Our approach to workplace coaching
As accredited and experienced workplace psychologists, our approach to coaching at work is to leverage our deep understanding of how people think, feel and behave at work and combine this with evidence-based coaching methods. We bring the science of workplace psychology, workplace wellbeing, productivity and relationships to life in ways that our coachees can use in practice.
We support professionals through change and challenges to attain their most valued outcomes, whether it’s career, relationships, wellbeing or performance.
What does a coaching psychologist do?
A coaching psychologist is a professionally accredited psychologist whose specialism is in coaching psychology.
The British Psychological Society defines this as “an applied, evidence-based discipline that draws on established psychological theories and research to enhance performance, wellbeing, and personal growth. Practiced primarily with non-clinical populations, it helps individuals and teams clarify goals, build self-awareness, and overcome challenges in both their personal and professional lives.”
As such, we work with people in the pursuit of their valued outcomes, whether these focus on career aspirations, adapting to change, improving their wellbeing, or building management and leadership skills.
As psychologists, the difference we bring is a focus on the cognitive and emotional aspects of work and the workplace. We help our clients overcome their self-limiting beliefs, increase their self-awareness, build their self-confidence and self-compassion, clarify their values and establish a sense of purpose and meaning.
Evidence-based coaching is simply the practice of using scientifically supported methods in the coaching relationship. We avoid fads and fashions when working with our clients, relying instead on the processes and tools that have been consistently demonstrated to add value.
How is coaching different from therapy or mentoring?
What do you visualise when you think about coaching, therapy and mentoring? In all likelihood, you're seeing a conversation taking place. Conversation sits at the heart of all these activities. As does the working relationship, the role of listening and a focus on improvement and growth. Once we get past these superficial similarities, we can see they are quite different.
Training and accreditation
Coaching psychologists and therapists need to be appropriately trained and accredited by professional bodies. For coaching psychologists, this involves university qualifications in psychology and coaching and professional registration with the British Psychological Society. Mentors may not have any formal training and rely instead on their professional experience and industry knowledge.
Supervision
Practitioner psychologists and therapists benefit from a supervisor - a more senior practitioner who is able to provide guidance and feedback on their practice. This enables reflection, learning and performance improvement. It provides coaching psychologists with a space to discuss their development, their wellbeing and how they are applying their skills with clients.
Topics and focus
The main difference between therapy and coaching psychology is in the topics we address. While coaching psychology tends to focus on professionals dealing with workplace and personal challenges and goals, therapy focuses on the kind of life events and mental health challenges that can seriously impair someone's quality of life. And while mental health and life satisfaction exist on a continuum, as coaching psychologists we work to help our clients thrive regardless of their context. We don't however, focus on mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression.
Relationship
The coaching relationship is by its very nature time-limited. The duration of the relationship is established during the contracting phase. Both therapy and mentoring may continue over many years. And while a mentor may be a more senior practitioner in the same industry as the mentee, there is no focus on seniority in the coaching relationship, where we work to establishing a partnership as cooperative equals.
What topics can workplace coaching cover?
We work with a wide range of coaching topics across our three core areas of focus: wellbeing, productivity and effectiveness. When you think of coaching, you may immediately think of goals. Goal-setting is just one tool in the coaching toolkit. The following examples illustrate the breadth of coaching contexts where we have experience:
- Helping clients develop sustainable and healthy coping strategies to deal with pressure
- Preparing coachees for stepping into more senior roles
- Supporting coachees to clarify and reconnect with their values, purpose and meaning
- Helping coachees build their resilience to deal with demanding work environments
- Support clients to reach their next career goal
- Helping coachees as they navigate redundancy and seek their next role
- Working with clients to equip them with the skills to effectively deal with conflict at work
- Working with coachees to establish and manager personal/professional boundaries
- Helping clients prepare for the end of their career as they approach retirement
- Supporting coachees as they return to the workplace after an extended absence
As professional psychologists, we are clear on our focus and expertise and work hard to ‘stay in our lane’, focusing on topics and contexts where we’re confident we can add the most value and help the most people.