Coaching Psychology: Collaborative Solution-Focused And Systematic Process

Coaching psychology is “a collaborative solution-focused, results oriented and systematic process in which the coach facilitates the enhancement of work performance, life experience, self-directed-learning and personal growth of the coachee” (Grant, 2001). Cognitive Behavioural Coaching (CBC) is “an integrative approach that combines the use of cognitive, behavioural, imaginal and problem-solving techniques and strategies within a cognitive behavioural framework to enable clients to achieve their realistic goals […], improving performance, increasing psychological resilience, enhancing well-being, preventing stress and helping to overcome blocks to change” (Palmer & Szymanska, 2007). Collaboration is an essential feature in coaching for dealing
with the client’s problems since most interventions require enhancing the quality of the coachee’s thinking.
In CBC there is an emphasis on breaking emotional and cognitive barriers by increasing self-awareness, which is what hinders coachees to attain their desired goals. One of the reasons why CBC works is because it builds in the coachee self-efficacy, which refers to the person’s beliefs concerning his or her ability to successfully perform a given task or behaviour (Bandura, 1994). Besides, the CBC model aims to help and provide the client with a more effective thinking and behavioural skills to allow them to self-coach. In this paper it will be examined a recent approach to CBC applied to the field of stress.
The use of coaching nowadays has become acceptable to numerous fields such as business or simply individuals who desire to improve performance in any field of their lives. Coaching has become a tool to facilitate the promotion of healthy behaviours and to help individuals to achieve their goals (Palmer, Tubbs & Whybrow, 2003). Thus another field which is gaining territory in coaching is the field of stress management. This could be associated to the current economic recession which is affecting a lot of countries and all the repercussions it carries out.
One of the reasons why coaching may be effective, particularly with stress management, is hidden in three cognitive and behavioural mechanisms (Grant, Curtayne & Burton, 2009). First of all, having a supportive relationship with the coach has been shown to relieve stress and anxiety (Myers, 1999). The second point is related with the process of setting personal goals and working towards achieving them that can enhance well-being and build self-efficacy (Sheldon & Houser-Marko, 2001). Lastly, engaging in such a process with a support can build resilience and enhance self-regulation (Baumeister, Gailliot, DeWall & Oaten, 2006). Due to this, coachees experience more confidence, well-being and are more prepared to deal with any stressor (Grant et al, 2009).
In terms of stress management, coaching pretends to turn stress into opportunity and make the individual to learn how to manage the stress by himself/herself. First of all it is important to make a difference between eustress and distress. Eustress comes from the anticipation or the experience of pleasurable events. When someone experiences eustress some physical symptoms can be confused with distress (which is negative stress), but these outcomes are actually the manifestation of excitement. When the body processes eustress as positive it will make you feel good as the body is releasing endorphins. On the contrary distress usually emerges when the well-being is being threatened or the person is being attacked physically or emotionally. Distress has a lot of physical reactions in the body and can be due to different sources of negative stress such as divorce, death, loss of something important, etc. Negative stress or distress is more likely to harm a person’s health both physically and psychologically and that’s why it is important to know how to manage and control distress-producing beliefs (Mills, Reiss & Dombeck, 2008).
In the book How to Incorporate Wellness Coaching into Your Therapeutic Practice: A Handbook for Therapists and Counsellors (2011), Alexander talks about the notion of change and how important it is change for our stress levels and balance. Major changes in life in the past years may increase the likelihood that you can suffer from physical or emotional illness (Holmes & Rahe, 1967). Holmes and Rahe (1967) developed a questionnaire called the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) (Appendix 1) for identifying major stressful life events. This scale is based on a number of different important life events that can be positive, such as marriage, or negative, such as the loss of a close person, still all of them induce stress. This scale at first seems to be a valid measurement, although a common criticism is that initially it was validated only with male population. Besides, it is necessary to take into consideration that the stress caused by a particular situation to a person could be totally different for another person because of the variability in the circumstances, different interpretation, personality, values, coping strategies, etc. Although this scale has been studied a lot, this can only offer a general approximation. Additionally different research studies have been looking at the possible causes of stress nowadays. Some of them reach the conclusion that technology was one of the elements that was producing such a rapid change that we feel unable to catch up with it and hence this makes us feel frustration (Toffler, 1970). However frustration can be also caused by the totally opposite; changing too slow (Siegelman, 1983). According to Siegelman, there is also another force that makes us curious about change. This is part of our human nature, since we need to look for new things, to evolve, to master challenges and to explore the unknown to really discover what is surrounding us. And as he says “mastering the anxiety of venturing promotes new levels of growth”.
In order to grow it is necessary to manage the anxiety everyone faces when something seems uncertain to us, and since growth is something we are going through all our lives we should be able to manage the “anxiety” of the new. Due to its nature anxiety or stress can also become chronic for a person. Chronic stress can also affect health. If a person suffers from a long term stress our system will receive a message of threat and hence the “surviving mechanisms” of fight or flight responses will be constantly activated. What this means is that many other functions in the body will be activated to higher than normal levels of activation. Nevertheless, when a person is not in danger, this continuous activation is not necessary. The result of the stress response will cause imbalances in the normal functioning of the person and in the body, and while experiencing those responses for a long time it is essential to make some changes in life to compensate the imbalance (Brain Brilliance Consulting, n.d.).
What happens in our mind is also affecting our body, and people who are constantly in a pessimistic mood, angry or anxious will result in being more susceptible to stress and illness. In fact, almost every medical illness affects people psychologically as much as physically (Alexander, n.d.). Hormones highly influence our immune system and make our body less capable of functioning correctly and fighting for possible problems or complications. David Spiegel and Cordova (1989) found that stress hormones in women with breast cancer played a great role in the progression of cancer, reducing survival time. What this means is that stress plays an important role even for the length of a person’s life.
In order to avoid negative consequences of stress coaching psychology is a key stress management skill.
According to Grant and Palmer (2002), “coaching psychology is for enhancing wellbeing and performance in personal life and work domains with normal, non-clinical populations, underpinned by models of coaching grounded in established adults learning or psychological approaches”. Cognitive behavioural coaching (CBC) is derived from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT was developed by Joseph Wolpe in 1950s, in which he combined the elements in Beck’s Cognitive Therapy with Ellis’ Rational-Emotive Behaviour Therapy between others. Cognitive Behavioural approaches put an emphasis on the reaction to events which is determined by our view of them, and not by the events themselves (Neenan & Palmer, 2001). CBC also has the basis that the understanding that feelings and behaviours are directly affected by the way a person thinks. This style of thinking enhances the raise of emotional distress caused by unrealistic thought patterns that ends causing the person emotional distress. To reduce this emotional distress CBC proposes altering the unrealistic thought patterns and change the inappropriate behaviours. Hence, it searches, through collaborative activity, for facilitating a time limited, goal directed and present focussed process, and to help clients to reach and find their own solutions in order to develop and acquire their stress resilience. CBC aims to help clients’ way of
thinking, which is cognitive, and their actions or behaviour. It does not fix a problem quickly, but it develops effort and commitment for obtaining a successful result (Neenan & Palmer, 2001). The process by which CBC is run out is called “Guided Discovery”; it helps people to reach their own solution and conclusions to problems. This method is based on Socratic questioning, by which the coach asks questions to make the coachee to be aware of the current situation (Neenan & Palmer, 2001). The aim of Socratic questions is to make the coachee to gain insight and improve decision making and awareness; there is not a correct answer to these questions (Beck, Wright, Newman & Liese, 1993).
There are different models in CBC that can be used in order to treat and deal with stress and enhance well-being: cognitive models which focus on psychological aspects or blocks and behavioural models which focus on practical aspects or action plans (Neenan & Palmer, 2000). One of the more known cognitive models is the ABCDE Albert Ellis’ model (Ellis et al., 1997). In order to attain this desired well-being it is essential it is important to face the blockers of our goals. The ABCDE model describes the sequence of events that explain our feelings. He distinguishes between different areas for discovering the irrational beliefs:
• Activating event.
• Belief about that event.
• Consequent emotion as a result of the belief.
• Disputation of beliefs.
• Effective and new approach to deal with the problem.
This model is useful for CBC because thought it, is possible identify that emotions tend to be dependent on beliefs, creating our own interpretation. When using CBC the coachee must pay attention to automatic thoughts and beliefs and make realistic interpretations of the different events by trying to change both beliefs and the consequences of the beliefs. One of the most stressful events for the life of a student is writing a paper. Gardiner and Kearns (2012) demonstrate positive evidence that with CBC and the ABCDE model writers improve performance and well-being (Figure 1).
One behavioural model in CBC is the PRACTICE model (Palmer, 2008), based on Wasik 7-step process (1984), which includes questions that people can ask themselves at each step:
1. Problem identification-What is the concern?
2. Realistic Goals-What do I want?
3. Alternatives-What can I do?
4. Consideration of consequences-What might happen?
5. Target of solutions-What is my decision?
6. Implementation of Chosen solutions-Now do it!
7. Evaluation-Did it work?
In terms of stress management this model can help the client to question about how to choose the correct stress management tool, valuing alternatives and identifying possible outcomes. The coachee must be motivated to carry out this model. Although when motivations are unclear, CBC can help through the Socratic questions to uncover beliefs and motivations and identify that the positive change can occur. As found in Handbook of Coaching Psychology: a Guide for Practitioners, through this model the coachee will find a solution seeking implementation based on solution focused practice (O’Connell & Palmer, 2007) and like Neenan and Palmer (2001) point out “it is important to tackle methodically one major problem at a time rather than several problems simultaneously”.
As stated in previous paragraphs CBC sets an emphasis in collaboration.
From my point of view as a future psychologist this is one of the pillars every psychologist should have; knowing how to deal with the client’s problems and helping him/her to know himself/herself better is helping a person to grow, to discover who he/she is and that’s one of the most beautiful things you can do as a psychologist. In terms of stress management I believe that nowadays CBC is really valuable, since this approach is helping both cognitively and behaviourally the client to shift from chaos to a problem solving structured way. Another strong point in CBC and stress management is the Socratic approach which guides the coachee to discover how to solve his/her problems on his/her own. Guidance and not simply providing an answer to the patient is useful because as unique individuals we are there is not a unique solution for all of us. This also builds confidence between the coach and coachee whilst going through this difficult process of change. I think that one of the most strong points of CBC is found in models such as ABCDE or PRACTICE where the qualities of the person are highlighted for overcoming difficulties and enhancing well-being in
themselves.