine when a client really needs therapy and when he/she can gain beneficially from the coaching process. In the former I am obligated to refer the client to a therapist. Most often I choose not to work with the client at that point. I can be either a therapist or a coach, but never both as they are very different interventions. It’s a judgment call and not always an easy one to make but critical listening can help in making the determination. Coaching is not an alternative for therapy. It can often be an augment to therapy, however. I’ve had clients who were in therapy and coaching at the same time. I have found it can be very advantageous for the client. However, therapists often look down at coaching, not understanding the field and sometimes feeling threatened by it.

The fact that so many coaches come out of the therapy field is a pretty good indication of its value. The thing that is important to remember is that emotional problems are a normal part of the human experience. We all have our ups and downs. What I have observed is that most people don’t need therapy to get through tough times; they just need someone to listen to them, support them and help get them back on track. Everyone has the ability to move trough emotional setbacks; we just don’t always know it at the time. One of the truly amazing aspects of coaching is the ability to change our perspective and see the world differently.”

Are you comfortable coaching someone via the phone or email, or do you think it’s best to meet in person?

Marjorie: “I am comfortable working all ways, although it is always my preference to be able to “see” the person I am working with. If they cannot come to my office to meet in person, and have access to a webcam it is always my first choice to be able to work that way. If that is not possible, while the loss of physical ‘non-verbals’ may seem significant – as I thought it might be when I first started coaching – there are all sorts of even more powerful clues and cues available if you know how to use them, including:
 

• ·         tone of voice

• ·         rate of speech

• ·         particular language/wording

• ·         variations in pitch

• ·         breathing (or lack thereof)

• ·         volume of speech

• ·         steadiness of voice

• ·         the spaces in between the words

• ·         the inter-relationships of seemingly unrelated topics of discussion

• ·         the things that aren’t being said

• ·         and, or course, the things that ARE said

Isn’t this the same as therapy?
In a word, no. Therapy is a very powerful set of experiences that may become necessary when we find that we encounter the same stumbling blocks over and over again. Therapy is a corrective experience, designed to help heal past wounds. People who use a life coach may come to find that they desire therapy, and certainly people in therapy may want to make use of a life coach.  Therapy and coaching are two approaches to creating healthy changes in our lives.  One complements the other.

Most people who seek life coaching consider themselves to be functioning well, without psychological issues that are interfering in their lives, such as anxiety, depression, poor self-esteem, or other symptoms. Rather, people seek coaching when life is going well, but there is a wish to expand their lives, their careers and their general well-being. People seek coaching when they feel that they could be even more successful, and wish to have someone to work with them to help them achieve what is still missing. This may be a very specific goal, such as increasing business revenue or personal relationship skills, or a more wide-ranging goal, such as determining how to turn one’s life around in order to achieve more balance between the personal, emotional, relational and spiritual.

Marjorie Gross

Certified Professional Holistic Life Coach

Life Growth Facilitator

Certified Psychosynthesist

Integrating Mind – Body - Spirit

518-862-1974 ext 95

mhgross@me.com

Free half hour consultation

(c) Copyright 2004
Holistic Life Coaching with Marjorie