Week Five Study Guide

The Arc of a Coaching Relationship

Maintain Professional Behavior

• Building a Coaching Presence: Developing a solid foundation through skills such as:
  • Active listening
  • Powerful questioning
  • Speaking the truth
  • Creating awareness
  • Planning and organizing
  • Goal setting
  • Managing progress and accountability

Setting the Right Foundation

• Maximizing Professional Potential: Involves ethics, professional standards, and self-development.

The Coaching Agreement

Purpose and Importance

• Groundwork for professional relationship post-agreement.
• Aligns coaching relationship with agreement boundaries.
• Differentiates professional coaching from casual advice.

Components of a Coaching Agreement

1. Coaching Process Specifics:

   • Participants, start/end dates, scheduling, services.
   • Importance of gifts to motivate clients.

2. Payments:

   • Costs, payment methods, refund policies, no-show policies.

3. Role of All Parties:

   • Defines what health coaches do not do (prescribe, diagnose) vs. what they do (motivate, empower).

4. Indemnity Information:

   • Client responsibilities, liability releases.

5. Confidentiality:

   • Importance of confidentiality and obtaining client permissions.

6. Arbitration:

   • Process for handling disagreements and legal jurisdiction.

7. Signature:

   • Importance of obtaining client signatures before starting.

8. Enhancing Agreement Over Time:

   • Tweaks for individual client needs, adding client identification, emergency contacts.

Sample Templates

• Provided for both the Coaching Agreement and Privacy Policy Document (PPD).

The Privacy Document

Privacy Policy Document (PPD)

• Details on confidentiality limits and the use of information.
• Clients’ rights to records, communication preferences, and sharing permissions.
• Business service provider access and HIPAA compliance.
• Security expectations and honest representation of data protection.
• Retention of records for legal compliance.
• Client complaints procedure.
• Regular updates to PPD for adaptability and compliance.

Security Considerations

• Discusses limitations of full HIPAA compliance for independent health coaches.
• Emphasizes reasonable security measures and client communication protocols.

Creating the Alliance

Domination-Based Systems & Partnership Systems

• Role as a Partner:
  • Health coaches are partners, not authoritative figures.
  • Encourages collaborative, nonviolent communication.
  • Focus on empowering clients in self-knowledge and growth.

Questions for Further Consideration

• Best meeting spaces for coach-client interactions.
• Why residential meetings are discouraged.
• Indicators of poor coach-client fit.
• Complimentary sessions and their role in the coaching process.

Further Learning Resources

• Reference materials and books for deeper understanding of coaching practices and ethics.