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18.11.2022
We at Illuminate Charity have talked for some time, 14 years to be exact, about the benefits and impact of coaching to bridge the divide between therapy and mental health.
It was policy from day one that people do not need a clinical diagnosis to work with us and therefore no medical history is requested. We understand that many people cannot get a diagnosis or do not want a clinical diagnosis, but importantly many do not meet the threshold of a diagnosis. However, we do know that poor mental health, even when it isn’t clinical, has far-reaching and disruptive effects on all aspects of our lives.
Most companies now offer workplace wellness programs, employee assistance programs (EAPs), and employee resource groups. Also there has been a large uptake of the Mental Health First Aid accreditation throughout the UK, and the spotlight continues to shine on mental health and workplace wellbeing. The obvious question is with the ever-growing and large variety of wellness-related programs and resources, why is the workforce still struggling?
It’s a complex mix of communication, messaging, investment, format and trust. Very little research has been done about how these programs and resources impact well-being. However, there has been some research into coaching and mental health and we were pleased to find it directly addresses coaching as an effective strategy to improve mental health and well-being: -
by Alexis Jeannotte, Ph.D., Derek Hutchinson, Ph.D., and Gabriella Kellerman, MD
The team investigated intervention, time, and impact on well-being outcomes resulting from coaching intervention. They also used coaching online and that also had a significant positive improvement on every outcome measured.
This shows coaching can really make a difference by improving well-being and because by its nature it is bespoke, it’s, therefore, a highly personal and individual intervention. It can be seen as a meta-wellbeing improvement tool because the coach not only helps support the coachee during sessions but can then guide them to tools, techniques and strategies between sessions i.e. home learning and practice.
Coaching is powerful as it doesn’t have the stigma of clinical support services and the coach is seen by the coachee as a professional and in an equal professional partnership, as opposed to a counsellor or therapist with a ‘patient’.
Through coaching we help people move forward and change at their pace whilst being fully in control this builds trust and leaves room for further improvement.
