Relationship Coaching is the application of coaching to personal and commercial relationships. While many people are motivated to seek help when they are experiencing difficulties in their relationships, coaching and relationship coaching are positive, results-oriented professions that assist functional people in achieving their personal and relationship goals. It is not a substitute or replacement for therapy provided by a licensed clinician trained to treat mental, emotional, and psychological disorders. While relationship coaches may be relationship gurus, the art and science of coaching is to support the client’s success without offering advice or “professional opinions.”
Origins
For many years, the term “relationship coach” has been used by professionals (Psychotherapists, Psychologists, Marriage and Family Therapists, Social Workers, and so on) and enterprising para-professionals from a wide range of disciplines.
Relationship coaching was first developed as a coaching specialty with its own professional training, standards, certification, and methodologies in 1997, following the evolution of personal/life coaching as a recognized profession in 1995, with training standards and certification initially established by the International Coach Federation.
Relationship Coaching Areas of Expertise
Coaching for Singles
44% of adults in the United States are single, while 27% of individuals live alone. If this tendency continues, the majority of the Western world’s population will be single before long.
Helping singles have satisfying lives and successful relationships needs knowing that not all singles are alike and most do not match the stereotype of being lonely and desperate for romance.
Here are seven sorts of singles:
1-Temporarily single, actively seeking a companion, and in transition between partnerships
2-Recently divorced or widowed—recovering from grief and not ready for a relationship
3-Frustrated Single-wishes for a partner but is unable to find one and gives up
4-Passive Single– want to be in a relationship but is not actively looking for one.
5-Single But Not Available– the self-perception of being single and desiring a long-term relationship, but “hooking up” to meet needs.
6-Busy/Distracted Single-absorbed in being a single parent, profession, school, and so on and has little time or desire for a spouse
7-Single by Choice– having no desire for a spouse, being single is a deliberate permanent lifestyle choice for a variety of reasons, including –
- “I’ve been there, done that, and don’t want to go through it again.”
- “Why buy a cow when you can receive free milk?”
- Ascetic or other religious/spiritual motivation
- Loner prefers independence to couplehood.
- Polyamory or an alternate way of life that does not lend itself to cohabitation
- Celibate/asexual
- The answer is yes.
- Aging \sHealth
Each type of single has their own unique developmental goals and problems, necessitating the use of specialized skills and tactics to properly coach them to achieve relationship success apart from the advice-driven approaches of other professions.
Coaching for Couples
As with individuals, not all couples are alike. The term “electronic commerce” refers to the sale of electronic goods.
- Dating Couples: Self identify as “single” but have an on-going, non-exclusive relationship. “Friends with benefits” is one way to describe these pairings. These couples consider their relationship as a recreational activity. When one or both partners want to take their relationship to the next level, dating couples frequently seek mentoring.
- Pre-committed Couples: Both partners have decided to stop dating others and become an exclusive pair, and while co-habitation is typical at this stage, no formal or explicit long-term promises have been made. These couples frequently seek commitment and are putting their relationship to the test for long-term compatibility. Pre-committed couples frequently seek coaching when they come into a “deal-breaker” (also known as a “requirement”) that prevents them from entering into a long-term committed relationship without surrendering anything vital (such as whether or not to have children).
- Pre-marital Couples: Both partners have agreed to become committed but have not yet taken the necessary steps to formalize their commitment (marriage, commitment ceremony, etc.). Many of these couples are acutely aware of the high rate of failure in committed relationships and seek coaching to learn the skills and behaviors required for long-term relationship success.
- Couples who are committed: “Commitment” is both an attitude (belief) and a truth (formal, symbolic, even legal act). While most couples may consider their relationship to be “committed,” if they haven’t taken any concrete steps to formalize that commitment, they only have that mentality. When there is a difficulty, married couples who have made a formal commitment occasionally discuss divorce, which can be confusing, upsetting, and divisive. Most committed couples get married or have some other type of ceremony to formally declare their love for one another. These couples frequently turn to coaching in order to find a solution to their issues and “live happily ever after.”
Coaching Families
Coaching for families covers cohabitation, parenting, siblings, nuclear and extended families, as well as family businesses.
Coaching for Business Relationships
Effective partnerships are necessary for productive enterprises. Coaching workplace connections can cover manager-employee, peer-to-peer, team, corporate division, and customer and vendor interactions, among others.
Coaching and Therapy Comparison
Briefly said, (psycho)therapy is a healing profession trained and licensed to diagnose and treat mental, emotional, and psychological illnesses, whereas coaching is a results and goal-oriented practice that presume the client is functional and completely capable of success. Therapy and coaching can work very effectively together. One could argue that coaching begins where therapy ends, making it a natural fit for therapists who focus on personal development.
A fun and rewarding way to earn a great livelihood and change the world is to work as a professional relationship coach. You’re definitely a good fit for this expanding industry if you take pleasure in helping others and discover that your friends, family, and coworkers come to you to discuss their relationship objectives and difficulties.