Tomorrow's
Life Coach In This Issue:
Tomorrow's Life Coach (TLC) is a monthly online journal from the Institute for Life Coach Training (ILCT) that nourishes the intellect, intuition and inspiration of the personal and business coaching community.
We have all seen the scenes from the aftermath of a 7.1 earthquake in Haiti, and the help arriving from all corners of the globe. This is indeed a monumental human tragedy, and yet hope rises from the ashes as the opportunity now exists to not only rebuild Haiti, but to construct a country that did not even exist before the latest tragedy. Haiti was once a fertile country, and it can return to that again; and stand as a model of how the earth and its citizens can work together when they "wake up." (It is too bad that it takes tragedies to wake most of us up). Thousands of relief workers and groups have been assisting in Haiti for decades. (See Partners in Health www.PIH.org, and Wyclef Jean's organization www.Yele.org) Now is the time for everyone who can to assist by giving money, prayers, or assistance - especially through those organizations on the ground. Ernest is my good friend here in Palm Coast. Ernest is a member of Rotary International, and is Haitian by birth. He goes to Port au Prince several times a year to deliver what the people need; ranging from food and fire hoses, to tools, money for food, and seeds for planting; and he makes sure the people actually get it!! For donations, Ernest recommends www.Yele.org and a very special organization called "HURAH: Human Rights Accompaniment in Haiti" (www.HURAH-inc.org), which includes a petition concerning a "Sustainable Safety Response" for the Haitian people. There are also extensive lists on most of the national news websites containing recently vetted relief and rebuilding organizations. So what does all this have to do with coaching? Aren't we all coaching our clients (and ourselves) to live life as optimally as possible? The people of Haiti deserve that too after all the recovery has been done and the building begins. I hope to involve my own nonprofit, Coaching The Global Village, Inc. (www.CoachingTheGlobalVillage.org), in coach approach training at some point. The citizens of Haiti, as well as the relief workers who are helping them, deserve to learn how to dream their own "big dreams," how to rebuild their beautiful country, and where to connect to the resources they need to do it. Ask them and involve them - that IS the coach approach. Dr. Pat Patrick Williams Ed.D., MCC Monthly We hope you will join Dr. Patrick Williams, Founder and Director of the Institute for Life Coach Training, author of Law and Ethics in Coaching, and Sara Oberg, Marketing Manager of CPH & Associates for a discussion of How to Avoid Common Ethical Complaints. Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Fee: No charge (some long distance charges may apply).
Join us for a one-hour call that will introduce you to the wonderful career of Life Coaching and the ILCT program. We want to share our excitement with you and give you information to help you decide if life coaching is for you! This class will also offer you the opportunity to experience a "‘teleclass," the training format used in our program. Topics to be discussed include:
You will have the opportunity to have your questions about life coach training answered. Fee: No charge. (Long distance charges may apply). Monday, March 1st, 10:00 a.m. Eastern REGISTER
This list is being offered as a free service to assist individuals in identifying and selecting coaches best suited for their particular need. If you have your Certified Life Coach credential, and have not registered — Sign up now How to Market Coaching As is true of any new service or product you have that may be helpful to current and future clients, you must not “be a secret.” That is the key to marketing
As Peter Drucker said, Marketing is what we do so we don’t have to sell. Marketing in the human service professions is relationship based and must come from a place of high integrity. Coaching Grows Up: Why Ethical Standards Matter by Patrick Williams EdD, MCC (Reprinted with permission from Choice Magazine) To become a recognized profession, coaching, like other professions, must have standards, definitions, ethical guidelines, ongoing research and credentialing. Beginning in the early 1990s, the coaching phenomenon intensified with the creation of several coach training schools and two major professional associations. In 1996, the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association (PCMA) merged with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), and the ICF led the way as the most recognized international association representing the coaching profession. Standards of practice, credentialing, and ethical guidelines were soon established. In 2004, the ICF’s regulatory committee wrote the following self-governance model: The standards and structures built by the ICF over the past decade, which support the emergence of coaching as a valued profession, also provide a solid foundation for the self-governance of our profession. In addition, our rigorous adherence as professionals to these standards and practices provides the necessary assurance that the public is protected from potential harm. ICF’s self-governance foundation is comprised of and depends upon each of the following standards and practices, supported by the efforts of the ICF Board, committees, global representatives, credentialed and member coaches. Core Competencies that define the required skill set of a professional coach and establish the foundation for the professional credentialing examination and accreditation for coach training programs. A Code of Ethics to which ICF Members and ICF Credentialed Coaches pledge commitment and accountability to standards of professional conduct. Professional Oversight through an Ethical Conduct Review process for ICF Members and ICF Credentialed Coaches, which allows the public to report concerns and to be confident of objective investigation, follow-up, and disciplinary action. Professional Coach Credentialing , entailing a stringent examination and review process through which coaches must demonstrate their skills, proficiency, and documented experience in application of coaching core competencies. Credentialing includes Continuing Coach Education requirements for periodic renewal of coaching credentials, to ensure continued professional growth and development. Professional Coach Training Accreditation by which coach training programs submit to review and continuing oversight to demonstrate their commitment to the highest standards for curricula aligned with defined core competencies, faculty, structure, proficiency, and ethics to support excellence in the training of coaches. Ongoing Self-Regulatory Oversight initiatives to track the needs and concerns of individual and organizational clients on an international basis, and to demonstrate an active commitment to meaningful professional selfgovernance. (1) In addition to ethical guidelines, professional competencies, and certification, the coaching profession recently witnessed a tremendous surge of interest in academic research and graduate studies. This attention is a critical step in the further evolution of the profession, and such research and training are necessary for developing a field of knowledge, theoretical orientations and efficacy studies. Research on the effectiveness of and distinctions among skill sets, competencies, and standardization of education and training is tantamount to any profession finding its place of acceptance in the private and corporate culture. The historical perspective reveals that professional coaching emerged from other major professions (e.g. psychology, counseling, consulting). These professions have written codes of ethics and professional standards. In addition, they typically are regulated by state licensing boards (at least in the United States) and other government mandates. These government regulations usually determine requirements for training, maintaining a license, and practice laws. At this time, coaching is not regulated or monitored by a state agency or regulatory board. It is the current belief that the profession should monitor itself. However, some state mental-health regulatory boards think differently, as the following scenario demonstrates. The Colorado case Immediately after reading that newsletter, Lloyd Thomas and I, both of us licensed psychologists and practicing coaches in Colorado, drove to Denver and met with Amos Martinez to discuss the work of professional coaching, the ICF, its standards of ethics, and so on. Although the meeting was cordial, nothing changed in the next several months. The rumor began to spread across the globe that Colorado was going after coaches, and that the profession was in danger of being lumped together with psychotherapy, a distinction most coaches were trying to clarify. In 2003, a case against a Colorado coach brought this whole discussion and the legal issue to a head. An ICF master certified coach who lived and worked in Colorado (although all of her clients lived out of the state) was charged with practicing psychotherapy without a license by the Department of Regulatory Agencies in Colorado. Although the charge was dropped as frivolous, Colorado still demanded that the coach register as an unlicensed therapist, which she refused to do. She was forced to close her practice because she could not afford to hire an attorney to pursue the defense of her position. That case led to a focused effort by the Colorado Coalition of Coaches to pursue changing the law, and the group hired a lobbyist to help with the effort. After 18 months of hard work by the Colorado Coalition, lobbyists, as well as grassroots support and donations by individual coaches, the International Coach Federation, the International Association of Coaches, the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches, and the Association of Coach Training Organizations, the legislature agreed and approved an amendment to the Mental Health Act that exempted coaching from the legislature’s oversight. All this is not to say that the coaching profession devalues standards and guidelines for professional behavior. In fact, some coaching associations (e.g. the ICF) have worked hard to delineate professional norms through ethics codes. Such standards have been formulated, amended, tested, and applied within many coaching organizations during the field’s evolution. The Colorado Mental Health Law was up for sunset review in 2004; the law would either stay the same, dissolve, or undergo revision. The Colorado Coalition of Coaches began work to propose legislation to revise the statute. In spring 2004, the governor of Colorado signed into law the bill that contains the legislation proposed by the coalition. Specifically, the new clause within Colorado’s mental health statutes states “The provisions of this article shall not apply to professional coaches who have had coach-specific training and who serve clients exclusively in the capacity of coaches.” ICF regulatory history It was not the committee’s intent to focus only on coaching versus counseling. However, that was the primary area of concern coaches faced in the key states investigated. In early 2004, these individuals continued the review of all of the United States and Canada. Currently, there are no requirements for coaches to register or be licensed in any state in the United States or in Canada. New mental-health/behavioral-health laws went into effect in New York, Arizona, and Minnesota in 2003 and 2004. The persons responsible for the implementation of these laws have stated that the intent is to tighten up regulation of those performing counseling and therapy services within the respective states. These laws were not intended to, nor should they, include coaches. However, if an individual practices counseling or therapy without meeting the proper state licensing requirements and also engages in coaching, that individual would be in violation of the state requirement as well as the coaching profession’s standards. Distinctions between coaching and therapy or counseling are delineated on the ICF website (www.coachfederation.org) as well as information pertaining to ethics and regulatory issues. The ICF is committed to maintaining coaching as a distinct profession and to strengthening coaching’s self-governance model. Law and Ethics in Coaching: How to Solve and Avoid Difficult Problems In Your Practice , 2005, John Wiley and Sons, a book by Sharon Anderson and myself along with eleven other contributing authors, is intended to increase awareness of legal and ethical issues in coaching, and to provide information specifically for those who are entering the coaching profession, or who are teaching about or offering consultations about coaching. The authors set forth various aspects of ethical and legal issues related to coaching. But keep in mind that this is a work in progress. While we can share certain rubrics with other human service professions, the creation of case law, response to ethical complaints, and training in ethics for coaches will be paramount as the profession continues to evolve and create a knowledge base and best-practices mandates in the years to come. References: (1) From Coaching Professionalism, the ICF, and You, written by the 2004 Regulatory Committee of the ICF, co-chairs Diane Brennan and Patrick Williams. Copyright, 2005
Join Dr. Lauree Moss, MSW, Ph.D., PCC to learn more about this exciting certificate course, which begins on March 16, 2010 for 16 weeks! Using Body-Mind Life Coaching™ tools, coaches will learn ways to work with the powerful messages of the body. It is said that the body never lies. Through habitual ways of thinking, acting and feeling, there is often a disconnection between the mind and body. Coaches, in any niche, who are interested in learning more about how to integrate non-verbal dimensions into their coaching, will gain invaluable skills and tools. Dr. Moss will discuss:
What students are saying about this class: "The Body-Mind Life Coaching Specialist Certificate Course is a wonderful addition to any coach’s toolkit. Dr. Moss takes you deeply into both your own body-mind experience as well as helping you to assist your client to do so. Her expertise and enthusiasm for this work is infectious and will guide you into more effective coaching." —Bobbie Burdett, Authentic-Life Coaching, Director of Training, Healthworld Online "This course is a great combination of theory and case examples, and includes plenty of opportunities for students to practice and integrate Body-Mind Life Coaching™ skills. Dr. Lauree Moss brings tremendous depth of experience, humor, and generosity to her teaching. Thanks to this course, I am an infinitely better coach, if for no other reason, because I’m paying more attention to my own breath and body and inviting my clients to pay attention to theirs." —Julia Fabris McBride, ACC REVIEW OUR FULL CURRENT CLASS LIST Some schedules may change; check listing or contact Edwina Adams, Administration/Registration, at edwina@lifecoachtraining.com.
Tomorrow's Life Coach™ Patrick Williams, Ed.D., MCC, Publisher If you wish to use any of our content in a newsletter, magazine or other media (whether public or internal), please request permission. |
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