The vast majority (85%) of coaches have clients seeking support around mental well-being, finds a study by the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Although only 26% of coaches report that more than half of their clients are seeking help with mental health, it’s a significant area of practice, according to the 2024 ICF Coaching Snapshot Survey – Coaching and Mental Well-Being, commissioned by the ICF and conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), with responses from 10,039 participants from across 147 countries and all major world regions.
Coaches in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa and Western Europe are most likely to have 50% or more of their clients requesting support with mental well-being. Coach practitioners in Asia are significantly less likely to be asked for such support compared to other regions.
Overall, a mere 6% of practitioners worldwide indicate that well-being is not a focus in their work with clients. Globally, 50% of coach practitioners report that they significantly support their clients with well-being, although this varies by region. In Asia, 39% of practitioners are heavily involved in enhancing clients’ well-being, compared to 61% in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The study points to a significant and positive change in the perception of mental health, with a strong consensus among internal coaches that well-being is discussed more openly now than it was five years ago – 85% agreeing on this shift. Additionally, internal coaches report increased confidence in discussing their own mental well-being (75%).
The most frequent challenge reported by coaches when engaging clients in discussions about their mental well-being is navigating the fine line between supporting them and not crossing into areas requiring specific mental health expertise. Globally this is considered a challenge by almost half of all coach practitioners (46%) and more likely to be considered a challenge by those practising in North America (49%) and Oceania (51%).
In addition to regional differences, there are generational and gender differences in the proportion of clients asking for mental well-being support, with 29% of women reporting that clients ask for such support, compared to only 17% of male practitioners.
Coaches in the younger generation groups are more likely to support their clients with their well-being than those of older generations.
When clients seek help with their mental well-being, business or career issues are most frequently cited as contributing factors (78%).
Mindfulness, visualisation and meditation are the most frequently used techniques by both internal and external coaches to support clients’ well-being. Mindfulness, along with other more commonly used techniques – visualisation and meditation – is considered effective by around 70% of coaches who use these methods.
In North America, meditation is particularly popular while coaches in Europe tend to favour visualisation techniques and are less inclined to use meditation compared to those in other regions.
Almost all coach practitioners (93%) said they offered services in addition to coaching as part of their professional practice. Consulting was the most common additional services, offered by 59% of respondents, followed closely by training (58%) and facilitating (57%). Mentoring was offered by nearly half (46%) of coach practitioners.
On average, practitioners coach six to seven clients per week, with a slight difference by region with coaches in Asia averaging five clients.
VOLUME 19 ISSUE 6