Summary of Therapeutic Coaching process

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Early sessions – formulating an understanding of the problems:

The person-centred counselling way of being created a warm, safe, non-judgemental relationship, built on trust and empathy.  We began to understand:​

• The client had not realised the impact of the missed promotion, and had been ignoring/suppressing a 'pressure cooker' build up of heightened anxiety for some time

• His need to ‘fake’ a continued sense of confidence with colleagues was at the root of his worries about being an ‘inauthentic leader’/imposter syndrome

• From childhood, the client finds intense emotions as highly uncomfortable  and threatening, resulting in the development of unhealthy coping mechanisms/safety behaviours (e.g. an intense need to feel in control during challenging times)

 

The middle sessions – creating, and practising solutions:

• To develop healthier emotional regulation, we enhanced client’s self-awareness of inner world, in relation to both his physical (body) and cognitive (inner voice) self.

  • Psychoeducation around the nervous system activation (FFF) and the power of parasympathetic nervous system (e.g benefits of mindfulness/breathing on stress reduction and enhanced presence )

  • Used coaching tools to assess daily stress levels, and worked on the client’s emotional intelligence (EI) in identifying/feeling emotions

  • Created a Wheel of Wellness to assess the areas of client’s life that contributed to holistic health and wellbeing, and identify any areas that had been neglected/deprioritised due to work pressures

  • Used various executive coaching tools to assess and redesign optimal 'work-life balance'

• Explored and understood client’s ‘triggers points’

  • Drew on psychodynamic understanding to explore earlier life experiences and how his response in the present may be linked to the coping mechanisms he experiences in the ‘here and now’

  • Identified unhelpful ‘safety behaviours’(e.g. black and white thinking) and used CBT techniques to challenge these ‘core beliefs’ about himself and others to create more balanced narratives

• Worked through his need to ‘be in control’:

  • Used the ‘Circles of Control' model on several current live pressure situations to challenge client’s perspective, create new options, and develop new plans for how he could approach each issue

  • Enhanced client’s empathy skills by exploring how his behaviours might impact others (e.g. partner/boss/team mates), and developed and practised new healthier coping mechanisms to replace old habits e.g. “Communication not Conflict”, and setting clear boundaries

• Rebuilding confidence in leadership style and ability by focusing on a) strengths, skills, and personal qualities; b) Leadership style, enhanced self-acceptance and self-belief and c) values – identified client’s core personal and professional values and identified any areas of current misalignment/conflict

• With greater clarity resulting from the work above, identified future 'real' developmental needs: a) increase confidence in ability to think and communicate strategically; b) explored options to gain more exposure for strategic thinking to be recognised; c) build on his newly emerging emotional understanding to keep communicating more clearly, and with more trust and less controlling safety behaviours (personally and professionally)

 

 

Final sessions: reviewing progress, fine tuning solutions, and planning for future

With deeper understanding about his strengths and desired organisational values, the later sessions supported him through process of applying for and achieving a Director role in a different company. The final sessions focussed on leaving his current organisation with a strong professional legacy and working relationships (including a renewed trust with his boss) and preparing to approach his new leadership role with maximum confidence, enjoyment and a new foundation of balance across his personal and professional worlds.