As a psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry from Iran for more than 26 years, I had many clients who had behavioral, cognitive, emotional, spiritual and interpersonal difficulties. During these enriched years of practicing general psychiatry and teaching pathological challenges of human mind to medical students and psychiatry residents, I found that, the problematic "states" of each person are unique; because the nature and nurture and as a result the "traits" of each person are unique. I believe that, putting aside the definite pathological situations, no one else knows the unique problems and the unique solutions better than the person him/herself.

As many other practitioners in this field, I also found that a substantial number of my clients were functional at a relatively healthy level, nevertheless they had a strong desire to improve the quality of their life experiences. Acknowledging such a large population looking for personal gratification, I wondered how psychiatry and psychology can be applied to help this group of people. The answer was: "life coach", based mainly on positive psychology.

Positive psychology utilizes cognitive-behavioral approaches and repositions many of the theories that humanistic psychology emphasizes. It is a non-mechanistic view and a view of possibility, as opposed to pathology, as an essential approach to the client. The term positive psychology, as addressed by Martin E. P. Seligman in his presentation titled “Building Human Strength: Psychology’s Forgotten Mission”, is a reoriented science that emphasizes the understanding and building of the most positive qualities of an individual: optimism, courage, work ethic, future-mindedness, interpersonal skill, the capacity for pleasure and insight, and social responsibility.

In coaching, the emphasis is on the client as the designer and creator of his or her own life. From this perspective, the client is viewed as the expert on his or her life and is believed to be competent, capable, creative, and resourceful. The coach, however, is the expert on the coaching process only. This means that the coach’s responsibility is to lead the client to “discover, clarify, and align with what she/he wants to achieve, encourage the client self-discovery, elicit client-generated strategies and ideas, and hold the client responsible and accountable. Coaches recognize the brilliance of each client and his or her personal power to discover their own solutions when provided support, accountability, and unconditional positive regard.

After learning about this field in the 6 month practical course of “Rhodes Wellness College”, I decided to follow this amazing career for the rest of my life. I believe this practice to be align with my values and a way for applying my considerable experiences in psychiatry.

If you are someone who is looking for improving your quality of life, please don't hesitate to contact me because I can provide you a kind of professional companionship in this journey.

Refrence:
Williams P., Mendez D.S; Becoming a Professional Life Coach; 2nd Edition; W.W. Norton & Company, New York . London; 2019.