Talent Management and Executive Coaching; Cincinnati, Ohio – Executive coaching is not therapy
We have said this many times before. We are not therapists. We are business professionals who have been formally trained to assess business behaviors in others and offer methods for modifying them.
It is extremely important to not confuse executive coaching with psychological therapy. Psychologists and psychiatrists have years of professional medical and mental health training. Our clients are mentally healthy, fully functioning individuals. As a matter of fact, our coaching will serve little purpose for someone who is struggling with psychological disorders. When we recognize that such disorders are at play, we will cease the coaching sessions and recommend that the client seek professional mental health assistance.
So why is there confusion over executive coaching and therapy? Perhaps it is because some of the techniques that both use appear similar. Both involve one on one private sessions that involve the majority of the talking being done by the client and the coach or therapist offering techniques for dealing with the client’s issues. But that is where the similarity ends.
If any executive coach allows the session with their client to “cross the line” into the private life or non-business aspects of the client’s world, they have moved beyond the scope of their expertise. Oakley Advisors executive coaches take special care to stay focused on the professional business behaviors of their clients. This is the only area in which they have been extensively trained and are prepared to help the client make tangible changes.
Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
