Coaching and Psychotherapy

I disagree with those authors who say that all executive coaches should have clinical training in psychology. They claim that the coach should recognize and deal with the psychological problems of the client. But they fail to make the appropriate distinction between a coaching service (helping successful individuals and teams to advance in their performance and to achieve their personal and organizational goals) and psychotherapy (helping the patients to deal with, to reduce, or to resolve psychological disorders).

I am convinced that coaches and psychotherapists should focus on their own areas of expertise and to refer other clients according to their needs. Coaches should have sufficient knowledge of psychology to refer the clients with psychological issues to the specialists. Otherwise, the work of coaches and psychologists can be ineffective or even harmful to the individuals or teams.