A psychology informed performance coach is a coach and it is NOT a licensed psychologist, licensed Psychotherapist, and a LMFT, But some coaches could be licensed in psychology or other licensed in other mental health specilizations.
A Psychology Informed Performance Coach is a professional who may use principles from psychology, behavioral science, motivation, and emotional intelligence to help people improve their performance, decision making, leadership, and personal effectiveness.
Unlike a traditional performance coach who may focus primarily on goals and productivity, a psychology informed performance coach also considers how people think, feel, respond to stress, develop habits, and make decisions under pressure.
What may a psychology informed performance coach do?
1. Improves executive performance
Helps executives, entrepreneurs, and business owners improve leadership, confidence, communication, strategic thinking, and decision making.
2. Develops psychological resilience
Helps clients manage stress, setbacks, uncertainty, pressure, and difficult interpersonal situations without becoming overwhelmed or losing focus.
3. Changes unproductive behavior patterns
Uses psychological principles to identify limiting beliefs, avoidance, procrastination, self-sabotage, and habits that interfere with achieving goals.
4. Strengthens leadership and relationships
Helps clients understand personality differences, emotional reactions, conflict, motivation, team dynamics, and effective communication.
How may this different from other professionals?
| Professional | Primary focus |
| Executive coach | Leadership, management, and organizational effectiveness |
| Performance coach | Achieving goals and improving results |
| Psychology informed performance coach | Performance through the lens of human behavior, thinking, emotions, and motivation |
| Psychotherapist | Assessing and treating mental health conditions and psychological distress |
These roles may overlap. The important distinction is the professional’s training, scope of practice, and the services being provided.
A psychology informed performance coach may or may not necessarily have to be a licensed psychologist. The title itself is NOT a license, and coaching must NOT be presented as psychotherapy when the provider is NOT appropriately authorized to practice it.
What psychological approaches might a coach use?
A well trained coach might draw on:
- Cognitive behavioral principles: May recognize how thoughts influence behavior and performance.
- Positive psychology: Developing strengths, optimism, meaning, and engagement.
- Motivational interviewing: Helping clients resolve ambivalence and strengthen their own motivation.
- Emotional intelligence: Improving emotional awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and communication.
- Behavioral science: Building habits, changing routines, and improving follow through.
- Stress management techniques: Improving focus and responding constructively to pressure.
These approaches should be applied within the coach’s competence, with clear boundaries between coaching and clinical treatment.
Example: Working with a business owner
Imagine a successful business owner who has excellent technical skills but struggles to delegate, becomes defensive when criticized, and makes impulsive decisions under stress.
A psychology informed performance coach might help the owner:
- Recognize the thoughts and emotions that trigger defensive reactions.
- Examine beliefs about trust, control, and personal responsibility.
- Practice pausing before making consequential decisions.
- Develop delegation and communication strategies.
- Establish measurable leadership goals and review progress.
The objective is NOT to diagnose the business owner. It is to help the person understand their behavioral patterns and improve their professional effectiveness.
Potential areas of specialization could include:
- Leadership psychology and executive decision making.
- Behavioral change and habit development.
- Emotional regulation under pressure.
- Resilience, adaptability, and psychological flexibility.
- Communication, conflict resolution, and interpersonal effectiveness.
- Hypnosis informed performance and confidence work, within your competence and applicable professional boundaries.
How could one get started
- Define your niche. Decide whether you want to work primarily with business owners, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, or professionals in high pressure occupations.
- Strengthen your coaching skills. Consider training in executive coaching, coaching psychology, organizational behavior, goal setting, and leadership development. From a accredited training program.
- Create a structured coaching process. Develop an initial assessment of goals and strengths, a performance development plan, regular coaching sessions, and measurable progress reviews.
- Build a professional identity. Develop a clear service description, a professional biography, and referral relationships with business consultants, attorneys, accountants, and other professionals who serve business owners.
Shervan K Shahhian
