What is Professional Life Coaching?

We define Professional Life Coaching as a thought and action partnership that provides direction, structure, real-time support and practical accountability.

How is the coaching industry regulated?

The International Coach Federation (ICF) is the leading global organization dedicated to regulating and advancing the coaching profession and building a worldwide network of credentialed coaches. While there are a variety of programs that offer coaching certificates, ICF provides the gold standard for professional credentialing that mandates ongoing education, adherence to ethical guidelines and industry specific expertise.

How does coaching enhance therapy? Why might both be necessary?

Coaching provides a structured environment for individuals to practice new skills, set goals and receive accountability and affirmation. Certain real-world tasks, experiences and experiments that cannot happen in therapy, whether for logistical or ethical reasons, can be structured and supported by a coach. Therapy provides a safe place for client process, awareness, understanding and growth. Coaching comes alongside and provides the necessary day-in-day-out practice that builds confidence and sustains change.

Just as the principals of exercise physiology must be applied to the body in motion in order to increase flexibility or build strength, psychological awareness must be applied to real life tasks and choices in order for change to be demonstrated and experienced. Therapy can stimulate forward momentum by providing freedom from the past and clarity in the present. Coaching provides a playground for that momentum to be set to motion alongside a supportive partner. Hand-in-hand therapy and coaching create an opportunity for client progress to be reinforced and sustained.

How do you coach a client during recovery? Does the process differ depending on the client's stage of recovery?

Coaching is designed to meet an individual where s/he is and continue forward. Regardless of diagnosis, disease or obstacle, each person has an opportunity to create and live a desired life. Using principals of appreciative inquiry, coaching focuses on strengths, possibilities and opportunities no matter how small these may seem at any given time. Together with a coach, clients set goals and take very pointed, practical steps forward. The Stonestreet Coaching PACT (Purpose, Action, Commitment, Trust/confidentiality) provides an individualized structure for each client and/or family. Specific examples pertaining to coaching during different stages of recovery follow: