A psychoanalytical approach to coaching

In summary, it can be stated that psychodynamic coaching and psychoanalytic psychotherapy have both similarities and differences. Psychodynamic coaching is derived from short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy but has been given its own form and framework and is used to clarify the dynamic processes of both the client and his or her organization. However, the context in which it is exercised differs. Coaching takes place outside mental health structures, freed from the compelling DSM-classifications and funding constraints. As a practising psychoanalyst, the author has tried to show that psychoanalytic insights have a lot to offer in the field of coaching, using vignettes from coaching practice. For the psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapist this offers an opportunity to play a role in a changing society in which coaching is seen as an opportunity for further development, while psychotherapy is often experienced as more charged and shameful and seen as the treatment of a disorder.