Understanding The Difference Between A Life Coach And A Transpersonal Coach
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LIFE COACH AND A TRANSPERSONAL COACH?
It’s difficult to decide what kind of coach you need when there are so many different kinds. But the more specialised a coach is, the better able they are to help you with your unique needs. So, today, we’ll take a little look at transpersonal coaching versus life coaching.
I think the biggest difference is that life coaching is easy to get into, and many people see it as a career that will get them out of their own problems. I am a coach, but I don’t like telling people I’m a coach because the coaching industry has got a bad reputation and for good reason. I’m sorry to say it, but becoming a coach is not the answer to bypassing your own problems.
Of course, there are amazing coaches out there that know their stuff. A language coach or a finance coach probably knows a thing or two about language or finance. And there are some amazing life coaches doing amazing work. But life coaching is often taken up by vulnerable people who are exposed to fancy marketing selling to get quick-rich coaching schemes.
The problem is, it’s just not that easy. You can’t solve your own life problems by focusing on other people’s lives. This strategy takes you further from inner work, a fundamental step to getting your life in order, and living with purpose, meaning and joy.
In the world of spirituality we call this bypassing.
It means not being real with where we’re at on our journey.
I don’t mean to be hard on life coaches. Their hearts are in the right place and they tend to be people who go all out helping other people in their personal lives. They’ve also experienced the benefits of coaching first-hand and believe in what they’re selling. But they tend to get swept up in the marketing and take the leap from getting coaching to being a coach far too quickly, missing the wonderful journey they could have taken into their deeper selves. A journey of discovery, enlightenment, revelation and integrity.
A couple of life coaching sessions can be transformational, but you’re just scratching the surface. We’re complex creatures and the journey inwards to personal and spiritual development is an adventure not to be rushed. There’s an entire world within each one of us to be explored. The greatest gift you can give yourself is to know yourself.
The greatest gift you can give yourself
Is to know yourself
The problem for many life coaches is that for coaching to be a useful tool, the client needs to learn to expand their awareness, and often times do deep work to unravel behaviour patterns, integrate their shadow and overcome their self-limiting beliefs. And to help people do that, you’ve got to have walked the path yourself.
TRANSPERSONAL COACHING
Transpersonal coaching is different because a transpersonal coach is committed to walking the path themselves. Plus, many transpersonal coaches are bringing a lot more knowledge to the table. Many have psychology degrees, psychotherapy degrees, and a master’s in transpersonal psychology, so they bring to the table a depth of knowledge about psychology and transpersonal psychology.
Any transpersonal coach worthy of their title will be deeply committed to inner work and self-inquiry. They are committed to understanding what triggers them, identifying behaviour patterns, integrating their shadows and learning present-moment-self-awareness. A good transpersonal coach will also be committed to their spiritual practice, which over time, will develop compassion, non-judgment, clearer unbiased perception and presence. All of which are fundamental coaching skills. Transpersonal coaches have a background in transpersonal psychology.
With a strong commitment to psycho-spiritual inner work, we start to identify less as the limited egoic identity and more as consciousness itself or the oneness of all. We also start to see other people not as the role they are playing in this lifetime but as something far greater and limitless.
Traditional life coaching tends to focus on attaining life goals sought out by the ego for egoic reasons. You know like a new car or a bigger house. And its not that there is anything inherently wrong with wanting these things but transpersonal coaches are interested in getting to the bottom of why we want these things.
Most often we want a promotion so we feel more powerful, a fancy car so we can create a desired image, a good looking partner so we can feel better abot ourselves. All these things bolster the ego and make us feel better about ourselves but that means our assets and achievements are keeping us happy. And if they’re taken away, we become unhappy.
If your happiness is dependent on external things
external things determine your happiness.
But true happiness comes from within. It comes from being genuinely happy with ourselves exactly as we are. It comes from embracing all of who we are so we can become whole. So instead of setting out goals and strategies to get the things we thought we wanted we work on connecting with our deeper, truer more authentic selves and being comfortable with that self. Even better learning to love our true selves, having genuine gratitude towards ourselves and expressing kindness to ourselves.
We might even work on getting a promotion or a bigger house, if it truly fulfils our needs or is of service to others or to a higher purpose.
In transpersonal coaching we hold a safe space of exploration to work all this out. We help our clients to expand their awareness for the bigger picture. Tapping into expanded awareness states has two benefits. Firstly, we come out of tunnel vision and find creative solutions to our problems. We start to see things from different angles and perspectives and often from other peoples perspectives that we have been in conflict with.
Secodly, we learn to connect with our true selves and really start to understand what drives us, what serves us, what triggers us and what’s important to us.
So whats the down side?
Well, you have to do the work! Just as a transpersonal coach is committed to their own inner work, they will encourage you to begin your own journey of inner work.
For me, this is one of the most important aspects of what I do. I want my clients to learn to access expanded states of awareness for themselves and be able to identify their own limiting beliefs, negative behaviour patterns, self-sabotage and biased perceptions. I want my clients to learn to love their limited egoic selves and access their authentic, true selves so they can enjoy a more harmonious and joyful life with purpose and meaning.
Thanks for reading, and as always, keep striving for growth and well-being, and never settle for less!
How I Can Help
I hope you found this blog post helpful and inspiring. If you have any questions or need further guidance, please don't hesitate to reach out. As someone who’s deeply passionate about well-being and personal growth and development, I offer services designed to help you cultivate a life you love. Whether through one-on-one sessions, workshops, or online resources, I’m here to support your journey towards becoming the best version of yourself.
Here’s to your well-being, personal growth and success!
Head over to the services section on my website for more information on how we can work together to achieve your goals. I work online and face to face on the Côte d’Azur, in France.
