For a long time, the “talking professions” of coaching and therapy have been framed as a binary choice.
You either need therapy to work through emotional pain, or you need coaching to help you set goals and move forward. One is seen as remedial, the other as aspirational.
But the human experience is rarely this neat. Few people exclusively face that binary choice. Many of us want to understand ourselves more deeply, explore the assumptions shaping our lives, and make meaningful changes that cannot be reduced simply to “fixing” or “achieving.”
If we stop thinking in terms of a binary and instead imagine a spectrum of change, a richer picture emerges.
At one end we see counselling and psychotherapy, deeply focused on emotional healing. At the other, performance coaching, oriented towards progress and results.
Between them lies a wide and fertile space – and it is here that transformative coaching finds its home.
And at its heart, transformative coaching is concerned with lived, individual human experience and all the complexity that this brings.
The Human Condition – Assumptions, Ways of Being, and the Desire for Change
Every human being is engaging with life through a lens. We each carry assumptions, beliefs, and ways of being that shape how we interpret the world and the choices we make within it. Some of these patterns are conscious, but many are subtle and unseen – embedded in our habits of thought, our relational styles, even our bodies.
At the same time, very few of us move through life without desiring some form of change. For some, that desire shows up in wanting more balance, clarity, or fulfilment. For others, it takes the form of searching for meaning, rethinking identity, or reshaping relationships. But what’s striking is that this desire for change is rarely met fully by the two poles of the binary.
On one side, therapy can provide healing through catharsis or resolution, but it is not always the right space if you are not in emotional difficulty. On the other, performance coaching offers focus on goals and achievements, but many people find that their deeper questions cannot be reduced to targets or milestones.
This is why the middle ground matters.
Transformative coaching speaks to the universal human condition: the fact that we are always living through assumptions, always desiring change, and yet rarely fitting neatly into categories of “problem” or “performance.” It provides a conversational space to ask: What does it mean to live well? What is shaping the life I’m creating? And how do I want to grow from here?
The Distinct Space of Transformative Coaching
Transformative coaching, then, explores the middle ground. It recognises that you do not need to have an emotional problem to want to look more closely at your life. Nor do you need to be solely focused on performance targets to desire growth.
Instead, transformative coaching provides a space for inquiry into how you are living and how you might live differently.
It asks: How do my assumptions and patterns shape my choices? How do I want to relate to myself, to others, and to the world? And from that exploration, it helps you move towards outcomes that feel authentic and sustainable.
It is this ability to hold both exploration and action that makes transformative coaching unique. It is neither therapy nor performance coaching, but a way of working that honours the complexity of human life.
Principles That Shape Transformative Coaching in the Middle Ground
What makes transformative coaching uniquely suited to this middle ground is not simply its position between therapy and performance coaching, but the principles that underpin it. These principles are what enable coaches to hold a space that is neither about repairing the past nor solely about accelerating into the future, but about exploring the whole terrain of lived experience and desired change.
Transformative coaching is shaped by twelve principles that give it both depth and flexibility. Taken together, they create a framework in which a client can reflect on how they are living while also moving towards outcomes that matter to them.
- Principles such as Relational, Humanistic, and Phenomenological ensure that coaching starts with the person in front of us – their lived experience, their dignity, their present reality.
- Principles such as Pragmatic, Collaborative, and Emergent enable the conversation to turn towards action, possibility, and real-world change without losing sight of the bigger picture.
- Principles such as Paradigmatic, Holistic, Systemic, and Dialogic invite clients to question their assumptions, explore the wider contexts of their life, and reshape the way they see themselves and their world.
- And finally, the principles of Unknowing and Integrative remind us that coaching is not about providing answers or following a rigid model, but about holding curiosity and drawing on diverse perspectives in service of the client’s unique journey.
These principles are not theoretical add-ons. They are the very heart of transformative coaching. They ensure that the work honours the complexity of being human – engaging with mind, body, relationships, and systems – while also moving clients towards meaningful, practical outcomes.
In this way, the principles form the scaffolding of the middle ground. They allow transformative coaching to embrace the paradox at its core: that growth requires both acceptance of what is, and the courage to step into what could be.
Why This Matters for All of Us
The relevance of this middle ground is not confined to certain groups of people. It is something all of us encounter. Every human life contains tensions, questions, and longings that sit between the poles of therapy and performance.
- Many people carry a sense that they are living on autopilot – going through the motions of work, relationships, or routines without pausing to ask what truly matters.
- Others wrestle with questions of identity and meaning – who am I becoming, what do I stand for, and how do I want to show up in the world?
- Some feel caught in patterns that repeat themselves – dynamics in relationships, unhelpful habits of thought, or self-limiting assumptions that quietly shape their choices.
- And almost everyone faces transitions – stepping into new roles, letting go of old ones, or navigating the uncertainty of change.
These are not always problems that call for therapy, nor goals that lend themselves to a performance plan. They are the very stuff of being human. And it is here – in the space of exploring how we live, what we value, and how we want to change – that transformative coaching offers something unique.
It provides a space to reflect without judgement, to see oneself with fresh eyes, and to move forward in ways that feel authentic and sustainable. In short, it addresses the universal human condition: that we are always both living and becoming, always shaped by our past and yet reaching towards our future.
The Middle Ground as Fertile Ground
The middle ground is often overlooked. In a culture that prizes either fixing what is broken or striving towards the next achievement, the idea of simply pausing to examine how we live can feel unfamiliar. Yet this is where the richest work takes place.
Transformative coaching shows us that the middle ground is not a compromise but a fertile ground. It is a space where we can hold reflection and action side by side, where acceptance of ourselves as we are meets the possibility of change, and where deeper questions about meaning and identity sit alongside practical steps towards new futures.
In this space, we are not patients in need of healing or performers chasing results. We are simply human – navigating life with all its complexity, longing, and potential. And it is here, in the fertile middle ground, that transformative coaching finds its true purpose: helping us to live more fully, to become more deeply ourselves, and to change in ways that matter.
