Coaching in Relation to Psychotherapy

Abstract

Coaching exists alongside a wide range of other formats of consultation, some of which it competes with, while mutually complementing others. If coaching is to define itself as a profession, clear definitions and hence delineations between it and other professional formats of intervention are necessary. First of all, the difference between it and psychotherapy is clear: Psychotherapy is a curative approach in which personal problems with pathological significance are dealt with, while coaching is a consultation approach which focuses on issues from the working world. However, there are also methodological and thematic overlaps. These include approaches which e.g. attempt to determine how a person’s biography has influenced him, but also diagnostic competencies which, where necessary, serve to determine where the limits of coaching lie. This is illustrated by a list of example problems and problem constellations.