Just like life itself, life coaching is full of variety. A broad field of practice, life coaching offers programs to assist people facing all manner of challenges.
Whether you’re considering hiring a life coach or are looking at taking up one of our coaching courses to become a practitioner yourself, start here. Let’s explore the different areas of life coaching and help you take your next step with confidence.
Offering something for everyone
There are different areas of coaching, and one of these is business coaching. It is a type of personal or human resource development that provides support, feedback, and oftentimes advice to someone hoping to improve their personal effectiveness in business and meet certain career goals. There is even an alliance that provides training to individuals hoping to become business coaches. While there is a large amount of training available, there is no certification required for this type of coach.
A new form of coaching that is starting to emerge is financial coaching. It focuses on helping people overcome struggles to attain specific goals they have set. It is typically a one-on-one relationship and the coach provides encouragement and support of the client’s financial plans. They also monitor progress and hold their clients accountable for their spending, saving, and overall financial handling. This supposedly boosts clients’ willpower and self-control. They are different from financial counsellors in that they do not have to be experts in personal finance since they provide no financial advice or information, they are merely there for support and accountability.
Personal coaching is also quite popular. The client and coach enter into a relationship agreement based on the interests, goals, and objectives of the client. They may ask questions, requests, discuss, and reflect in order to assist clients to identify their personal, business, and/or relationship goals. They will then work with the client to develop a plan they can use to achieve these goals. The client will take all of the action, the coach can assist but will never take the lead.
Systemic coach, much like personal, is basically counselling that uses constructive conversation that is aimed at problem resolution.
There is even a realm of coaching directed at people’s health. This is relatively new and is becoming recognized as a way to assist people in managing their illnesses and conditions, especially those that are chronic. Coaches use special techniques and encouragement to bring about behavioural changes.
Dating coaches are very popular and their job is to train people to try and improve their success in relationships and dating. This includes meeting and attracting partners that are compatible with them. They mainly focus on confident communication strategies. They also focus on important dating topics, such as flirting, compatibility, interpersonal skills, fashion, and recreational activities that people may encounter while dating.
How do life coaches work?
Life coaching uses a wide variety of different techniques and tools from other disciplines, like psychology, sociology, positive development, and even career counselling. Specialty coaches may hold degrees in a variety of fields, such as hypnosis, dream analysis, psychological counselling, or even marketing. It is important to realize they are not therapists or consultants and may not be able to provide psychological diagnoses and interventions.
Market data showed that in 2007 there were about 40,000 people in the United States working as coaches. It is a $2.5 billion industry with tremendous growth, nearly 20% per year. If you are interested in becoming a coach of some kind, there are clearly many areas where your specific expertise could be useful. Likewise, if you are in need of a coach, there is probably one available that could help you, regardless of your issues.
The first step in your journey
For both prospective clients and life coaches-to-be, The Life Coaching College is here. Whether you’re looking to become the best version of yourself personally or professionally, or are ready to take the bold step into a new, people-centric industry, we can help.
Our expert coaches are available for hire for private coaching sessions, helping you zero in on what’s holding you back from achieving your goals through inventive, engaging, and effective personal development exercises. Keen students looking to move into an exciting new career can enroll themselves in one of our coaching courses, taking up a diploma or certificate of coaching and learning the skills needed to change lives for the better.
Speak to The Life Coaching College today to learn what we can do for you.