Liz Hall
Tatiana Bachkirova from Oxford Brookes University presented a non-linear new developmental framework for coaching the client’s “self-system” at the European Mentoring & Coaching Council’s annual conference in Amsterdam in November. Bachkirova’s framework involves coaching according to four groups of themes- coaching towards a healthy ego; coaching the ego; coaching beyond the ego, and coaching the soul.
Developmental coaching acknowledges a limited role of the conscious self and is explicit in its intent to coach the whole individual even where the coaching goals are specific, said Bachkirova. Developmental coaches might typically help their clients learn to trust their “elephant” (the unconscious), achieve a better synthesis of their many mini-selves and to create a good story, she said.
Developmental coaches need to recognise that their different tasks- which include enhancing the quality of internal and external perception, dealing with the “elephant” without seeking to control or submit to it completely, and dealing with the client’s multiplicity of selves – must be approached differently depending on the themes being worked with.
Typical themes with coaching towards a healthy ego might include issues of confidence building or self esteem; decision-making involving a number of significant stakeholders; taking control of one’s actions and decisions, and coping with stress.
Coaching the ego might include working with an explicit desire for recognition and promotion; dealing with the strong drive for success with underlying fear of failure. Coaching beyond the ego might include deep dissatisfaction with life in general, boredom, overcoming a life crisis, whereas coaching the soul might include an explicit intention for spiritual development, realisation of the incompleteness of their work.