Many social work clients are faced with practical life and career issues beyond behavioral health needs, says Marilyn Edelson, an International Coach Federation master certified coach and certified co-active coach.
“Coaching emphasizes life balance and offers tools to help clients not just survive their circumstances but actually thrive,” Edelson says of what inspired her to write “Values-Based Coaching: A Guide for Social Workers and Other Human Service Professionals,” published by the NASW Press.
Edelson’s career as a business and leadership development coach was a natural evolution of 30 years of experience in human services, with 15 years spent in private practice. She says coaching expanded her perspective of what is possible for people and organizations.
“Coaching tools and practices are holistic and social workers can bring a depth of knowledge of people to coaching in numerous ways,” she said. “I’ve worked with businesses but also coached the child protective staff of the Choctaw Nation. As a trained family therapist, I was able to focus on the specialty of working with family businesses.”
The book presents a historical overview, business case, theoretical foundations, and practical skills pertinent to the field of coaching. ”Values-Based Coaching” can be useful to a wide range of social service and health care professionals interested in learning about an emerging profession.
Edelson said her book is different from other coaching guides in that she discusses not only “how to,” but also examines “the unique ways language makes a difference in outcomes. I also talk about unique human service-oriented programs that have grown out of a coaching approach.”