Just wanted to say hello to all. I have just joined the forum as a newbie. I am currently studying with a plan to becoming a life coach in the near future. I am definitely middle aged, and this represents a significant change in life and career.
Anyway, I shall be about these parts over the coming weeks and months, lurking in the background at least!
However, I would like to pose a question, if I might.
What qualities does the panel think one requires to be a proficient and successful coach? Discuss!
Cheers
Phil
Just wanted to say hello to all. I have just joined the forum as a newbie. I am currently studying with a plan to becoming a life coach in the near future. I am definitely middle aged, and this represents a significant change in life and career.
Anyway, I shall be about these parts over the coming weeks and months, lurking in the background at least!
However, I would like to pose a question, if I might.
What qualities does the panel think one requires to be a proficient and successful coach? Discuss!
Cheers
Phil
Hi Phil - I trained in hypnotherapy and life coaching at the age of 58!. I spent 34 years as a pharmacist and now do hypnotherapy, reiki, indian head massage and psychic readings. I totally understand where you are coming from!!!
I think you need empathy to build good rapport, a non judgmental approach , patience - since sometimes it can take them time to break out of any circular thought patterns that are keeping them where they are., You need good listening skills and sometimes good intuition.
Hope that helps
Nice reply, thank you. I agree with your list of qualities.
I would add a massive sense of reality and being down to earth.:D
I ask the question as I see lots and lots of information and comments as to what people should look for in a coach, or in this training regime or that training company, but very little around what it takes to be a coach in terms of character and quality.
I come from a law enforcement background which is.....how shall we say.....pragmatic :rolleyes: and certainly down to earth. I firmly believe that the skills and abilities I have developed over the years will stand me in good stead for the future in coaching.
Or am I just being a bighead??:hidesbehindsofa:
Be upbeat, positive, solution/outcome focused, and empathic.
Coaches can be so immersed in technique that the empathy can get a bit lost, sometimes. The client doesn't always know what is possible, hence what to ask for.
Be upbeat, positive, solution/outcome focused, and empathic.
Coaches can be so immersed in technique that the empathy can get a bit lost, sometimes. The client doesn't always know what is possible, hence what to ask for.
Can't argue with that - Solution focussed is my middle name . Its may favourite approach . Upbeat isn't always appropriate tho . if you are coaching someone who is trying to come to terms with a major life trauma like bereavement they may need to go into the darker feelings to understand and learn the lesson to help them move forward. It is possible to be positive without being like Pollyanna......
Upbeat isn't always appropriate tho . if you are coaching someone who is trying to come to terms with a major life trauma like bereavement they may need to go into the darker feelings to understand and learn the lesson to help them move forward. It is possible to be positive without being like Pollyanna......
"Going into the darker feelings" is counselling territory, rather than coaching, IMO. In the end, of course, it depends what the client wants. If they have come to me as a coach, it is often because they want to learn techniques and strategies, rather than going through the grief in our sessions.
Personally, I am in favour of going through the dark, I think it is usually helpful in bringing relief from grief especially, but I my experience demonstrates that clients don't always agree.
Two significant differences between counselling and coaching:
In coaching the client sets the agenda and goals, and
In counselling, supervision is in place with another counsellor.
Exceptions abound.
"Going into the darker feelings" is counselling territory, rather than coaching, IMO. In the end, of course, it depends what the client wants. If they have come to me as a coach, it is often because they want to learn techniques and strategies, rather than going through the grief in our sessions.
Personally, I am in favour of going through the dark, I think it is usually helpful in bringing relief from grief especially, but I my experience demonstrates that clients don't always agree.
Two significant differences between counselling and coaching:
In coaching the client sets the agenda and goals, and
In counselling, supervision is in place with another counsellor.Exceptions abound.
And if the client sets the agenda as going through the dark in the best way possible - I am there to help them with techniques. I do appreciate the difference between the two modalities
And if the client sets the agenda as going through the dark in the best way possible - I am there to help them with techniques. I do appreciate the difference between the two modalities
Hi Sally, OK, latex gloves off. I had the MUR from hell today and I'm just grateful that I can break rapport as well as make it.
(Please don't feel obliged to tell anyone what that means, btw!)
I wonder if people who train in coaching really understand what they are missing by not doing a person-centred (or other humanistic experiential) counselling training. They are missing LIFE. I cannot think of anyone in the NLP courses I did who would not have enjoyed and benefited from such a training. Yet only one or two took the plunge.
Now, I do know that they will say that the self-development they went through on a coaching course, or NLP course, makes up for that -- but I've been on a few, and for me that just isn't true. Yes, it was a fabulous experience, and yes, it is grossly negligent that some of the experiential stuff within NLP is ignored by most counselling courses, But it still isn't the most that can be achieved.
Working as a coach can be fulfilling and useful, but working as a counsellor within the person-centred experiential paradigm is a whole different level of experience. For this practitioner's own development and involvement it is just no contest.
The fact that the clients like it too is just a bonus.
There are a lot of great pieces here to be a successful and strong coach. I have trained coaches for years with my methods, techniques, and skills that encompass the clients full needs with emotions. They all work together since we are living, breathing human beings. (We are never finished learning either)
Yes, there are countless trainings out there and a solid formal training should be for a coach, so they can create well rounded plans with their clients. This would then be seeing all bases are covered in their personal growth path. This doesn't mean you will lose the personal touch and caring of your client. You have the tools to only focus on your client and reach for certain ones when needed. I have seen and met countless coaches who simply coach from their personal experiences, etc. This is so wrong IMO because we are the unbiased professional guiding someone through 'the process'. Yes our experiences make a difference, but each life is unique and we cannot compare peoples experiences. What may have worked for us, doesn't mean it worked for someone else. Coaching is solution oriented guiding the client to find their own resolution.
In the end, coaching encompasses skill, empathy, patience, knowledge of all the healing emotions, and an arsensol of tools to fall back on while working with someone. I think you have a great foundation of caring for people and wanting to help them. This love you have for others and coming to this field speaks for itself. 🙂
Good luck to you!!
Merna Throne, MS
Hi Sally, OK, latex gloves off. I had the MUR from hell today and I'm just grateful that I can break rapport as well as make it.
(Please don't feel obliged to tell anyone what that means, btw!)
I wonder if people who train in coaching really understand what they are missing by not doing a person-centred (or other humanistic experiential) counselling training. They are missing LIFE. I cannot think of anyone in the NLP courses I did who would not have enjoyed and benefited from such a training. Yet only one or two took the plunge.
Now, I do know that they will say that the self-development they went through on a coaching course, or NLP course, makes up for that -- but I've been on a few, and for me that just isn't true. Yes, it was a fabulous experience, and yes, it is grossly negligent that some of the experiential stuff within NLP is ignored by most counselling courses, But it still isn't the most that can be achieved.
Working as a coach can be fulfilling and useful, but working as a counsellor within the person-centred experiential paradigm is a whole different level of experience. For this practitioner's own development and involvement it is just no contest.
The fact that the clients like it too is just a bonus.
\
Wow - fellow pharmacist???? I don;t think I COULD explain what it is since I am hospital and never got the accreditation to do them......although I know what the dreaded initials stand for of course.,
I agree - counselling can be very rewarding - but I am VERY solution focussed - so I want the client to find their OWN solution because thats the one that will work for them. One of the certificates I got from my hypnotherapy course is in 'psychotherapeutic counselling' or something similar. To be honest I don;t do much coaching as pure coaching. It is normally one modality as part of hypnotherapy.