Benefits of Coaching
A client dedicates time to focus to their personal and professional goals over a sustained period of time.
A client gains clarity and new perspectives on their personal and professional goals, and aligns their goals with their values.
A client develops and implements actions that are sustainable for them, and that allow them to adapt and stretch.
A client partners with a coach who maintains presence, listens actively, uses direct communication, and cultivates trust and safety in the coaching partnership.
About the Coaching Profession
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires clients to maximize their personal and professional potential. Coaching is client-centered, which is unique compared to other valuable services like advising, consulting, counseling, mentoring and training, which might be services a person needs and wants as well. These other professional services may inform a client what to do, while coaching focuses on helping a client discern what they will choose to do regarding their personal or professional goals. Within the coaching profession, a client is considered whole, complete and resourceful, which means the client has within them the inner knowing about what they want to make a reality and how they can go about implementing their goals and dreams. A coach is a companion along the client’s journey by being present, paying close attention, asking curious questions, and being nonjudgmental throughout the process. For further information about coaching, review the ICF’s Code of Ethics, Core Competencies, and Values.
Holistic & Wellness Approach to Coaching
A holistic and wellness approach to coaching is one that considers the whole person and how they experience and interact with their environment and social systems rather than on a specific sign in isolation from the whole. The phrase mind, body, and spirit is one way to think of this approach. There are several dimensions that can be considered in a holistic or wellness approach to coaching: emotional, environmental, financial, mental/intellectual, occupational/career, physical, social/relational, and spiritual. This is an integrated approach to address personal and professional goals. For an example of eight dimensions of wellness, see the Creating A Healthier Life: A Step-by-Step Guide to Wellness (PDF) by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Ten Guiding Principles of Holistic Coaching
These were developed by Beverly Sartain of the Holistic Coach Training Institute:
Transformation happens on the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical levels, taking the whole person into consideration.
Holistic Coaching believes that everything rests in a web of interconnectedness.
Holistic Coaching focuses on supporting people in moving from coping to healing to thriving.
Healing happens in a loving and supportive environment not through judgment, shame or guilt.
Holistic Coaching is about making changes from the inside out.
The overall goal of Holistic Coaching is to create well-being and fulfillment in all areas of life that are important to you.
Holistic Coaching offers the opportunity for you to create love, safety and belonging for yourself.
Change, healing, transformation are a process not an event.
Holistic Coaching helps increase awareness of mind, body and spirit.
Holistic Coaching is about finding the tools and techniques that you can enjoy and embody consistently.
Coaching Containers & Sessions
Containers can be a few months, several months, or longer where the client and coach meet on a regular basis. Coaching sessions can be weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, and lengths vary from 30 to 90 minutes, or more. There is flexibility in how a coaching container is offered by a coach. A container provides focus and structure for the client as they work on their goals. When a container comes to a close, a client is sometimes ready to finish or they want to set up a followup container.
General: Each coaching session usually has a three part structure that is roughly equal throughout a coaching session: (1) establish a topic, (2) work on a topic, and (3) determine next steps. If a client can schedule time before and after a session to prepare and wrap up, this typically helps a client get the most out of their coaching session. A client can determine the way they will prepare and wrap up and a coach can share with a client a variety of approaches if the client is new to coaching.
(1) Establish a Topic: A session begins with the client bringing a topic to work on for their session. This is a topic that is valuable to the client and it’s the client’s responsibility to bring their topic to the session. With the topic brought to the session, the coach asks questions so that the client can determine the importance of the topic since sometimes the eventual topic for the session turns out to be different after understanding more about the initial topic. The clients also determines the way they want to work on a topic throughout the session and a way to know that they got what they needed from the session. Within the ICF’s core competencies this part of the session focuses on establishing the agreement and then throughout the session the coach maintains the agreement throughout the session.
(2) Work on a Topic: Once a topic is established, the coach and client work on the topic throughout the middle portion of the session. In this middle portion, the coach asks questions, is curious, and listens for what is being said—and not said. The coach will also succinctly reflect back what they hear a client saying—or not saying. This portion of the session helps the client gain more awareness and clarity about their topic. Within the ICF’s core competencies this part of the session focuses on evoking awareness in the client while the coach maintains presence, actively listens, and cultivates trust and safely.
(3) Determine Next Steps: For the final portion of a session, the client determines what their next steps or actions will be based on the awareness and clarity they gained while working on their topic. These next steps or actions will often be done before the next session or broken into smaller steps. Within the ICF’s core competencies this part of the session focuses on facilitating a client’s growth through actions, planning and accountability.