ABSTRACT
This chapter draws a picture of coaching in general and of some coaching-related methods that we encounter in the hospital environment. We write about its history; the skills, knowledge, and core competencies required from coaches. The method is briefly presented. Crucial ethical matters in the coaching work are presented. Arguments about the usefulness of this practice among healthcare providers are presented. The advantages, challenges, and differences between external coaching, where an outside coach is mandated by the hospital, and internal coaching, practiced by trained employees, which can raise some tricky confidentiality issues, are described. We show the advantages and pitfalls of internal coaching; mentoring (much practiced in hospitals); individual coaching; life or existential coaching; the differences and similarities between life coaching and psychotherapy, as well as their caveats.
