The advantages of going through a coaching process from Psychology

Coaching is a very versatile field of work that is increasingly present in contexts such as team management, training for companies, psychological support for students and opponents, training in emotional management techniques and self-motivation for athletes, etc.

Now, while coaching offers versatility, the fact that these types of tasks are relatively unregulated makes that within this category it is possible to find professionals with all kinds of background in terms of training and areas of specialization. And because of this, many people and entities that offer coaching services do not offer the guarantees that someone who has training in Psychology can provide.

But… What does all this translate into in practice? Here we will explain the different advantages of resorting to coaching offered by psychologists.

• Related article: "The 10 keys to motivate yourself"

How does coaching that starts from Psychology benefit me?

Not all coaches are psychologists, but almost all psychologists can offer coaching services if they have already had the opportunity to develop professionally. Let's see what the implications of this are and why it implies that resorting to coaching from Psychology is, in general, better than resorting to coaching from someone who is not a psychologist.

1. Psychology offers a guarantee of minimum knowledge

In the first place, having the services of a coach who is also accredited as a psychologist is a guarantee that that person understands and masters the fundamentals of behavioral science.

This means that this class of professionals do not practice based on widely outdated theories and models or that were never considered scientifically valid, which not only makes the services offered more effective, but also prevents the appearance of problems that can arise if harmful procedures are used, such as those based on the emotional manipulation.

• You may be interested: "Personal Development: 5 reasons for self-reflection"

2. Psychology is always informed by the latest research

Psychologists, by virtue of being psychologists, know the sources to turn to to keep up to date about the latest research in psychotherapy, mental health, neuroscience, models of education etc

It is part of their scientific training not to be satisfied with what they already know, but maintain a critical spirit and be aware that each year advances are being made in what we know about the human mind, behavior patterns, etc. In the same way, a psychologist has more resources not to misinterpret studies or believe without more false information about scientific discoveries that affect her field of work.

• Related article: "The 12 branches (or fields) of Psychology"

3. Comprehensive coverage is offered to the well-being of people

As psychologists have knowledge in very diverse fields and know the principles of Basic Psychology, what they know how to do is not simple offshoots of separately learned techniques that you don't know how to use at the same time (or that you don't know if they should be used at all). combination).

And in the same way, by having a global perspective of the psychological processes and the possible problems and needs of people or teams of people, will not assume that the solution necessarily involves the application of a technique that has been learned. In their day to day, both in therapy and outside of it, psychologists only use part of the resources available to them, not all, because it is committed to efficiency and the intervention as soon as possible, so that things are not tried until one works.

• Related article: "Psychological well-being: 15 habits to achieve it"

4. It works using strategies emerged in the developments of psychotherapy

Although the problems and needs in which coaching intervenes do not arise from the world of mental health (for that there is already psychiatry and clinical psychology), psychologists also they can adapt some of the techniques they use with patients to help their clients/coachees. For example, although lack of motivation is not a psychopathology, the technologies and techniques used in some people with mood disorders they can also be useful in teaching a person to connect with her values ​​and interests and get her life back on track through new routines and ways of seeing things.

• You may be interested: "What to expect and what not to expect from psychological therapy"

5. It intervenes on psychological processes, not on abstract ideas

Finally, it should be noted that since psychology is fundamentally a science, its objective is always to focus on obtaining of objective results, something that is achieved by modifying behavior patterns and ways of processing emotions and thinking. But coaching unrelated to Psychology does not have to have resources to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of what it proposes to clients, because it is much more exposed to reification: confusing objective psychological processes with the words and concepts we use to describe them.

Reification means that instead of trying to change our behaviors, we limit ourselves to manipulating words in our minds, even though doing this has no practical implications because those kinds of exercises are not “connected” to real psychological processes. But psychology has ways to avoid this kind of circular reasoning of the type "to feel better about yourself you must improve yourself." your self-esteem”, and its resources point directly to the modification of cognitive schemes, associations between ideas and behaviors, etc.

• Related article: "5 Behavior Modification Techniques"

Do you want to have coaching services offered by experienced psychologists?

If you are thinking of starting a coaching process to achieve your goals in your personal and/or professional life, we invite you to contact us.

In UPAD Psychology and Coaching We have been working together for years in the areas of psychotherapy, coaching, training and Sports Psychology, and we offer our services in person and online through sessions of video call.