Edited by Dr Trish Turner
Chapter 1: Becoming a dual-qualified coach: a shift in identity, practice and perspective
By Dr Trish Turner
This opening chapter explores the nuanced journey from therapist to coach, highlighting the shifts in identity, practice, and mindset required to make the transition. Drawing on personal experience, professional insights, and client vignettes, it examines the overlapping – yet distinct – domains of therapy and coaching. Readers are guided through the conceptual and relational differences between the two, from definitions and professional boundaries to practical and logistical considerations such as session structure, language, and self-disclosure.
The chapter interrogates assumptions about coaching’s psychological depth and therapeutic neutrality, urging practitioners to navigate the ‘grey area’ with ethical clarity and critical self-awareness. It invites therapists to recognise their existing strengths while preparing to work within a new, future-focused frame that maintains integrity and honours the distinctiveness of both disciplines.
Biography
Dr Trish Turner is a qualified and accredited EMCC Global Master Coach, coach supervisor and coach trainer, with over two decades of coaching experience and 15 years in psychotherapeutic counselling. She holds a PhD in health policy research, a BA (Hons) in Management and Leadership, and a BSc (Hons) in Integrative Psychotherapeutic Counselling (UKCP). She is BACP registered.
Trish brings a distinctive combination of academic rigour, coaching expertise, clinical insight and senior leadership. Her career spans journalism, NHS board-level communications, and over 25 years as a senior leader across sectors. She is a highly experienced supervisor of both coaches and therapists, working with individuals and groups.
As founder and Managing Director of Therapist to Coach Ltd, Trish has led the pioneering Therapist to Coach Senior Practitioner in Coaching programme for over a decade. This bespoke accredited training, designed specifically for qualified counsellors, psychotherapists and psychologists moving into professional coaching, has been consistently fully subscribed and remains unique in its field.
Trish is deeply committed to raising professional coaching standards. She served for six years as an EMCC Global Accreditation Assessor, assessing coaches, supervisors and training providers internationally. She also contributed to the BACP Coaching Executive, founded the UKCP therapy network in Norfolk, and established the EMCC UK regional coaching network.