Cognitive Behavioural Coaching Techniques For Dummies E-Book

Helen Whitten

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 603

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Cognitive Behavioural Coaching (CBC) takes the highly effective techniques and principles of CBT off the therapists couch and in to the work place and the home. Whether you're already a coach, interested in becoming one or new to the subject; this friendly guide covers the origins and principles of Cognitive Behavioural Coaching and walks you step-by-step through the coaching process. The book explains how to use the tools and techniques of CBC to challenge negative thinking, make positive changes, achieve goals and improve effectiveness in your personal and professional life. Coverage includes: * The principles and the basics of CBC * The Attributes of the CB Coach and the CBC Process * The CBC toolkit for Work and Life * Exploring Potential and working with Relationships * Managing Career Transitions and maintaining Peak Performance About the author Helen Whitten is an experienced and accredited coach, facilitator, mediator and writer. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Positiveworks London, a consultancy company providing coaching and development programmes to people in the public and private sector throughout the world.

Leseprobe

Cognitive Behavioural Coaching Techniques For Dummies®

Cognitive Behavioural Coaching Techniques For Dummies®

by Helen Whitten

Cognitive Behavioural Coaching Techniques For Dummies®

Published byJohn Wiley & Sons, LtdThe AtriumSouthern GateChichesterWest SussexPO19 8SQEngland

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ISBN: 978-0-470-71379-2

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About the Author

Helen Whitten is an experienced and accredited coach, facilitator, mediator, trainer and writer. She applies Cognitive Behavioural Coaching (CBC) methodology to personal and professional development, enabling individuals to develop confidence, break through old patterns of behaviour and achieve greater potential in their lives and in their careers.

Helen’s career began in publishing and historical research. In mid-life she retrained and decided to work with people. She set up her company Positiveworks Ltd, London, in 1993. By applying CBC models and strategies to help launch herself in her new career, she became convinced of the power of CBC to enhance confidence and performance. She has since coached and trained individuals and teams in major organisations throughout the world.

Helen’s philosophy is that positive people deliver positive results for themselves and those around them. She believes that people have the potential to enhance every aspect of their life, happiness and performance when given the right tools and techniques. Her aim is therefore to share her methods and learning with as many people as possible.

Author’s Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my sons Rupert and Oli for their constant encouragement and support over the years. They are a continuous source of delight and wisdom – and new perspectives to challenge my thinking.

To my mentors Gladeana McMahon and Professor Stephen Palmer who always provide me with both knowledge and support.

My clients from whom I continue to learn so much.

For the team at John Wiley, for their editorial comments, encouragement and support in bringing this book to publication.

To my niece Antonia Fernand, who is also a coach, for her excellent editorial comments and professional assistance.

Publisher’s Acknowledgements

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Simon Bell

Content Editor: Jo Theedom

Commissioning Editor: Samantha Spickernell

Publishing Assistant: Jennifer Prytherch

Copy Editor: Kim Vernon

Technical Editor: Gladeana McMahon

Publisher: Jason Dunne

Executive Project Editor: Daniel Mersey

Cover Photos: © Simon Holdcroft / Alamy

Cartoons: Ed McLachlan

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Lynsey Stanford

Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Reuben W. Davis, Nikki Gately

Proofreader: Laura Albert

Indexer: Becky Hornyak

Introduction

Cognitive behavioural coaching, or CBC, brings together the practice of coaching with the concepts and methods underlying cognitive behavioural psychology. In a nutshell, cognitive behavioural psychology works on the premise that how you think impacts on how you feel – and that how you feel impacts on your behaviour and the actions you take. For example, if you think ‘I’m not sure that I can do this’, you may feel uncertain of your abilities and competence. This uncertainty is likely to make you hesitant and the end result may be procrastination.

Coaching is a process that supports a client in achieving their life and work goals and in being the person they want to be. A cognitive behavioural (CB) coach provides an environment and process that facilitates this end, focusing on how the client’s current thoughts and approaches may limit the achievement of goals. Through using CBC models and questions, the client develops new ways of thinking and behaving that are more aligned to their objectives.

You may have heard of cognitive behavioural therapy and wonder how CBC differs. Put simply, CBC is solutions-focused and not remedial. In the past 20 years, psychologists have moved on from treating people with specific problems such as ‘neurosis’, ‘psychosis’, or ‘paranoia’ and applied psychology in everyday life to help people make the most of themselves and their lives. CBC has evolved as a method to enable anyone, at any stage of their life, to develop thinking patterns and behaviours that support their goals.

In this book I aim to provide a background to CBC and to introduce you to techniques that you can apply as a coach, in your own coaching sessions. Alternatively, you may be a manager wishing to coach your team, or someone who is interested in self-coaching. I have applied all the methods in this book, with clients or in my own life. I hope that you find the experience as informative and helpful as I have.

About This Book

I have worked in the CBC field for many years and am continuously delighted by how CBC can enhance a person’s life. CBC opens doors to perceptions and provides insights about yourself, others, and the world. CBC shows you how your thoughts may trip you up. Providing the key to those doors and helping a person move forward is some of the most fulfilling work a CB coach does.

Training in CBC showed me personally how I limited myself in so many ways through thinking habits that were negative, critical, or full of self-doubt. The important thing I discovered, and have shared with many clients, is how often our thoughts have no basis in reality. In this book I provide models and methods that check whether your client’s thoughts are rational or supposition.

CBC aims ultimately for the client to become their own coach. As a CB coach, you share your knowledge and techniques so that your client can continue their journey alone, challenging themselves and devising strategies for success. This process is an empowering one. I hope that you enjoy reading this book and discovering how you can apply these concepts for yourself.

Conventions Used in This Book

To help you to gain the most from this book and be able to pick up information as quickly and effectively as you can, I use certain conventions:

I refer to a cognitive behavioural coach as a CB coach.

I refer to the person being coached as the ‘client’, whether they are in a formal coaching session or a member of staff being coached by their manager.

The case studies are taken from specific experiences of CBC but are not a direct representation of any one particular client.

Arbitrarily, I have decided to use the term ‘him’ in even-numbered chapters and ‘her’ in odd-numbered chapters to demonstrate that coaching is inevitably inclusive of both genders.

I used italics to indicate key concepts.

Foolish Assumptions

I assume, though I may be wrong, that some of the following applies to you:

You are a coach or a manager who wants to get more out of the people with whom you work.

You’ve heard something about CBC and want to know what all the fuss is about.

You want handy tools and techniques to apply in coaching sessions.

You are a curious and sensitive person with an interest in the potential of human beings.

You realise that CBC can help people achieve their goals and that you are interested in applying it.

You know that these techniques can also be applied for self-coaching.

How This Book Is Organised

This book is designed for you to be able to dip in and out and pick up tips and techniques as speedily as you need. You don’t have to read it cover to cover. You may have a specific issue with a client and want ideas about how to manage it. Alternatively you may be seeking background information on coaching and cognitive behavioural methodology. Just pick the chapter that looks most relevant to you – but don’t let that stop you reading it from start to finish if that is what you prefer.

I have divided the book into five parts, as follows:

Part I: Introducing Cognitive Behavioural Coaching

In this part I introduce the fundamental principles of CBC and show you how different patterns of thinking impact on a person’s behaviours and decisions in life. I introduce specific models of thinking – ‘thinking errors’ – that show that not all thoughts are rational or helpful. I demonstrate how CBC has developed over centuries, originating in Stoic philosophy and applied today as a way of thinking and a way of life. I also introduce the aims, scope, and boundaries of CBC, explore what being a CB coach involves, and show the importance of your client’s participation and their responsibility for their own continuous development.

Part II: The CBC Process

In this part I take you on a coaching journey from undertaking a coaching assignment to the final session. I explain the importance of agreeing terms, expectations and responsibilities and how to develop trust and collaboration between you and your client. I consider the importance of listening and working at your client’s pace, how to be sensitive to specific ‘tell-tale’ words that illustrate limiting beliefs and how to apply the CBC questioning process to unlock new approaches. I show that no one can be a ‘perfect’ coach and that you, like everyone else, are fallible and need supervision and support.

Part III: The CBC Toolkit in Work and Life

In this part I introduce specific aspects of coaching that you may encounter as you go through the CBC process, including enabling a person to understand and manage themselves and to develop confidence so as to be able to develop their ability to broaden their goals and perspectives. I cover the all-important area of relating to others, and managing and respecting their own needs alongside respecting the needs of others. I offer hints about helping your client develop choices for work and life within the long-term context of their whole life, and I show that CBC is a lifetime’s journey that your client can continue on their own, as their own coach.

Part IV: Applying CBC in Organisations

In this part I focus specifically on workplace issues and introduce some of the topics that clients are likely to raise in such sessions. I explore career transitions such as promotion, redundancy and retirement, and cover how to help clients to maintain peak performance under pressure of targets and workload. I also cover managing other people, including issues such as conflict, influencing, motivation, and building effective and creative teams.

Part V: The Part of Tens

In this section I give lots of quick reference hints and tips. These include ways to help people develop a positive focus and imagery exercises to develop confidence. I provide gentle reminders to you, as the coach, to remember that both you and your client are human and fallible. We all screw up occasionally because everybody does so I include tips about self-acceptance and continuous development.

Appendix

Here you find an ABCDE form that you can apply as a CB coach, as well as a list of useful organisations and websites that provide further information about CBC.

Icons Used in This Book

I use the following icons in this book so that you can quickly identify which areas of the book are relevant to your needs.

This icon highlights practical advice for applying the techniques of CBC.

This icon indicates a client story or experience that illustrates a specific issue that has arisen within a session and that you may also encounter.

This icon indicates an area that you may need to consider carefully within sessions.

CBC touches on many broad and deep areas of life and work and this icon signals that you may want to reflect on this information further between sessions.

This icon emphasises important points to remember during CBC sessions

Background detail on CBC which enhances your understanding of the subject. Not essential, but useful.

Where to Go from Here

I suggest you take a look through the table of contents and then flick through the whole book to get a feel of the topics covered and familiarise yourself with the layout. In this way you may spot sections that jump out at you and look interesting. You may want to bookmark those pages that appear to be most relevant to you.

The main thing is that you feel in control of this book: this book is not in control of you! You can pick it up and use it exactly as you want to. You can mark areas that you want to remember, scribble in it, highlight tips, and turn down pages. Most of all, relax, stay curious, and enjoy the process.

Part I

Introducing Cognitive Behavioural Coaching

In this part . . .

This part introduces the basics of CBC, and shows you how different patterns of thinking impact on your behaviour and the decisions you make. In it I introduce specific models of thinking and show that not all thoughts are rational or helpful.

I also introduce the aims, scope, and boundaries of CBC, explore what being a CB coach involves, and show how important it is that your client participates and takes responsibility for their own continuous development.

Chapter 1

The Principles behind CBC

In This Chapter

Focusing on solutions and the future

Watching and evaluating thoughts

Understanding the evolution of CBC

Accepting oneself as fallible

Some fundamental principles and concepts underpin the practice of CBC. These principles developed from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), whose founders were Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis.

The keystone principle of CBC derives from Epictetus, who was a Greek Stoic philosopher. Stoic philosophy promoted theories of mind that encouraged the development of logic and self-control as a way of living life wisely. Epictetus lived in the first century AD and stated that ‘people are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by the views which they take of those things’ – that is, your own thoughts and opinions shape your feelings about and reactions to an event. By accepting this principle, the individual takes personal responsibility for her own reaction to a situation, whether she is stuck in traffic or made redundant, on the understanding that another person may have a different viewpoint and therefore a different reaction. This attitude opens up new perspectives and approaches to everyday events. The client learns to become an observer of her own thoughts and can assess whether those thoughts help her to achieve her life and work goals.

As the client investigates her thoughts, she may discover that the mind leads her astray occasionally, and therefore she exaggerates difficulties, fears situations that may never happen, or assumes that someone has a bad opinion of her although she has no concrete evidence of the fact. The CBC process applies what is known as Socratic dialogue, which is a form of philosophical enquiry that originated from the Greek philosopher Socrates. In Socratic dialogue, the questioner explores the implications of the opinions and statements of the other person, in order to stimulate rational thinking and insight. Applied in CBC, this form of questioning is designed to reveal the reality of a situation rather than a ‘twisted’ version of it. The aim is to develop thoughts that are both realistic and in perspective. The process encourages the individual to develop more self-enhancing and supportive ways of viewing the world so as to manage life’s challenges. The questioning aims to help a person analyse her thoughts and, should she in some way not come up to her own standard or expectations, to accept herself as a fallible human being.

In this chapter, I explain some of the theories and concepts underlying CBC, and introduce models that you can apply to the situations that your clients bring to coaching sessions.

Investigating the Evolution of CBC

CBC evolved from cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT. In addition, sports, acting, and singing coaching have all influenced CBC, as have theories of motivation and goalsetting. The focus of CBT is on treating people with disorders. In CBC, we shift the focus to helping people develop and achieve their goals. This transition has been influenced by interest in personal growth and by the focus of organisations on learning and development as a means to productivity. My own definition of CBC is ‘an alliance of cooperation between client and coach. The coach supports the client in developing and achieving the specific goals and objectives identified by the client at the outset. The focus in CBC is developing constructive thoughts and behaviours to support action towards the identified goals.’