Talking with a life coach is similar to talking with a counselor or minister. Everything that you say is held in the highest levels of confidentiality. Most of us don’t want our private matters posted on social media or told to anyone else.
The exception to this privacy clause is the same as for counselors or ministers. If a client (person being coached) reveals a desire to harm themself or others, or a felony/criminal act, I am required by law to reveal the issue to the proper authorities. (I’ve never had to do this, and don’t personally know anyone who has had to.)
Recordings:
As mentioned on the Life Coaching page, ALL standard life coaching sessions (not including a chemistry call) will be recorded. Most of those recordings are kept on my personal computer for a limited time (less than 60 days). A few recordings may be moved to a secure cloud for my future use.
Future use of recordings is limited to my personal review of a session for self-assessment and self-development as a life coach, or for review with my coach supervisor who will listen to the recording and provide constructive feedback for my coaching abilities. On rare occasions, a recording may be provided to the International Coaching Federation for their review of my coaching techniques and ongoing accreditation or to reach a higher accreditation level (for example, Profession Certified Coach [PCC] or Master Certified Coach [MCC].
Once a recording in no longer needed for self-development, mentoring, or accreditation, it will be deleted from my computer or cloud, whichever applies.
I also participate in coaching supervision. As a supervision client myself, I may discuss a coaching session or theme with my coach supervisor. No personal data will be reveal during a supervision session. I may inform my supervision of a general occupation (for example, medial, clerical, construction, etc.) and the gender of the client. No other identifying data is provided during a supervision session.
Notes:
I often take notes during a coaching session; always less than one page hand written. I do this because it helps me remember key words or thoughts that you have during a session. Often you may hear some of your exact words reflected back to you.
I also use notes to review our last coaching session. (With 40 to 50 coaching clients, it’s nearly impossible to remember significant details about each client.
My notes are shredded and placed in a trash bin within 30 days on a completed session.
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