The life coaching industry is booming: anyone can call themselves a personal coach or a life coach, and there are new coaches every day. It is a big deal to talk about your life with a stranger, so it is very important to find an effective life coach.
In essence, finding an effective coach is not so different from finding a good plumber or a good violin teacher. You ask around, you look at their website. Does the tone appeal to you? Do they have good training? Are they accredited by a professional organisation? Are they specialised in the area you are looking for?
What to look for?
To determine if a coach is good and suitable for you, take a look at their website. Many coaches offer a complimentary introductory session. Talk to them! But what are you looking for? What are the right questions to ask?
Coaching relationship
Feeling safe is essential for successful coaching. The coaching relationship is crucial to talk about what's going on for you, and you can only do that if you feel listened to and if you feel understood. Trust your intuition: will you be able to build a strong coaching relationship with this person?
Qualifications
Everyone can call themselves life coach and so many people do, so you want to look for someone with good credentials. Where have they trained? Are they accredited by an official body like the International Coaching Federation? Do they have supervision? How much experience do they have? Can you find reviews?
Coaching styles
There are many different coaching styles. Some coaches focus primarily on goal setting and action plans to achieve those goals, while others have a style that is much more psychological or even close to psychotherapy. Consider what is best for you. Do you just need a clear action plan, or is there more to address?
Types of coaching
Different types of coaches include life, personal, professional, career, job and business coaching. The terms life coach and personal coach are largely interchangeable. Professional coaches or job coaches focus on your professional life and are broadly the same. Also a career coach is about your professional life, but in some cases will focus more about career changes. An executive coach works with leaders.
Techniques used
Successful life coaches use various techniques in their coaching sessions. Goal setting, active listening and asking powerful questions should be in the toolbox of any effective life coach, you might be looking for something more specific. Do you want to be confronted with your own behaviour? Do you like specific psychological techniques like CBT or ACT? You could read about those on the internet and ask your potential coach about them.
a successful coach
As a coach, I help people who are unhappy at work. I am a psychologist, accredited by the ICF and I have taught at Animas Centre for Coaching. Check out my website or schedule a free coaching consultation.