Tomorrow's
Life Coach In This Issue:
Tomorrow's Life Coach (TLC) is a monthly online journal from the Institute for Life Coach Training (ILCT) that nourishes the intellect, intuition and inspiration of the personal and business coaching community. Pat's Ponderings - 13th Annual ICF Global Convention I just attended the 13th annual ICF Global Convention in Montreal. I have been to all 13 since the beginning, as well as 5 in Europe and two in Australia! I get a lot out of meeting with my "tribe" at least once a year. I highly recommend you all consider going to next year's conference in Orlando, 90 minutes from my home in Florida. Come visit! The conference this year had high-quality presenters and especially inspirational keynote speakers. I was very pleased to see an emphasis on social action and coaching's opportunities, with all three keynotes making a connection to the possibility of using coaching to make changes in the world. Vandana Shiva and Peter Senge delivered powerful messages that addressed directly the various crises the world is now facing and detailing key issues within the context of economic/socio/environmental concerns. They both discussed various reasons for the current global state of unrest and related these to climate change, consumerism, globalization, and more. Their remarks "underscored a central theme." They believe, as others do, the root cause of our global mayhem is that we have lost sight of what is real. We have shifted our belief system, our economic policies, our personal values and corporate values to what's really made up of "fiction" . . . our own make-believe versions of truth. Anyone following the current U.S mortgage debacle and its fall-out may relate. But, there is much more to this and they connected this theme on a significantly more pervasive level. When it comes to fixing these crisis, Vandana Shiva poignantly said: "You can't bail out a fictional story. The bubble (of fiction) has burst and you can't put a bubble back together." What a powerful statement. "But what did that have to do with coaching?" Everything! Shiva said. "The world is now toxic (with all its symptoms). The coaching profession can serve as a a detoxification agent. We (echoing Gandhi) can be the change we want to see." Peter Senge's presentation was equally detailed and powerfully outlined many of these "ailments" — issuing a warning and call to action to individuals, businesses and all systems to take a stand and do what needs to be done to reverse current trends. Listening and reflecting while Senge and Silva presented, I realized they were outlining external issues that impact all of us and challenging coaches to consider the impact we have on people's internal issues and the choices they make based on heightened awareness. The call of coaching is to inspire change with one person at a time and/or one team at a time and/or one company/organization at a time –and help transform systems (organizations, communities, etc.) to step up to a larger purpose. Inspire ourselves and our clients to be the change we want and need to see in the world. This was a powerful call for a group that is still emerging as a profession and still finding its way. Senge spoke about companies that thrive and live long and those that don't. He shared this powerful quote from A.D de Geus: "The long-lived companies see themselves first and foremost as a human community rather than a machine for producing profit." Senge also felt that tapping into human potential will serve organizations better in the years ahead – leverage their people's resourcefulness, creativity, intellectual talent and more — to stay relevant, meaningful and be a contributing member of the broader communities and world in which we serve and live. Coaches can help organizations and communities to do that!! Are you working for such an organization? Are you as a leader (at any level) doing your part to create that kind of culture within your working life — your organization? As a coach, are you having conversations with your clients and prospects that inspire this kind of commitment? Emphasizing the importance of change from the Inside Out, the final keynote address was presented by Matthieu Ricard, author of several books including: "Happiness, a Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill." Ricard is a Buddhist monk who has also had a substantive career in cellular genetics. He obtained his PhD in Genetics and has done 35 years of post doctoral study in Tibet! He is an active researcher on the effects of meditation on the brain and he fluently bridges science with philosophy and years of personal experience. He shared a very powerful and convincing message on how we can begin to rethink our realities in our fast-paced world and create a more ‘truthful' and sustaining version of happiness. Monsieur Ricard was very inspirational, funny, articulate, and clear. The conference presented a view of the change that can happen in this world if we focus on the possibilities, then act. Action can be either in political and social ways, big or little, local, or global. Get involved, be passionate and find others to join you. Happy Holidays! Patrick Williams Ed.D., MCC P. S. Many of you know of my non-profit (www.CoachingTheGlobalVillage.org) which is where my heart and soul meet - taking the power of the coach approach to people and places that would not otherwise benefit from the power of coaching. (Read more at the website of CGV and if you would like to make a donation, please let me know. We are now tax-exempt! Send me an email to Pat@Coachingtheglobalvillage.org and I will send you the details.) Monthly Introduction to Coaching Calls: Join us for a one-hour class that will introduce you to the wonderful career of Life Coaching. We want to share our excitement with you and give you information to help you decide if life coaching is for you! Fee: No charge. (Long distance charges may apply).
December 5th: REGISTER NOW January 9th: REGISTER NOW Times: 2:00 p.m. Eastern/New York/Toronto time Free Coach Referral Service
for CLCs This list is being offered as a free service to assist individuals in identifying and selecting coaches best suited for their particular need. If you have your Certified Life Coach credential, and have not registered — Sign up now Dr. Patrick Williams in the Classroom! Dr. Pat Williams, Founder and President of the Institute for Life Coach Training, will be returning to teach three Foundational classes in 2009. He is excited to be teaching again, with new materials which meet ISO standards and use his newest book, Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute for Life Coach Training. The classes are:
Coaching Specialties in Health and Wellness - in case you missed it! Dr. Patrick Williams and Jim Strohecker discussed the Coaching Specialties in Health and Wellness, including:
Informational Call: 360 Assessments - December 10, 2008 Join Dr. Tom Krapu on December 10th at 11:00 a.m. Eastern for an informational call on his new 360 Assessments Course, beginning January 14, 2009. 360 surveying tools are powerful tools to mirror back to a coaching client how they are seen in the world. This makes them a quintessential developmental tool. This course will introduce 360 surveys and teach fundamental principles for using them with your coaching clients. During this call, Dr. Krapu will answer:
Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 Fee: No charge (some long distance charges may apply). If you have additional questions, please contact Tom at Tom@lifecoachtraining.com Informational Call: Body-Mind Life Coaching™: Using the Body to Deepen Awareness and Forward the Action Join Dr. Lauree Moss, MSW, Ph.D., PCC to learn more about this exciting certificate course, which starts on March 24, 2009 for 16 weeks. Using Body-Mind Life Coaching™ tools, coaches will learn ways to work with the powerful messages of the body. It is said that the body never lies. Through habitual ways of thinking, acting and feeling, there is often a disconnection between the mind and body. Coaches, in any niche, who are interested in learning more about how to integrate non- verbal dimensions into their coaching, will gain invaluable skills and tools. Lauree will discuss:
Date: January 27, 2009 Fee: No charge (long distrance charges may apply) If you have questions you may contact Lauree at Lauree@lifecoachtraining.com ILCT and Print® The Institute for Life Coach Training announces the unique Print® tool provided by Hertz-Reeder Print Strategies. This dynamic tool is brought here by past ICF president, Bobette Reeder, MCC. Print® is an independently developed and independently validated, quick online survey and accurate report that answers the pivotal question - why do people feel, think or act as they do? Through Print, both Coach and client gain a clear picture of the frequently hidden yet vital motivations that drive client behavior, creating unprecedented numbers of "ah-ha" moments to accelerate client self awareness and make meaningful shifts. Concisely written and in lay person’s terms, the Print® report provides a jumping off point from which to coach more effectively, increase coaching confidence and yield better client results. Coaches at all levels have found Print® to be an amazing tool. Becoming a Certified Print® Coach requires a six-session teleclass program taught by master coach instructors. Six ICF-CCEU credits are also awarded upon class completion. The next class will start on either January 12th or January 14th, 2009. Additional dates will be posted. [IMPORTANT : Please use the Referral Code: LCT during registration for the class - note that you will need a Referral Code in order to register. A complimentary call with Bobette Reeder, MCC and Margaret Krigbaum, MCC has been scheduled for Jan. 7th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern to tell you more about Print® (Call 712-429-0700 pin:689839#) Counseling vs. Life Coaching The relationship between professional counselors and life coaches is sometimes akin to that of stepsiblings. They are loosely connected because they share the same family name — "helping professional." And because of that name, those outside the "family" sometimes link the two (like it or not). However, like stereotypical stepsiblings, although counselors and life coaches are familiar with each other and even share some similar traits, they are sometimes prone to less positive feelings of competition and, at times, distrust. According to interviews conducted for this article, many professional counselors and life coaches agree that they can coexist — even flourish — and that clients will be better off if both services are available from well-trained practitioners. They generally agree that coaches should be certified through a strong, formal process that requires ample amounts of study and experience. And it is broadly believed that there are limits to what life coaches can and should do with clients, with both sides agreeing that coaches should refer clients to a therapist if a significant psychological problem is discovered. There is, however, often a larger divide when the discussion turns to how coaching and counseling are defined and what each profession offers. Coaching advocates say they provide a distinct service that helps clients work on their goals for the future and create a new life path. They say counselors spend more time examining the past, looking for solutions to emotional concerns and seeking a diagnosis required by insurance companies. Coaches suggest that the relationships they establish with clients are also more collegial in nature. Coaches and clients work in a less structured environment as a team rather than setting up a "doctor-patient" relationship. Lynn Mitchell, a business executive and management consultant for nearly 20 years, is working on a master’s degree in counseling in Chicago but wants to be a life coach. She compares coaching with services provided by personal trainers, nutritionists or massage therapists, who help people with health concerns. "There are a lot of people trying to cope with life adjustments, anxieties and personal challenges," says Mitchell, a member of the American Counseling Association. "Coaching can help, and there is something positive and preventative about it. Wellness is a trend, and coaching is part of it." Not all professional counselors, however, necessarily see the distinction. Although acknowledging the value of what properly trained life coaches offer to clients, many counselors maintain that coaches are simply utilizing theories and techniques taught to every counselor as a matter of course. "We can do anything a coach can do. It is part of our training, and it is part of how we work with clients," says Sue Pressman, president-elect of the National Employment Counseling Association, president of Pressman Consulting in Arlington, Va., and a longtime member of ACA. "There are coaches who go through good training programs. I’m sure they are skilled and effective, but that is not to say that counselors aren’t, nor that we don’t offer these services." Pressman believes professional counselors need to better market the services they are already qualified to provide that allow them to help individuals in the same way as coaches. "Good coaches should come out and make it clear they are not counselors and refer people for the proper services," she says. "And it is also only fair that good counselors be encouraged to say that they do coaching." Larry Pfaff, an ACA member and associate professor at Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Mich., was in private practice as a counselor for 20 years. He has been vigorous in raising concerns about the coaching profession, particularly when he served on the Michigan Board of Counseling. Based on his study of different websites for coach training and services, Pfaff believes many coaches are not adequately trained and might essentially be practicing counseling without a license. "There are some good training programs out there, and coaches are often doing some good stuff and meeting important needs," he says. "But there are also a lot of programs that don’t require much more than a few weeks of training." Pfaff adds that he is also often cynical about the success some life coaches proclaim to have. "I think a lot of it is a placebo effect," he says. "Clients pay money — and often a lot of money — to coaches, so they think they must be better." Despite these differences of opinion, most of the individuals contacted by Counseling Today agreed on one thing: A future in which life coaches and professional counselors can learn to coexist and collaborate is best for both professions — and their clients. What is coaching? The International Coach Federation (ICF), which claims to be the largest coaching credentialing and support organization in the world, defines coaching as "partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Professional coaches provide an ongoing partnership designed to help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Coaches help people improve their performances and enhance the quality of their lives. Coaches are trained to listen, to observe and to customize their approach to individual client needs. They seek to elicit solutions and strategies from the client; they believe the client is naturally creative and resourceful. The coach’s job is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources and creativity that the client already has." Patrick Williams, a psychologist for 28 years who moved into the coaching profession in 1990, helped to found ICF in 1995. He sees coaching as an "evolutionary step" among the helping professions and believes coaching’s definition and boundaries will become clearer with time. He further says that coaching is "the hottest trend to hit the self-improvement business" and regards coaching as being clearly rooted in well-accepted theory. "Adler and Jung saw individuals as the creators and artists of their lives and frequently involved their clients in goal setting, life planning and inventing their future — all tenets and approaches in today’s coaching," says Williams, who also points to Carl Rogers’ work with client-centered therapy as a "significant precursor to coaching." He says coaching was born of advances in the helping professions that were then blended with consulting practices and organizational and personal development training trends. Coaching takes the best of all those approaches, he contends, to provide a new type of assistance. An ACA member, Williams is likewise a strong supporter of counseling and does not believe that the emergence of coaching poses a threat. "Traditional therapy will not become extinct but will increasingly offer help primarily to those who need clinical services," he says. "Therapy is about uncovering and recovering, while coaching is about discovering." Edward Colozzi, a career development expert and author of the book Creating Careers With Confidence, says although coaching has its limitations, its practice harkens back to times in many cultures when spiritual leaders, shamans, mentors or others in the community offered informal guidance. "It is, in a way, a back-to-the-future paradigm shift," Colozzi says. "A life coach is like a mentor — a person who joins us on a journey. Many people have performed that role in the past. But in a society such as ours that starts to have rules and regulations … that may be where counseling was born. Now, perhaps, we are seeing a return to something more basic." In the early 1970s, Colozzi says that he, along with others, pioneered "career life" counseling, which may have been the precursor to coaching. Today, the distinction between the two is often described as a difference in thinking about the significance of the past. "Coaching is more focused on the present and the future," says Paula Padget Baylor, a graduate student adviser in Eastern University’s Counseling and Psychology Department in St. Davids, Pa. A trained counselor and coach who works in both areas and trains professional counselors to use their coaching skills, Baylor is an ACA member who has been in private practice for 10 years. She explains that coaches generally work on four areas with clients:
"Through coaching, clients can learn how to use healthy and helpful ways of navigating through life," she says. What’s the difference? "Coaching has a role, a narrower focus than counseling," says ACA member April Summers, a counselor at a maximum-security prison in McLoud, Okla. Summers has herself used a coach and believes coaching is an important helping profession, although one with a limited reach. "It helps clients set manageable goals and reach them, especially someone who doesn’t know where to start or how to tackle a big change in their life," she says. Most counselors who contacted Counseling Today for this article said they see some similarities between coaching and popular counseling theory. Coaching’s emphasis on setting goals and focusing on the future reminds some of solution-focused counseling. Others see the work of Carl Rogers in coaching’s suggestion that clients themselves have the capability to find solutions to the issues that confront them. But other counselors, such as Summers, are concerned by the prospect of coaches overreaching. "I think good coaching should start with the disclaimer that coaching is limited and that more serious, deeper issues may need therapy," she says. Peter Moskowitz, an ACA member who coaches health care professionals and is the executive director of the Center for Professional and Personal Renewal in Palo Alto, Calif., concurs that coaches need to understand the difference between the services they provide and counseling. "I do not take on clients who, in my judgment, have serious mental/emotional problems — problems such as substance abuse, major depression and personality disorders," he says. "When I suspect any of those issues, I refer the client to an appropriate mental health professional for a thorough evaluation and resume work once the client is emotionally stable." Stephanie Baffone, an ACA member and Licensed Mental Health Counselor with her own practice in Newark, Del., has worked with a coach personally and says she found the process helpful "but only in regard to setting life goals and working on some of the more superficial challenges I run into while working on those goals. From my limited experience, the opportunity for psychological exploration is not inherent in the life coaching process." Williams wholeheartedly agrees that coaches should steer clear of certain areas and be quick to refer clients to the appropriate mental health professional. And he doesn’t view the client bases for coaching and counseling as being interchangeable. Coaches work with healthy clients who are striving to improve their circumstances, he says, and counselors work with persons needing help and hoping to identify dysfunction or trauma to heal and resolve old pain. "Counselors assume emotions are a symptom of something wrong; coaches assume they are natural and can be normalized," Williams contends. "Therapists diagnose and provide professional expertise and guidelines, and coaches help clients identify the challenges, then work in partnership with clients to obtain their goals." Another difference? Progress is often slow and painful in counseling, but it is typically "rapid and usually enjoyable" in coaching, according to Williams. Again, he attributes this to the differences between the client base of each profession. "(Clients who seek coaching) aren’t usually coming with a dysfunction or because they are in pain," he says. That distinction is what drew Mitchell to coaching, where she hopes to provide "wellness counseling and personal coaching." She draws the boundary line as such: "If you are ill, see a counselor. If you are focused on prevention and maximizing your emotional health, see a coach." Michael Walsh, president of the Counseling Association for Humanistic Education and Development, a division of ACA, says the boundaries may not be that clear. "Like many things in life, rarely are things so simple. Clearly, there are counselors who focus on prevention, maximizing emotional health and achieving peak performance," he says. "The difference is that counselors also have the additional training to help clients when things are not going so well." "I think that both coaching and counseling can be an incredibly beneficial process for folks," Walsh continues. "The key here is the training of the counselor or coach and the personal fit between the client and the counselor or coach. I would encourage folks to first be sure that any professional has the requisite training and credentials in order to ensure the quality of the services provided. This is especially important in fields in which there is limited regulation and oversight, such as coaching. Then, I would encourage folks to look for a good personal fit with the style, approach and training of the provider. We know, based on the literature in both peak performance work and in counseling, that personal connections often foster the greatest motivation toward success." Straddling the line Diane Bast, who received her counseling degree after 22 years in human resources and now practices coaching in Elm Grove, Wis., says professional counselors are often faced with a "mental health" label and an insurance reimbursement process that requires assignment of a diagnosis. "I see a lot of people in my practice who really want coaching and more direction, and they balk at having to fill out all kinds of paperwork implying mental problems," says Bast, a member of ACA. "They want to talk about their careers and what is holding them back or causing them problems on the job." Joey Harman was a teacher before getting her master’s in counseling. She was working in a community mental health agency and in private practice when she decided to get her coaching certification through the MentorCoach program based in Bethesda, Md. Like Williams, she believes coaches have a unique role to play as helping professionals, primarily working with people who are generally healthy but still need support. Harman, an ACA member, says her understanding of basic counseling techniques makes her a better coach, and she still practices in both fields, although she keeps them entirely separate. Pfaff believes most professional counselors are already qualified to also coach clients without additional training. "Counselors can use parts of what they had in training — some cognitive therapy and solution-focused work and a little Carl Rogers. Most counselors with very little other work can do (coaching). Eighty percent already are." He says counselors simply need to do a better job of defining their expertise, highlighting their coachlike services and marketing themselves to the public. But professional counselors who offer coaching services should understand that, legally, they are still practicing counselors. "Be aware that licensing boards do not necessarily differentiate between counseling and coaching activities," says ACA Chief Professional Officer David Kaplan. "Your licensing board may well view your coaching as falling under their scope of practice. Therefore, you should fulfill all mandated state licensing requirements — for example, obtaining informed consent, reporting child or elder abuse, etc. — with your coaching clients just as you do with your counseling clients." Because of the lack of differentiation, professional counselors who conduct "coaching" can have complaints lodged against them by their coaching clients with state counseling licensing boards. In addition, coaching clients can sue counselors for malpractice and attempt to hold them to the standards of Licensed Professional Counselors, even if the counselor was providing services as a "coach." The bottom line, Kaplan says, is that counselors who identify themselves as "coaches" to clients must still maintain the same standards as professional counselors. Coach training Jason Newsome, director of clinical services for Family Counseling Connection in Charleston, W.Va., agrees. He claims there are no repercussions for ethical breaches in the coaching profession, no standards of practice and no guarantee of competence. "Life coaches are permitted to practice without a license," says Newsome, a member of ACA and president of the West Virginia Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling. Newsome also believes that counselors have allowed "too many ad hoc services to be provided under the guise of counseling, diluting the value of the services we provide. As a profession, we have to be able and willing to stand up for ourselves." In the past, ACA has not addressed the issue of coaching, but President Colleen Logan says she believes it is now an issue to which the association should pay attention. "We’ll need to study it," she says. "Certainly, coaching is a valuable service when offered by well-trained, caring people, but the public should be protected from those who aren’t qualified or those who offer counseling services they aren’t trained for." Williams and other coaches say the coaching phenomenon is market driven — that the public wants and needs this type of service. Coaching proponents also say that most legitimate training programs describe the boundaries of the coaching profession and make it clear that coaches should not offer counseling services. The ICF has three levels of accreditation:
The ICF also sets objectives
for ethical and professional
behavior. Williams’ program, the Institute for Life Coach Training, requires students to pass a 40-hour foundational course as well as a written exam. Other requirements include 50 hours of coaching, along with two 20-hour practicums with coaching sessions, an ethics class and 42 hours of elective courses. Other coaching programs, however, require far less training. Pfaff and other professional counselors urge that something be implemented to ensure that coaches receive a set amount of minimum training. "My bigger concern here is that the next step might be a state legislature passing a coaching license law," Pfaff says. "What’s to stop them from getting a 10-hour training program that would qualify them for a license? Then we will wish we had done something about it." Some counselors contacted for this article also said that, given some of the overlapping characteristics of coaching and counseling, they would like to see ACA play a guiding role in coaching’s future development, perhaps by stepping in to offer certification to coaches or by giving its blessing to some set of minimum standards. The main concern expressed by professional counselors, however, was that coaches need to be more closely regulated so they will not be tempted to cross the line and offer counseling services unless properly trained and certified. Jim Paterson is a school counselor in Maryland and a frequent contributor to Counseling Today. Expand Your Business!
Deepen Your Coaching Skills! Additional classes, details and online registration at our course section. Some schedules may change; check listing or contact Edwina Adams, Administration/Registration, at edwina@lifecoachtraining.com. Where In The World Is Pat Williams? February 5th What Pat Recommends
Tomorrow's Life Coach™ Patrick Williams, Ed.D., Publisher If you wish to use any of our content in a newsletter, magazine or other media (whether public or internal), please request permission. |
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