“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.”
(Carl Rogers, 1961)
Just as not every super athlete makes a good coach, not every psychologist has the savoir faire to be a proficient life, business, or relationship coach. The professional psychologist may have all the educational accolades and be beloved by their patients, only to fall flat when it comes to working with high-powered, demanding, and result-oriented coaching clients. Why is that?
Coaching and psychology have many shared denominators that give psychologists an edge over non-psychology trained coaches: Both approaches are client-focused, build on trusting client-service provider relationships, encourage clients’ self-assessment, and focus on lasting change. Yet, there are plenty of challenges psychologists face with coaching:
Coaching and psychology have many shared denominators that give psychologists an edge over non-psychology trained coaches: Both approaches are client-focused, build on trusting client-service provider relationships, encourage clients’ self-assessment, and focus on lasting change. Yet, there are plenty of challenges psychologists face with coaching:
- Coaching is time-bound and result-driven. Coachees expect visible results within six weeks to three months, which doesn’t allow for a lengthy exploration of the past and relies on the coach as an astute guide and pacesetter.
- Coaching is a direct and straight-forward modality. The coach is outspoken and, as an accountability partner, actively involved in the process of goal achievement. Coaches are expected to hold coachees to deadlines and trace progress.
- The coaching clientele looks and feels different compared to the therapy tribe: High-functioning coaching clients can be a tad high-strung. They likely appear intimidating to a traditional psychologist. Coachees are often from demanding business cultures: They are used to fast progress, are goal-oriented and competitive; they are very direct in their approach and expectations.
In summary, the well-trodden psychotherapy path and some general characteristics attributed to psychologists don’t fit the demands of coaching. Henceforth let’s lay out a road map that fits the coaching destination.
“There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There’s only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.”
– Dr. Wayne W. Dyer (2017)
Colleagues and students alike often pose the question: “How do you pivot from psychotherapy to coaching? Can you practice both and what’s the secret of mastering both?” As a coaching psychologist with a former career in international business and PR, coaching comes more intuitively to me than therapy. It’s the dynamic interaction of two experts: The coach is the expert in strategy and execution. They are holding the coachee accountable; they are the expert guide and motivator. The coachee is expert in their own life experience, processes, and previous dynamic achievements.
Setting a goal and planning how to excel and reach new heights is very rewarding. It’s a great pleasure to work alongside high-functioning coachees who are dedicated to their personal, professional, and relational development.
Coaching addresses how to reach new goals while therapy seeks to understand why psychopathology developed and is maintained and why patients behave the way they do. Coaching is present and future oriented while psychotherapy also incorporates the past. The goal of therapy is to move patients forward by filling their tool kits with new emotional and behavioral coping tools and by amending their worldview. A commonality of coaching and psychotherapy is that both focus on moving the client forward. High-functioning coaching clients face few emotional and behavioral barriers along the way. Hence coaching uses the most direct path to achieve new heights while psychotherapy takes the scenic route on the way to wellness to address and include obstacles such as trauma, anxiety, depression, or personality challenges.
To successfully pivot from psychotherapist to coach, psychologists must get
comfortable working within a straightforward outcome-oriented framework. As a coaching psychologist with a former career in international business and PR, I can understand that certain hard-charging industries such as law, finance, and business may view psychologists stereotypically as a bit docile and conflict avoidant, slightly introverted, overly tolerant, and patient with clients’ self-directed pace of change. In line with the above, psychologists were to point out self-defeating behaviors very gently and be uncomfortable to call direct attention to patients’ shortfalls and self-defeating behaviors.. To be successful coaches, psychologists must become hands on, outspoken accountability partners who point out shortfalls and strengths without hesitation, assign responsibility and fearlessly yet compassionately challenge their coachees while teaching and showing them what needs to be done to excel.
In summary, to become successful coaches, psychologists need to pivot from copy editor to pacer. In my view, therapists are patients’ copy editors while coaches are coachees’ pacesetters. By this I mean that psychologists assist patients to apply and achieve clarity, concision, and consistency (Lorna Partington Walsh, 2020) in their life stories and events of the past and present just as a copy editor does to assist a writer. Coaches instead are similar to strong pacemakers in a medium to long race. They set the pace and actively participate as advisers, road map creators, and motivators. They know the drill and assist their coachees to get over the finish line as smoothly as possible. Here are seven take-away tips to pivot from copyeditor to pacer.
Seven Tips to Pivot from Traditional Psychologist (Copy Editor) to Modern Coach (Pacer)
SIEW DAI (less sweet)
Pen And Paper Time: Kindly take out a pen and paper; please answer the questions before reading on to create your Coaching Road Map.
S – Map your own State of Affairs. Before embarking on the potentially exciting journey of becoming a coach, take a good look at your personal, professional, and relational situation. Is your life structured and in order? What areas do you excel in? What areas do you need to develop further? Are you surprised about your findings? Which areas bring you joy and pleasant surprise and where do you sense disappointment? Now what do you plan to do about it?
Make a detailed list including your thoughts and feelings related to where you place yourself on the map at the time of the assessment. Now set some goals in terms of where you want to be and when? What’s the next milestone or finish line you’d like to cross? How will you motivate yourself and keep up your energy? Tough exercise you think? This exercise fosters self-awareness, self-knowledge, and ultimately self-confidence. You will ask your coachees to work on themselves. Before you can coach others, you must be able to guide and know yourself, implement strategy and a plan to your own life journey.
I – Show Integrity towards yourself. You do not have to commit to psychotherapy and coaching or the integration of the two. Some colleagues are passionate about therapy and haphazard when it comes to coaching and its benefits. Don’t convert or do something you don’t appreciate. Yet, you owe it to yourself to learn more about coaching and why you may love and be good at it. As a psychologist you have a professional advantage: You are trained in personality development, behavioral change models, and motivation. These areas are important in the coaching process. Hence, coachees benefit from a professional coach trained in psychology.
E – Energize, engage, and strengthen your extroverted self! In therapy and coaching the energy and engagement levels of therapist/ patient and coach/coachee determine the treatment experience and influence outcomes. Be active and energetic, engage in the process and strengthen your “extrovert” muscle. Get comfortable with discussing goals, road maps and redirecting coachees – it’s part of your new job description.
W – The Why (explored in psychotherapy) in combination with the how (addressed in coaching) are a winning combo! You are trained to explore the why of behavior, behavioral development, and personality; you know how to take a proper look at someone’s background to understand their foreground and to interpret and see nature versus nurture. Remember: Being a trained psychologist brings great value and rounds out the coaching profession and approach. You are an expert in Why – now be open to pivot and become an expert in how. But how? Become a coachee – so you see how the shoe feels on the other foot; sign up for a coaching seminar and consult with a coaching psychologist. Remember you get out what you put in!
D – Learn to be Direct and Dare to speak up and out. Address issues, do a status review with your coachees and remind yourself that coaching is a very direct approach. You were likely educated to be a great listener and a compassionate companion on the road towards change. That’s a wonderful foundation for a trusting client-service provider relationship. Remember coaching requires some modification, so add one. It’s a direct approach that requires you to get comfortable with speaking up and out. This is for the good of your coachees.
A – Be Alert, Astute, and Assertive! Coaches and psychologists must be vulnerable and approachable to be good treatment providers. Coaches are pacers and alert to changes in coachees’ behaviors and astute observers of outside events. For example, if your coachee is attempting to land a new job in finance and within one month of working together the economy slows down and hiring freezes are predictable, strategy and goal timeline may have to be amended. Coaches assert themselves and their observations – hone this skill by practicing it in your personal life or your personal coaching sessions.
I – Identify your areas of coaching interest. Look at your expressed strengths in psychotherapy and areas of interest in your personal life. What population do you enjoy working with? For example, you are good at mending relationships and successfully work with patients through difficult relationships. Or you are superb at helping patients create good habits and life structure; intuitively these are good practical fits for starting your coaching endeavors. Dare to be passioned and seek coaching opportunities within the realm that you love!
References
Brockway, R. L. S. (2017, December 7). 31 motivational quotes from dr. Wayne Dyer. HuffPost. Retrieved February 25, 2023, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/-wayne-dyer_b_8066286
Partington Walsh, L. (2020, September 28). The 5 cs of copyediting. Lorna Partington Walsh. Retrieved February 25, 2023, from https://www.ideal-type.com/blog/the-5-cs-of-copyediting
Rogers, C. R. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapist’s view of psychotherapy. Houghton Mifflin.
