The Connection Between Coaching and Psychology: A Guide to Psychological Coaching
Recently, I finished a specialization in psychological coaching with the CRIAP Institute. For the past two years, I have been working in recruitment, and although I enjoy it, I miss the field of psychology. The topic of coaching in psychology has particularly piqued my interest, so I decided to invest in my return to psychology by becoming a certified psychological coach.
The world of coaching has been around for years, but strangely enough, psychology has not been well-represented in this field. In fact, a study conducted by Grant and Zackon in 2004, which involved 2,529 coaches from the International Coach Federation (ICF), concluded that only 4.8% had an educational background in psychology. However, in the last few years, efforts have been made to bring psychology into the coaching arena, and this is incredibly exciting.
In the next posts, I will be sharing insights into Psychological Coaching. Today I’ll be sharing what Psychological Coaching is, what the process looks like, and discuss some of the potential benefits. Let’s dive in:
What is Psychological Coaching
Psychological coaching is viewed as a positive approach that draws on various areas of psychology to improve an individual’s life experience, professional performance, and overall well-being. It is designed for those who do not have clinically significant mental health issues or dysfunctional levels of stress.
The process of psychological coaching involves helping individuals develop their skills by identifying their strengths and areas of improvement, and capitalizing on their advantages while compensating for their weaknesses. The goal is to assist the coachee in achieving clearly defined objectives by asking semi-open questions that stimulate thinking and reflection, increasing self-awareness, motivation, and commitment (Almeida et al, 2009; Urrutikoetxea, 2003; Cunha, Rego, Cunha & Cardoso, 2007).
Psychological coaching differs from traditional therapy in that it does not focus on diagnosing or treating mental health disorders. Instead, its focus is on promoting well-being and resilience and it’s present and future-oriented.
One of the main advantages of having a coach with a background in psychology is the ability to integrate intervention models from psychology into the coaching process.
How does it work
Now that we know what psychological coaching is and how it integrates with psychology, let’s discuss what a typical coaching process looks like. The overall process consists of seven stages: building the relationship, setting the rules, determining the starting point, establishing goals and milestones, creating an action plan, catching up, and wrapping up. Let’s take a closer look at each of these stages.
Building the Relationship. The initial stage of coaching aims to establish rapport between the coach and coachee. The objective is to explain the process and establish a relationship based on trust and openness.
Establishing Rules. In this stage, both parties must define their responsibilities and set the norms and rules for the rest of the coaching process. It also determines the number of sessions, their duration, and their frequency. All of this should be included in a formal contract that both the coach and coachee can celebrate. This brings clarity to the process by making it clear what behaviours are expected from both parties.
Starting Point. This stage focuses on exploring the coachee’s current situation. We examine their current challenges and difficulties, clarify their vision for the future, identify their mission and values, and determine their current skills as well as the skills they wish to develop.
Goals and Milestones. The first step is to establish the main objective to be achieved. This objective should be the reason for the coaching process. Once it is set, we must establish milestones to assess if we are moving in the right direction. These milestones will serve as success indicators.
Action Plan. After establishing objectives and milestones, it’s time to define the strategies and behaviours that will help achieve them. This plan should have different layers, with various strategies and stages, guiding the process until the objective is completed.
Catching Up. As established in the contract, periodic sessions should be held to evaluate progress, ensure milestones are being met, and make necessary adjustments to achieve the ultimate goal. During this time, the coach and coachee should exchange feedback regularly.
Wrapping Up. When the coachee has achieved the objective and the respective skills, the coaching process comes to an end. This doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the collaboration, but it does mean the end of that particular coaching process. If the coachee has another goal to pursue, a new coaching process must begin and go through the same stages as before.
How Can You Benefit From Psychological Coaching
By now, you should have a better understanding of what Psychological Coaching is, the connection between coaching and Psychology, and what a coaching process looks like. Now, let’s talk about the benefits of using this service.
Knowing Yourself. The psychological coaching process will help you better understand your situation, identify your strengths, establish areas for improvement, and apply yourself to achieving your goals. This will increase your awareness of yourself, your surroundings, and ultimately what you can achieve.
Implementing change. With a coach by your side, you will be able to learn the most effective ways of establishing goals, better understand your relationship with those goals and ultimately build solution-based behaviors that will allow you to implement changes.
Ownership of Your Development. Start by understanding how you can impact your behaviour with the support of a coach. This will empower you to be more assertive and confident when implementing the right strategies for your development. A study has shown that the coaching relationship helps increase the level of ownership for the behaviour change process by respecting and valuing the decisions made by the coachee.
Mental Health Benefits. As you can imagine, striving to develop better behaviours, learn new skills, and achieve your goals through coaching can have several mental health benefits. These benefits include better life satisfaction, improved stress management, increased self-acceptance, and goal-oriented behaviour.
One last, but important thing. To ensure the best coaching experience possible, it’s important to verify the coach’s credentials. Psychological Coaches should have a background in Psychology and, if they are part of the Portuguese Order of Psychologists, they will have a professional number. If the coach doesn’t have a background in Psychology, make sure they are a member of one of the following associations: International Coach Federation (ICF), European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), Association for Coaching (AC), or, if you are in Portugal, the Portuguese Coaching Group from the Portuguese Association of People Management (APG) or the Portuguese Society for Professional Coaching (SPCP). These associations require their members to have specific education and formation to carry out the coaching process and, more importantly, to follow a very strict code of ethics that protects both the coach and the coachee from malpractice. In the event of any problems, you can always contact these associations and report your issues. This ensures that your rights as a coachee are protected and that you receive the best possible service.
Psychological coaching is an amazing tool for people who wish to improve and achieve their goals. It helps develop new skills that ultimately allow them to live more aware and purposeful lives. Over the next few months, I will explore the different fields in which psychological coaching is utilized. My goal is to provide clarity on what coaching entails and ensure that your coaching experience is as valuable as possible. By the end of the year, I will become a certified psychological coach, and I’m super excited to be the coach who is going to help you achieve your goals and make sustainable changes in your life.