Appropriate Use of Therapeutic Tools in Life Coaching. Coaches often use “therapeutic” tools, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Therapeutic Art, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), hypnosis, and other psychological techniques, with clients. The word “therapeutic” means that it benefits the body or mind and increases wellbeing. Using these tools is helpful as a coach, however it is not the same as conducting “therapy” like a therapist.
The boundary between coaching and therapy.
A life coach can use therapeutic and psychological tools to help people:
•Change their thinking
•Increase their emotional wellbeing
•Change limited belief systems
•Reframe past experiences
•Set and achieve goals
•Make life changes
•Increase motivation
•Learn a new skill
•Change their self-identity
In general, life coaches are PRESENT AND FUTURE FOCUSED. Life coaches help their clients explore their past only as a means of understanding their current life experience and belief systems. Their primary goal is to help a client look at where they are, where they want to be, and how to get from point A to point B.
A therapist may also help clients with these areas of their life, but they also help their patients:
•Treat mental illness or clinical anxiety or depression
•Heal past trauma
•Cope with traumatic loss
•Cope with abuse
•Treat addiction or substance abuse
•Cope with relationship turmoil or violence
In general, therapists are PAST AND PRESENT FOCUSED. While a therapist may work with clients to set goals and make changes, primarily clients come to them seeking assistance with healing trauma, overcoming abuse, treating addiction or treating mental illness. Because therapists have a specialized graduate degree and clinical training, they have an extensive foundation of knowledge about the mind, biology, and human behavior. They are qualified to help clients in these sensitive areas, and, more importantly, they are properly trained on how to handle the volatile nature of these situations.
Anxiety and Depression
Coaches work with people who experience anxiety, sadness, or mild depression because those are normal human emotions, however the following higher-level manifestations of anxiety and depression are signals that a person needs help that a life coach is not qualified to provide:
•Incapacitation or inability to function in daily life
•Panic attacks that cause harm or require hospitalization
•Suicidal thoughts, history or tendencies
Mental Illness
Coaches do not typically work with clients who have been diagnosed with a mental illness or personality disorder. Such as psychopath, sociopath, borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, multiple personality disorder, bipolar disorder, PTSD, etc.
However, if a client falls into one of these categories they can be coachable so long as the person is also receiving adequate treatment from a licensed mental health professional. In these situations, the life coaches are not addressing the underlying illness.
Instead, they are supporting the person to make life changes, set goals, and practice new ways of thinking. Not every client with a mental illness will be coachable.
Signs that you may have a mental illness and may not be coachable:
•Incoherent or illogical thinking patterns
•Inconsistent stories, beliefs or common flip-flopping opinions
•Regular poor decision making, even after discussing in detail the right decision
•Inappropriate attachment to the coach, neediness, or romantic advances
•Irresponsibility, such as repeatedly missing appointments or not following through on agreed upon action steps
•Explosive or hostile reaction to insights or recommendations made by the coach