Life Coaching

Over the years I’ve had several friends and colleagues hear good things about my work and comment that they would like to be able to have sessions with me. To counsel friends and colleagues however would go against my professional association’s (DAPAANZ) Code of Ethics, and for good reason.

For this reason initially, I developed a secondary skill set and service in the form of offering Life Coaching. This enables me to provide a service where I can help people achieve their personal, performance or professional goals in an innovative and empowering way, but also allows me to retain ethical personal and/or social connections with them.

This service is different from the counselling and psychotherapy-based service I offer and is best suited for people who already know me personally, professionally, through music, or through shamanic work. 

While there is no universally agreed difference between coaching and counselling, I found the following three websites offered good consistent descriptions of the differences.

What’s The Difference Between Counselling And Coaching? – SACAP
Counseling vs. life coaching – Counseling Today
Life coach vs. therapist: similarities and differences (tonyrobbins.com)

Although there is no specific New Zealand Code of Ethics for Life Coaching, the below is an international Code of Ethics for Life Coaches that I work within. Many coaching organisations and councils have adopted this code globally.

Global Coaching Code of Ethics 

CONTEXT & CONTRACTING

Members must: abide by the Code of Ethics; make it available to clients and sponsors; conduct a thorough and open contracting process; and be transparent about how they work with clients.

INTEGRITY

Members must: be honest and accurate about their qualifications, knowledge, experience, methods and potential impact; obey the law and act with honesty, integrity and transparency; and pay proper attention to attributing others’ work to the originator(s) and not claim it as their own.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Members must: maintain confidentiality at all times; be open and honest about confidentiality with coachees and sponsors, as well as the limits to this confidentiality; keep notes, store them securely and dispose of them properly; be clear with clients that about their supervision arrangements and describe what these mean.

INAPPROPRIATE INTERACTIONS

Members must: maintain clear boundaries as far as personal relationships are concerned and avoid romantic/sexual relationships with clients/sponsors.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Members must: be alert to conflicts of interest, in particular around gaining personal advantage from the coaching relationship; be sensitive to commercial/personal conflicts of interest caused by working with one or more clients and withdraw from the relationship if a conflict arises that cannot be managed effectively.

TERMINATING PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND ON-GOING RESPONSIBILITIES

Members must: ensure that all interested parties know that both client and coach are free to withdraw from the relationship at any time; respect confidentiality and be alert to potential conflicts of interest even after the coaching relationship has finished.