fine line
The issue of the boundary between coaching and therapy was a theme in Coaching at Work (vol 5, issue 4). Your Poor Practice Survey showed 61 per cent of respondents thought practising therapy while coaching was unethical, and 49 per cent poor practice, while Jenny Rogers urged us to stop looking for boundaries.
We had some thought-provoking conversations on these issues when writing a paper for the International Gestalt Journal last year. While the paper had Gestalt as its focus, the broader issues debated are applicable to any approach. We offer discussions and case studies to guide thinking and professional practice as each of us attempts to make decisions in the moment for our client.
The paper can be downloaded from www.thegillie partnership.co.uk/Marion-Gillie-Publications.html
Marion Gillie, executive coach, The Gillie Partnership Ltd
Marjorie Shackleton, MS Executive Coaching
rapport’s delight
One of the frames I work in as an external coach is 360-degree feedback, where in 1–1.5 hours my role is to enable a manager to see themselves as others see them, in a constructive and productive light, and agree some focus for action. In this connection I found Lis Merrick’s article Too close for comfort (Research, vol 5, issue 5) really thought-provoking. For in this, more than any other context, it’s essential to build rapport and sufficient trust for them to go through the whole cycle of knowing what the feedback is, understanding the implications and deciding what to do about it rapidly.
In my experience, creating intimacy/rapport very quickly has been key to turning these emotions and behaviours into something forward-looking and goal-orientated. I’m regularly astounded at the amount of movement I see in clients in these short ‘journeys’, but your Funny Peculiar page also reminded me that some people have such a strong mentor in the Grim Reaper that all you can do is ‘LOL’ – either provide LOTS OF LOVE for their ‘Not-OK Child’ or, as per the CPD suggestions, just LAUGH OUT LOUD! (outside the coaching session of course!)
Caroline Talbott, Caroline Talbott Ltd
Coaching at Work, Volume 5, Issue 6