There may be points in your working life where you feel stuck. You may experience problems in the work domain. Difficult people, struggling to adjust to change. A blunted career trajectory. A sense you don’t fit — your skills and values don’t align with your workplace. Or an increasing inability to cope at all.
Your time of feeling stuck is a gift if you do something about it. This is where a professional may serve as a sounding board. Executive coaches are excellent sounding boards. You may have heard of a coaching psychologist too. So what is the difference? What can a coaching psychologist offer you?
What is the difference between a coach and a coaching psychologist?
A coaching psychologist is a rare blend of skill and perspective. They are registered psychologists. So they can help people with underlying mental health issues. Yet they draw on coaching models and positive psychology frameworks. Many have extensive business and managerial experience.
Coaching psychology is an applied positive psychology course and sits at the intersection of counselling, clinical and organisational psychology.
- University of Sydney, Master of Science (Coaching Psychology)
Coaching psychologists (sometimes called ‘executive psychologists’) are different from executive coaches. What happens when a client suffers from mental health issues? A coaching psychologist has the skills to work with these issues. A psychologist’s code of ethics binds coaching psychologists. They still may need to refer a client to a colleague. It depends on a client’s presenting mental health issue and a psychologist’s capacity to treat it.
Coaching psychologists are often more focused on the underlying causes of performance issues. What might be causes? For one, anxiety or unhelpful thinking approaches. Many people struggle with burnout or issues around perfectionism. You may also have problems with your attention span or memory. Coaching psychologists can draw upon psychometric tests to identify likely cognitive issues.
What about executive coaches? They may not have a psychology background yet often have a formidable business and leadership background. They may or may not adhere to a professional code of ethics. Executive coaches without a mental health background should not focus on treating their client’s mental health issues. Instead, they focus on goal-setting, monitoring progress and the client’s (healthier) mental game.
How can a coaching psychologist help you to improve your performance at work?
A coaching psychologist can help you improve your performance at work in many ways. The below points also apply to executive coaches:
- Understand your values and how you can live them more. How does your behaviour match your values? Your values guide what you want to get out of life. This feedback is vital so that you can work out what needs to change.
- Focus on psychological flexibility, resilience and mental toughness.
- Everyone has their own unique set of abilities. Yet are you using these strengths in both personal and work domains?
- Explore the part you play in various interpersonal challenges. They can help you role-play better ways to manage criticism, difficult people, rejection or pressure.
- Encourage self-reflection while also seeking feedback from your colleagues, manager or others. This self-reflection and collated peer/manager data can lead to enormous client insight. Coaches may design training programs for each client’s needs/goals.
Psychological flexibility and resilience. Bring it on!
Your ability to manage change, adapt quickly to new situations, and learn from mistakes? This is “resilience” — the capacity to bounce back from setbacks healthy. Your resilience is a form of anti-fragility.
When you are resilient, you don’t let obstacles get you down. Instead, you find ways around them or use them as opportunities for growth. Resilient people also tend to be better at regulating their emotions. They can stay calm even when others around them get flustered or fly off the handle.
“Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.”― John Whitmore, Coaching for Performance: GROWing Human Potential and Purpose: The Principles and Practice of Coaching and Leadership
Can therapy help an executive if they are not performing well in their role?
A psychologist is a specialist in the science of psychology. They train extensively to help people who have mental health problems or issues which affect their everyday lives.
Psychotherapy is a type of therapy that focuses on the individual and their life experiences. You may be having problems in either the social or work domains. Psychologists explore the underlying reasons why. They conduct a thorough intake interview to gain a holistic picture of your life and background. This picture helps shape a case conceptualisation.
Case conceptualisation refers to a framework to organise data about you. This data suggests why you struggle with a mental health issue. A thorough intake also reveals your strengths and supporting resources. A psychologist will then use frameworks like Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Throughout therapy, they will partner with you on the work ahead. Treatment is work — changing your thoughts or adjusting to new ways of living is not easy.
It’s important to remember that being successful at work is not linked to having good mental health. Psychotherapy can help individuals be at their best in all aspects of their lives, including at home and work.
Helping you sustain high performance at work
You may be on the go at work. Most of us have to be able to adapt to be successful at our job. Coaching psychologists stay on top of the latest research on stress management and resilience. They are well-positioned to shape recommendations on these topics — tailored to you. They may have training in therapeutic frameworks like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is a part of “third wave CBT” — a series of contemporary psychological intervention approaches. ACT is the “child” of CBT.
Psychological flexibility is a way of thinking that is open to experience. People with this flexibility can see things from different perspectives and respond appropriately. Psychological flexibility is not limited to one way of thinking. Instead, you can use this skill set to:
- Be open-minded toward new experiences
- Be present in the moment
This liberating mix of open-mindedness and presence is potent:
- You rapidly adapt as needed
- Strong emotions don’t take you off-balance
- You keep focussed and not distracted
Psychological flexibility and resilience are overlapping concepts.
You can act as your coach. There are plenty of self-coaching resources available. Yet an experienced and highly-trained professional may also help you. We all need a personal Board of Directors — those we can test ideas. Our Board helps reflect our quirks, struggles and potential ways forward.
Many business owners, executives and other high-performing professionals use their network. This network can include paid consultants. A coaching psychologist or executive coach may be a great addition to your Board.
Our book — The Change Manager’s Companion — is available now. You can also check out our online course on Change Management.