Coaching Confidentiality and Ethics

The content of our sessions belongs to you

Everything you tell me in coaching is confidential: your doubts about a decision, your frustration with a colleague, your plans to leave, the things you have not told your family. I do not share it with your employer, your manager, HR or anyone else without your explicit permission.

This applies whether we meet in person in Manama or online, and whether you pay for coaching yourself or your organisation does. In close business communities across Bahrain and the GCC, where people often know each other through several connections, I treat discretion as part of the work, not an add-on.

I work to the ICF Code of Ethics

As an ICF Professional Certified Coach, I have committed to the ICF Code of Ethics. It sets standards for every ICF member and credential holder, and it is public, so you can read exactly what I have agreed to.

In summary, the Code asks coaches to:

• ✦keep the strictest level of confidentiality with all parties involved
• ✦agree clearly, before coaching begins, who will receive what information
• ✦store and dispose of records securely, including electronic files and communications
• ✦stay alert to conflicts of interest and discuss them openly
• ✦respect every party's right to end the coaching relationship
• ✦recognise their own limits and point clients to other professionals when that serves them better

Confidentiality has limits, and I name them in our first conversation

Confidentiality in coaching is strong, but it is not absolute, and you should know where the edges are before you speak. Under the ICF Code, a coach may need to disclose information where there is illegal activity, where the law or a valid court order requires it, or where there is an imminent or likely risk of danger to you or to someone else.

Beyond those situations, I share information only with your written consent. I explain these limits at the start of every engagement and write them into our agreement, so nothing comes as a surprise later. If you want a broader introduction first, read my answer to is executive coaching confidential?

Employer-sponsored coaching runs on a written three-way agreement

When your organisation pays, three parties have a legitimate interest: you, your sponsor (usually your manager or HR) and me. The ICF Code asks the coach to agree roles, responsibilities, confidentiality and finances with everyone before coaching begins. This is how I do it.

1. 01

   A joint conversation at the start

   You, your sponsor and I meet to agree what the organisation hopes the coaching will achieve and what you want from it. Where those differ, we say so now.

2. 02

   A written agreement on what is shared

   We agree in writing what the sponsor will receive, typically that sessions are taking place and broad progress against the agreed goals. The content of sessions is never part of it.

3. 03

   You lead any progress review

   If there is a mid-point or closing review with your sponsor, you are in the room and you decide what to say about your own development. I do not report on you behind your back.

Conflicts of interest are disclosed, not managed quietly

A conflict of interest arises when another relationship could affect, or appear to affect, my coaching of you. Typical examples are coaching two people who work closely together, coaching someone while also coaching their team, or coaching someone I already know socially or professionally.

When I spot a possible conflict, I raise it with everyone it affects, and we agree how to handle it: clear boundaries, separate agreements, or a decision that another coach is the better choice. In team engagements, such as my systemic team coaching work, I agree at the outset how one-to-one conversations and team sessions will be kept separate.

Coaching is not therapy, and I refer on when you need clinical care

Coaching works with performance, thinking habits and behaviour. It is not therapy or medical treatment, and it is not the right support for a mental health condition.

If something you share suggests you are struggling with your mental health, I will say so with care and encourage you to speak to a doctor or a licensed mental health professional. Coaching can often continue alongside that care, and we decide together whether to pause. My guides to whether coaching can help with anxiety and whether coaching can help with burnout explain where that line usually falls.