Psychiatr. praxi. 2024;25(3):131-139 | DOI: 10.36290/psy.2024.022

Coaching for mental illness

PhDr. Sylvie Navarová

Centrum psychologických služeb a Škola manažerského rozvoje s. r. o., Ostrava-Poruba

The article provides basic information about the coaching method. Coaching developed as a method in the 1980s at a time when new person-centered and solution-focused psychotherapeutic approaches were emerging. Coaching was first applied in sports and later in companies as part of management skills. In the 1990s, coaching also began to develop in the Czech Republic. It is currently used as an approach to clients in social services, in schools, but also by freelance coaches. The field of life coaching is developing, i.e. the processing of personal issues of clients through this method. Coaching is a conversation in which the coach asks questions that stimulate the coachee's thinking so that he/she finds the most appropriate answers and solutions for him/herself. In this article you will learn about the basic principles of coaching and selected techniques. We will outline the possibilities of integrating coaching into the work of professionals dealing with people with psychological issues through case studies within the framework of integrating coaching into psychological work. We will address the advantages of the coaching method and the potential risks and limitations when working with people with mental illnesses. Readers will be introduced to who can be a coach in the Czech Republic and what benefits and risks collaboration with them might bring to clients with psychological issues. The article aims to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, so that professionals in coaching, psychotherapy, and psychiatry can work together and communicate to the benefit of clients.

Keywords: coaching, life coaching, psychological difficulties.

Accepted: October 2, 2024; Published: November 15, 2024  Show citation