Jenny Summerfield

Do coaches counsel and do counsellors coach? This is the question that is provoking hot debate among both coaches and counsellors. It is also a potential source of confusion for us as coaching psychologists, like others, we just want to do right by our clients. We want to feel that we are keeping things ‘safe’ for us and for them.

At the extreme ends of the continuum of debate are those professionals who take an unhelpful and divisive stance, e.g. Counsellors who say, ‘coaches lack the necessary theoretical background and professional training to do a good job’ and Coaches who say ‘counselling is nothing to do with us; we don’t work with emotional problems’

So how do we, as coaching psychologists, know which interventions are appropriate for us to make with our clients?

Full article - Volume 2, Issue 1 pages 24 - 27