What is Coaching?
what is this thing called coaching?
There are probably about as many definitions as there are coaches. Visually, I’ve often thought of coaching along a horizontal line with “consulting” on one end and “counseling” on the other, coaching can lie just about anywhere along the line. Executive or Business Coaching is closer to consulting and what’s generally called Life Coaching is closer to counseling.
Coaching was born out of advances in the helping professions and, over time, has incorporated consulting practices and organizational and personal development trends. Coaching takes the best of all those approaches and provides a new type of personal growth work that is client-focused and client-directed. Generally, coaches work with healthy clients who are striving to improve their circumstances. Coaches help clients identify challenges and overcome limiting beliefs, and then work in partnership with them to obtain their goals.
And how is Integral coaching® different?
Integral coaching® takes the client-coach relationship a step further by bringing together multiple perspectives about the individual, the individual’s relationships, community, and the broader world. It is a holistic approach to coaching in that it integrates emotional intelligence, physical health, spiritual practice and community awareness and interaction. This approach considers the whole person with a systematic and integrated way of assessment that allows for a unique and personalized program for each client.
Integral coaching® draws largely on the work of Ken Wilbur, Robert Kegan, Jean Piaget, Don Beck and other post-modern integral theorists.