If you were to go to a psychologist you would probably be exploring how the past has affected your present day functioning. You would be learning skills to manage deficits in your life.
If you were to go to a coach you would be future focused, with the aim of achieving goals and improving your life, based on the assumption that you already function well.
In Coaching Psychology, we move fluidly between them. Here’s an example:
Let’s say you come to me to because you would like to be more successful in your chosen career or business. We’d identify what success meant to you, dig for your hidden strengths, and maybe learn some of the skills highly successful people have (life coaching).
Let’s say that goes swimmingly but you still find that you can’t reach the level of success you dreamed of. There’s a good chance you’re self-sabotaging or that there are beliefs about success that are holding you back. So that means discovering what the beliefs are and then adopting strategies to overcome them (psychology).
Another benefit of Life Coaching Psychology is that even for psychological issues, a Positive Psychology approach can be woven into the sessions. Hopeful, fun, positive strategies can be used as antidotes to sad, anxious, or negative feelings. Of course, sad, anxious, negative feelings need to be honoured first.
With Coaching Psychology you get the best of both worlds.
