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I just attended, along with 449 other participants, what I believe was the first coaching psychology conference to take place in the United States. Apparently, not only did the conference sell out quickly, but at least 100 unlucky people wanted to attend but there was no room for them!
The conference, put together by Carol Kauffman and Margaret Moore, was a mix of theory and practice, with speakers such as Ben and Rosamund Zander and Robert Kegan. The attendees included coaches, therapists, psychiatrists, and others, and was a mix that went from those who knew little about coaching and were curious to find out more to coaches who have been practicing, teaching, and writing for many years.
I thought this thread might be a starting point for those who attended the conference and would like to follow up on questions or dialogs started there. Of course, in the spirit of the Coaching Commons, I’d encourage others who did not attend to join in with questions and comments, as well.
I’d like to start by following up on my question about the role of “healing” and to what degree it might apply to distinctions between coaching and therapy. Carol Kauffman said that in therapy, the focus may be on healing, with progress against goals as a by-product; and that in coaching, the focus may be on goals, with healing as a by-product (if anyone remembers this differently, please chime in).
So, what are your thoughts about healing and coaching? And, can anyone jump in with stories about healing that occured with a coaching client and whether it was a focus of coaching or a by-product, and whether the work together felt like “pure” coaching (whatever that is), or something else?
As well, I encourage anyone to jump in with your own questions or comments about what you heard and experienced at the conference.
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Jonathan,
It was a pleasure to see you there.
Wasn’t the energy remarkable? There were 75 psychiatrists, hundreds of psychologists, many certified coaches, and many curious people wondering about “this thing called coaching.”
I’m delighted that you started this conversation, because many things were said at the event with which practicing coaches might rightfully disagree based on their own experience.
Immediately following the conference you described, the first International Coaching Research Forum was held at the Harvard Faculty Club, again produced and hosted by Carol Kauffman, moderated by Sunny Stout Rostron and attended by dozens of researchers from around the world.
I hope the participants will share their experiences on the Commons – I know Mary Wayne Bush and Linda Ballew will probably tell you all about it. Suffice it to say they did work that will probably have an impact on the field of coaching that is beyond our current ability to imagine.
And then Director of Research Dr. Mary Wayne Bush convened the third annual meeting of The Foundation of Coaching’s distinguished Research Advisory Panel. I’ll let Mary Wayne give you the details, but the RAP comprises some of the foremost researchers and mentors of researchers from around the world (only one North American, if I remember correctly). These scholars will evaluate proposals from researchers who seek financial support for their projects.
At Monday night’s dinner honoring the Panel, researchers who have already received support presented updates on their fascinating studies. And several people who had attended the GCC talked about how wonderful that event was in terms of bringing people together from around the world.
If any of them want to say more about that, they’re certainly welcome to do so. That makes me, Linda Ballew, John Bennett, David Goldsmith, Mary Wayne Bush and other members of our team feel very good about the considerable support we gave as major founding funders. We invested in the GCC from the beginning, and we are delighted that the international conversations are continuing in places all around the world.
I eagerly encourage you all to continue them here on the Coaching Commons.
I am so sorry i could not be there this year….maybe next year?
I think the emphasis of coaching psychology can really help the distinctions between counseling and coahcing as well as offering research and theory that assists the growth of our profession
patrick Williams Ed.D, MCC
Honorary VP of Coaching Psychology
Society of Coaching Psychology
Hi there!
I did describe the different destination points of coaching and therapy with healing being the goal of therapy and increased performance and well-being as the goal of coaching (with healing often as a side effect of coaching.)
For me the biggest difference is: as a therapist one follows the trail of tears, and as a coach follows the trail of dreams. In either case therapists don’t ignore dreams and coaches don’t ignore tears – it’s just that we need to stay true to our mission with the client.
I think the operative word in coaching for “healing” is actually transformation. I’d be interested in what others think about this.
I certainly have experienced transformation (healing?) myself.
As my vision, values and choices aligned through my experiences of being coached — something powerful happened to me. It isn’t “healing” with the connotation that I was necessarily wounded, but transformational as I stopped being the best caterpillar I could be and took the risk to be a butterfly.
I just took the ICF-based survey on the experience of being coached – I encourage others to do the same as we figure out just what this thing called coaching does to us.
We need to find the right language and the right tools to study the transformational impact of coaching. Most people think that if something is really interesting (like transformation) it isn’t researchable – but it is. Check out the research abstracts that will soon be on-line at CoachingResearchForum.org.
Best,
Carol
I am one of the many clinical psycholoists that had attended the conference. At the conference, distinctions re therapy and coaching were made. These might be clear distinctions for the coach, but might not necessarily be so for a client who presents for coaching when is in actuality in need of therapy.
A number of coaches mentioned that when a coaching client clearly needed therapy, they would refer this client to a therapist. But what about coaches who also have a therapy practice? Does one do the needed therapy oneself or refer the client to see another therapist who may not be as adept, or capable of providing the needed treatment as the coach/therapist?
Although this was brought up at the conference, we had run out of time to adequately discuss it. I would greatly appreciate opinions and thoughts regarding this.
Thanks so much
Marianette
Hi Marianette,
I think you ask some important questions.
I think there is a lack of consensus about how coach / therapists (those who have competence in both areas) should manage boundaries. There has been some dialog in various communities about this issue (for example, I lead the International Coach Federation Special Interest Group in Coaching and Psychotherapy), but I think that there is room for significantly more exploration and dialog.
Some have taken a strong position against anything that might look like a blurred or dual role. I think that those who are interested in integration have tended to be less vocal, at least publicly.
In my opinion, one must consider issues such as informed consent, liability, the scope of one’s license (e.g., what if the client is in another state during a session), when there are differing ethical standards, which standard to follow, etc. Some of these issues have been looked at by groups exploring distance-based therapy, others have not.
At the same time, there might be reasons to consider a more integrative approach – if there is a strong alliance between practitioner and client, is it in the best interest of the client to ask them to find another practitioner to start building trust with? If we believe in some form of continuum of wellness, might we follow our client (in cases where the concerns mentioned above have been dealt with) along that continuum, helping our client using all of our resources and competencies?
One more thing. We might find that there are different issues involved in transitioning from a coach role to a therapist role vs transitioning from therapist to coach. If so, there would also be the question of whether there is “no turning back” in one or both cases.
I don’t know if this is the best forum for this dialog (I’m not saying it isn’t, I truly don’t know), as some of these questions might be best answered by, and most pertinent to, those who are therapists as well as coaches.
We can see how far this gets here. If anyone wants, we could also take the discussion offline and report back. In that case, just contact me.
Jonathan