Coaching psychology is the psychology of coaching. As a domain of applied psychology, practitioners use proactive, results focused, and client centered activities that encourage sustainable change through new ways of thinking. Coaching psychology practitioners use theory and activities from coaching, clinical, sport and organisational psychology to focus clients on the present and the future to generate relevant solutions. It aims to facilitate better understanding of, and better interventions to, support improvement in thinking, acting and wellbeing through the psychology of behaviour, cognition, and emotion. Coaching is a facilitative activity. The role of the coach is to guide the client toward their own discoveries, insights, and goals. The client takes responsibility through an active approach in accomplishing these goals. The defining feature of coaching psychology is that it draws on theories and evidence of the psychological mechanisms of human functioning. This psychological underpinning enables practitioners to engage with the unacknowledged or underdeveloped capacities of clients to facilitate learning, development, growth, skill sets, performance and/or levels of wellbeing. Coaching Psychology Practitioners have Masters level qualifications in Coaching Psychology from universities such as the University of Sydney's School of Psychology, University of East London (UK), University of Reading (UK), University College Cork (Ireland), Instituto Superior Europeo de Barcelona (Spain) and University of Missouri (US).  Our team are accredited in all of the commonly used psychometric tools. We are also accredited in Motivational Maps - a UK based tool that maps an individual and team's motivational strengths and adaptability to change. We use the Integral 180 and 360 tool. This Australian designed tool is empiracally based, culturally relevant and has been used by over 36,000 participants. It can also be customised to an organisation and aligned to capability frameworks.

Clinical Psychologists, Psychologists or Counsellors undertake therapeutic counselling to treat mental illness and deal with past situations that have caused negative feelings, thoughts and thinking patterns. Coaching psychology practitoners work with mentally well clients with future oriented issues and who need some help to deal with challenging issues or events in their life. We use a range of psychological behavioural coaching techniques to develop positive thinking patterns, thoughts and attitudes that help gain balance, a clear strategic vision and move forward in life. Coaching is a collaborative, developmental, evidence-based process between a coach and client to enhance the leadership, performance, capability, wellbeing, and professional growth of the client. Many clients come to us to help them move forward in their including to make sense of, and put in place, strategies to deal with changes happening in their life. Examples might include; dealing with family challenges, making a difficult decision about their career or the juggle of being a high performing individual.

Currently in Australia anyone can call themselves a Coach as there is currently no authoritative or regulatory body for coaching. An individual may complete a short course or be qualified through post graduate university study and apply for membership of the International Coaching Federation. In Australia the University of Sydney’s School of Psychology is the only university that offers the Masters in Coaching Psychology unfortunately it has not yet been adopted as a domain of Psychology in Australia and therefore has no mechanism for Australian Psychological Society (APS) and AHPRA registration. Coaching Psychology was adopted as a division of psychology in Britain in 2021 and in September 2022 individuals in the UK became eligible for registration through the British Psychological Society (BPS). In Britain graduates of the Masters in Coaching Psychology program can now commence applications for chartered registration as Coaching Psychologists. We hope that Australia soon follows.

If you need mental health or medical assistance here are some useful contacts. + In an Emergency call 000. + Suicide Callback Service – 1300 659 467 (online chat available) + Lifeline – 13 11 14 + Kids Helpline – 1800 551 800 + MensLine Australia – 1300 789 978 + Open Arms (for Veterans and their families) – 1800 011 046 +Access Mental Health Team Canberra – 1800 629 354 + Beyond Blue – 1300 22 4636 + Black Dog Institute

A coaching program usually runs from 6-10 sessions either fortnightly or monthly and may include use of various psychometric tools. Sessions are usually 45-60 min. Clients can meet with us in person, online, coaching outdoors or at client's workplace.

We work with individual private clients and corporate clients. Our coaching programs aim to help clients make changes, balance life, achieve goals and move forward. We work with clients across all industries in Australia, APAC and the US. Our corporate clients range from middle leavel team leaders, managers and executives through to CEO and board members. We work across all industries particularly health, public sector, defence and education. We offer developmental and remedial coaching however also have a particular interest in burnout, anxiety contagion, work/life/career decisions, high performance and wellbeing.

Team coaching works with teams to develop shared purpose, reach their goals, and creating an environment that encourages engagement, trust and success. We offer team coaching to organisations across all industries in Australia, APAC and the US. All team coaching programs are bespoke - they are co-designed with each client as we believe that each team has different needs. We have expertise is bringing together challenging teams and aligning them iwith purpose, clarity and trust. We also work with teams to achieve high performance and psychological safety. We use a range of games and activities to ensure all participants are engaged in the sessions.

Having a respectful and collaborative relationship between the Coach and Client is key for coaching to be successful. We ask that Clients: •Thoughtfully prepare for and engage during each coaching session. •Act on the guidance of the coach and agreed agenda of coaching engagement. •Receive, accept, and act on feedback with an open growth mindset. •Be honest, truthful, and forthright in the coaching sessions. •Be willing and open to trying new ways of engaging, learning, and working. •Complete any agreed reading or activities particularly as most reflection happens between coaching sessions. •Raise and openly discuss issues relating to the identified goals and behaviours. •Provide open and honest feedback to the coach on the coaching engagement including taking responsibility for providing timely feedback if any issues are identified. •Take responsibility for achieving own goals. As a Coach we will: •Be clear with the clients about the coaching engagement including any expectations. •Deeply and actively listen to the client, including asking any questions and providing feedback in a respectful manner. •Use coaching sessions and tools that expand thinking, broaden opportunities and options, and foster deeper self-insight to discover new approaches and thinking patterns. •Provide the client with information and theoretical perspectives to help develop new ideas and skills. •Encourage modelling and experimentation to try out new approaches and explore opportunities for change. This includes agreeing on activities to help guide the client’s growth, skills, perspectives, and development. •Hold the client accountable for achieving goals. •Maintain complete confidentiality within the limits of the law unless the client provides consent to release including securely storing all records and documents to ensure confidentiality, security and privacy. •Engage and interact with honesty and integrity including managing any actual or perceived conflicts of interest. •Actively upholding equality and divergent diversity including providing a safe environment free from discrimination. This includes a commitment to protecting and promoting Australian and international rights and freedoms, including freedom of speech, opinion, religion, association, and movement. •Refer or recommend another professional practitioner if the client requires other specialised care.

When an organisation is sponsoring a client’s coaching, we may use an initial and concluding three-way or triad meeting to discuss the coaching engagement and key actions. These meetings are to establish parameters and ensure the client, the organisational sponsor, and the coach, are clear on what is desired to be achieved through the coaching engagement. In a sponsored coaching engagement, the coach has two clients – the organisation and the individual. In these circumstances the three-way conversations are to balance the needs of the organisation, who are investing time and money into the individual as a high performing member of the team, with the development needs, growth and psychological safety of the client. While progress towards coaching outcomes is discussed at these meetings, details of the content of the coaching session are not. This is confidential and remains the strict knowledge of the client and coach. When an individual is undertaking coaching themselves, we do not disclose to others unless the client has requested, agrees, and participates in any meetings.

Coaching Psychology practitoners adopt a scientist-practitioner perspective when working with clients. This combination of empirical evidence base, theoretical understanding, use of reputable guidelines and thorough training, ensures that we deliver ethical practice and interventions, whilst also seeking to evaluate our practice to enable future professional development. As our work is subject to ethical, cultural, and reflective practice, we participate in collaborative supervision with professional coaching supervisors. During supervision practices we de-identify our clients to always ensure their confidentiality. As professional accredited coaches and organisational development professionals, we abide by the ethics of Australian HR Institute and the International Coaching Federation Gold Standards and professional guidelines. This ensures we demonstrate ethical practice and consistently apply coaching ethics and standards. We accept the Code of Ethics and our business practices are in line with the ICF core values and code of ethics. We also follow the British Psychological Society’s ethical guidelines for Coaching Psychologists.

Coaching is only effective if there is a strong trust between the client and the coach to collaboratively work through issues and achieve goals. Confidentiality is the foundation upon trust stands and we take our client’s privacy and confidentiality seriously. All information regarding the coaching engagement, including client notes and results from coaching tools including psychometric assessments, will remain confidential.  ​The coach will not disclose to other individuals or organisations except in the following circumstances: There are aspects of the coaching that the coach needs to discuss with their coaching supervisor. This is done in a way which deidentifies the client and protects anonymity. In rare circumstances where decreed by law. The coach has concerns about the client’s physical or psychological safety.

If a session needs to be rescheduled or cancelled by the client, 48 hours’ notice is requested. Cancellation or reschedule instigated by the client without 48 hours’ notice will result in the session being charged at the full 100% rate. Circumstances of personal illness and family emergencies will be treated with fairness and compassion.

Although we welcome referrals from other practitioners, providers of coaching psychology are currently not required to be registered with AHPRA and do not need a referral from a medical practitioner. There is no Medicare rebate for our services. Fees will be discussed and provided at the beginning of the coaching engagement and outlined in our agreements. Our fees reflect the professional academic qualifications and executive experience level of our coaches. Coaching fees range from $240-$500 per hour depending on complexity of the engagement and seniority of the coaching consultant.