Coaching guide
When coaching can help — and when it cannot
To understand whether coaching is suitable, consider the kind of help needed and the possibility of taking an active part in the programme.
An important, painful or complex issue may fall within coaching; the wish to change alone, however, does not make it the right approach.
A useful question is:
What work does this situation actually require?
Explore the guide
At a glance
Coaching may be relevant when you want to clarify a situation, understand your priorities, assess alternatives, make a decision or turn an objective into actions you can review.
The work requires active participation: reflecting, choosing, trying a step and observing what happens in everyday life.
Coaching is not the right format when the primary need calls for immediate protection, diagnosis, psychological or medical treatment, crisis management or specialist expertise the coach does not have.
Every situation needs suitable support.
Recognising the boundary protects the person and the quality of the work.
The same situation can require different kinds of work
A professional change, for example, can be addressed with a coach to clarify priorities and direction, a careers consultant to analyse the market and an application, a mentor who already knows the role, or training to acquire a skill.
When the primary need concerns distress or a psychological pattern requiring treatment, a psychotherapist is the appropriate professional.
A relationship difficulty can also contain different questions: preparing a conversation and defining a boundary is different work from therapeutic support for individual or couple distress.
Naming the problem is not enough to choose. What matters is the work required and the professional’s expertise.
When the situation needs clarifying
The question can take shape during the first conversation.
You may only know that a situation no longer fits you, that you keep postponing a choice, that there are too many possibilities or that a personal or professional role has changed.
In these cases, coaching can help turn a broad perception into a clear focus, without expecting you to know the answer already.
When a decision remains stuck
Analysing for longer does not automatically make a choice easier.
It can help to separate facts from interpretations, wishes from expectations, and values from fears. The picture also includes constraints, the consequences of alternatives and the distinction between what you can influence and what does not depend on you.
The coach does not choose for you: they help you understand the decision in front of you more clearly.
When you want to turn an intention into action
Knowing what you want does not always make the move into action immediate.
The programme can help you define a manageable step, prepare a conversation, make an objective observable and introduce review points. If the plan encounters an obstacle, it is adjusted while keeping what you are seeking in view.
Actions remain in your hands; coaching provides a structure for choosing them and reviewing their effects.
During a life transition
A new role, a move, a separation, returning to work or completing a project can change priorities and points of reference.
The same happens when motherhood or family life enters a different phase, or when a wish emerges to begin again while keeping what experience has taught you.
Coaching can offer a point of orientation within this uncertainty, without promising to remove it.
When an experiment can give you information
A change can begin without a final decision.
You can try making a request, protecting some space, delegating, asking for help, changing an arrangement or having a postponed conversation.
An experiment is intended to observe how reality responds and understand the situation better, rather than prove that the initial hypothesis was right.
Orientation
Certainty may come later.
To begin, you need only a step you can choose, observe and review.
Before beginning
Four conditions that make the programme workable
01
You understand the scope of coaching
You know that the programme does not offer diagnosis, treatment or an automatic specialist solution, and that decisions remain yours.
02
You can participate actively
You can reflect on the situation, express your choices and try out steps between sessions.
03
The focus falls within the coach’s expertise
The professional understands their scope and does not present work requiring a different qualification as coaching.
04
Expectations are realistic
A programme of a few sessions cannot remove every difficulty or guarantee results outside the professional’s control.
These are criteria for finding your way, intended to protect the quality of the agreement.
Finding your way
Four questions to bring to the first conversation
They do not replace a professional assessment, but help distinguish the kind of support you are seeking.
Am I looking for diagnosis or treatment?
If the primary need concerns symptoms, psychological distress or a medical condition, the appropriate starting point is a professional qualified for that work.
Do I need a specialist answer?
Medical, psychological, legal, tax, financial or technical matters require specific expertise.
Can I turn what emerges into choices or actions?
Coaching requires active participation. This does not mean having to be strong or having all the resources already, but being able to take part in the process.
Is the professional clear about their limits?
A responsible coach knows when to stop, redefine the work or suggest different support when a need falls outside their scope.
Different support is needed
When coaching is not the right setting
Coaching must not replace psychological, medical or specialist support when the primary need concerns:
- an acute crisis or a risk to you or other people;
- intense, persistent distress that significantly interferes with everyday life;
- symptoms requiring assessment, diagnosis or treatment;
- trauma requiring clinical work, addictions or eating disorders;
- decisions about medication or treatment;
- legal, tax, financial or medical matters requiring specific expertise.
The coach does not diagnose, prescribe or suggest stopping medication, psychotherapy or medical care.
Guiding someone towards an appropriate professional is part of responsible work.
Immediate information
If there is an emergency.
This page is not an emergency service.
In Switzerland, if there is immediate danger to you or another person:
Adults can also call the following number for immediate, confidential listening: 143.
Do not wait for a coaching appointment when urgent intervention is needed.
Emotions can enter coaching, within clear boundaries
Fear, anger, sadness, loss, guilt and past experiences often influence how a person experiences a choice.
In coaching, they can be explored to understand what they indicate about the present situation. Their presence alone does not turn the conversation into psychotherapy.
The boundary depends on the purpose of the work, the intensity and impact of distress, the expertise required and the possibility of participating actively in the programme.
When what emerges needs assessment, treatment or clinical processing, the work belongs to a professional qualified to undertake it.
Coaching and psychotherapy can coexist with distinct objectives
A person can attend psychotherapy and, during the same period, work with a coach on a project, a professional transition, defining priorities or a practical behaviour.
Coexistence requires separate objectives, clear roles, suitability of coaching and no interference. Any coordination between professionals happens only when it is useful, necessary and agreed.
Coaching must not circumvent or replace the therapeutic programme.
When a different need emerges
A responsible coach recognises the limit without diagnosing or claiming expertise they do not have.
They discuss it openly with the person, consider which support would be more appropriate and may suggest a pause, an ending or a conversation with a qualified professional.
Confidentiality remains protected within the agreed limits, and information is not shared with third parties without a valid basis and the necessary consent.
Any future work is redefined only if coaching becomes relevant again.
A clear boundary guides you towards the most suitable support.
It is a professional responsibility, rather than a failure of the programme.
A personal perspective
How I assess the starting point
During the introductory conversation, I ask you to describe the situation, what you want to address, your expectations and the kind of help you are seeking.
I explain what I can offer and which aspects fall outside my role. If I recognise a different need, we can stop before beginning, end the programme or consider coaching alongside other support with a distinct objective, when this is appropriate.
Clarity about the format comes before the commercial proposal.
Before the first conversation
Frequently asked questions
You can consult a coach without being in crisis: many people begin to clarify a decision, work through a change or turn an intention into action.
Coaching does not diagnose or treat anxiety.
When anxiety is the primary need, is intense or persistent, or interferes with everyday life, it is important to consult a mental health professional. A distinct objective may be addressed through coaching only if the format remains appropriate.
It may be possible when the two programmes have distinct objectives, remain compatible and the roles are clear.
The actual situation must be assessed: coaching must not interfere with or replace treatment.
A coach should not diagnose you.
If you are seeking assessment, treatment or help for distress that significantly impairs everyday life, consult a qualified mental health professional directly.
In an emergency, use the emergency services.
Coach and client pause to review the focus, expectations, format and what has been tried.
This review may reveal a need to adjust the programme, bring it to a close or choose different support. Continuing out of habit does not resolve a lack of progress.
You may need consulting or mentoring.
The consultant brings specialist expertise and recommendations; the mentor shares direct experience gained in a field or through a particular journey.
Public resources
Explore further
Federal Office of Public Health
Psychology professions
Official Swiss information about psychology professions and protected titles, useful for distinguishing these fields from coaching.
Federal Office of Communications
Emergency numbers
The official reference for Swiss short numbers, including 112, 143 and 144.
You can begin with the situation you are experiencing and understand which support fits it.
The person supporting you should explain the scope of their work honestly.
During the introductory conversation, you describe what is happening, the change you are seeking and the kind of help you expect. From there, we can consider the most useful format.
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