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How do business coaches experience the boundary between coaching and therapy/counselling?

Abstract The question ‘what is coaching?’ continues to provoke debate, with many writers attempting to distinguish coaching from other forms of ‘helping by talking’, particularly therapy and counselling. Despite this level of discussion, confusion and lack of clarity continues to exist. This situation is compounded by vested interests and lack of relevant empirical research. Practicing coaches must therefore decide on the limits of their own practice, and some writers point to the potential for unsafe and unethical practice. The study contributes to the debate by examining how business coaches experience the ‘boundary’ between coaching and therapy/counselling in practice. Using a phenomenological approach, four therapeutically trained and four non-therapeutically trained coaches were asked to describe instances when they felt they were working near the boundary with therapy/counselling in a coaching context. The study methodology included use of a ‘conceptual encounter’ and interpretive phenomenological analysis. Findings suggest that issues of a psychological nature are brought into coaching, and are considered appropriate territory for investigation where they block work performance. Differences in working practice were noted between and within the two groups. Findings for the study give impetus for the professionalisation of coaching, and recommendation for the development of a coherent psychologically-oriented syllabus for coaches is made.