Chapter 8: From Therapist to Executive Coach: Insight, Intervention, and Organizational Change

Over the past decade a significant number of clinical therapists have reinvented themselves as executive coaches while the executive coaching profession simultaneously burgeoned. Reflecting on the migration of clinical professionals to the coaching profession, several questions emerge: What are the differences between clinical mental health intervention and processes and coaching? How does an executive’s “needs” differ from the classic “mental health” client? What are the necessary skills for a successful coach? What are the transferable skills of the clinical professional? What are the ramifications for the practice of executive coaching?

Many of these answers, of course, lie in understanding the amalgamation of the client’s two distinct personas: the individual as a person, which includes personal development and relationship quality; and the person as an employee, which includes on-the-job behavior and organizational performance. The answers are simple, yet complex and examining the intimate and intertwined relationship between the fields of executive coaching and clinical psychology can provide a foundation for future inquiry, intervention and training programs.