Have you ever heard the term coaching psychologist? Probably not. In the United States, it barely exists as a concept. In the United Kingdom, it is a recognized specialty of the British Psychological Society, with peer-reviewed journals, formal credentials, and university-level standards. So the next time someone tells you coaching can’t be a serious discipline, the honest answer is that it already is. We just have to import it. In this episode, I sit down with Christina Theo, a UK-based Coaching Psychologist with twenty-five years across the NHS, the voluntary sector, and international private practice. Christina holds credentials from both the British Psychological Society and the International Coaching Federation, and she practices the kind of integrated, evidence-based work I have spent the better part of two decades arguing for from the US side. She joined me to explain what coaching psychology actually is, what is breaking in the global coaching industry right now, and what every licensed clinician should know about the field before they engage with it, whether or not they ever plan to become a coach themselves. In this episode: The plain-English definition of coaching psychology, and why the UK has a credential for it while the US still does not The moment-to-moment difference between doing coaching and doing psychology, inside a single session How Christina integrates EMDR, IFS, and Pain Reprocessing Therapy inside a coaching framework without crossing the therapy line The four myths therapists believe about coaching, and what is actually true about ethics, supervision, evidence, and triage The biggest mistake therapists make when they add coaching to their practice (and why the financial reasoning behind it usually fails) Why “I healed myself, now I will heal you” coaching is doing measurable harm to trauma survivors who needed treatment instead What rigorous coaching credentials require, and the specific red flags to run from when a program advertises itself Where coaching psychology is headed in the next five years, and the role US clinicians could play in building a domestic version Why This Matters This episode is for any clinician who has watched the coaching industry from the sidelines with one eyebrow raised, and quietly wondered whether there is a serious version of this discipline anywhere. There is. It has a name, a credential, a body of research, and a small group of practitioners who have been doing it well for decades. You do not have to want to become a coach to find this conversation useful. You only have to want to understand the field your clients are increasingly being pulled toward, and to know the difference between the work Christina is describing and the work most of TikTok is calling by the same name. Episode Breakdown 00:00 Why "Coaching Psychologist" Isn't a Term Most US Therapists Know 04:35 How Christina Became a Coaching Psychologist 09:30 What Is Coaching Psychology? The Definition US Therapists Are Missing 13:00 Coaching Psychology vs. Therapy in a Single Session 24:30 The Myths Therapists Believe About Coaching 30:30 What Therapists Should Look For in a Coaching Credential 40:30 What's Actually Wrong With the Coaching Industry in 2026 56:30 What This Means for US Clinicians, and Where Coaching Psychology Goes Next Resources Full blog post for this episode Growing Self Coaching Certification for Therapists Therapist Growth Collective If this conversation cracked something open for you about coaching, I want to keep it going. There is a real, rigorous version of this work, and the people I trust most to do it well are the ones who started as licensed clinicians and added the credentials on top. That is exactly what our Coaching Certification for Therapists is built to support. The link is in the show notes. Come find me, and come find us. XO, Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby Growing Self
