Coaching is a powerful, ongoing relationship which focuses on clients making important changes in their lives.  Coaching uses a process of inquiry & personal discovery to build a client’s level of awareness & responsibility, & provides the client w/ structure, support, & feedback.  The coaching process helps clients to both define & achieve personal & professional goals faster & w/ more ease than would be possible otherwise.

In coaching, the focus is on future design, not getting over the past.  Coaching is usually based on a long-term relationship, where the client’s goals, dreams, and vision drives the action.  The belief is that there are multiple paths to reach a goal, and that the client knows the way (though they might not realize it at the time).

People hire coaches because the trend in society is to be more mobile.  Change is the norm & entrepreneurism & isolation are the results.  Gone are the neighborhood “sage” & the workplace “mentor.”  Coaching allows people to hire a mentor & guide that one cannot easily find.  The coach assists the client to become a “change master.”

Therapists make the best coaches because they are practiced in the arts of skillful listening, reframing, the ability to suspend judgment.  Therapists have experience with confidentiality & ethics, and they have the ability to think creatively about possibilities & solutions.

The differences between therapy & coaching:

Therapy                                                                               Coaching

Focus is on history                                                          Focus is on the future

Asks why?                                                                           Asks how?

Therapist is considered the expert                          Coach is considered the co-creator

Client = patient                                                                 Coaching is partnership of equals

Process feelings                                                 Outcome & action

Some clients find that, after we get food challenges under control, they have other areas of their lives (financial, relationships, business) which are not balanced or they want to improve, so the coaching relationship morphs to address these goals.