In the latest in this column on supervision curated by the Association for Coaching Supervisors, Jill Pinington explores working with Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) in coaching supervision
NLP was developed in the Seventies by Bandler and Grinder (Bandler & Grinder, 1975; 1976). It was developed based on modelling the excellence of other therapists who excelled in their field.
The three therapists they modelled were achieving results way above their peers in their sphere of practice at that time. These therapists were Fritz Perls (a Gestalt therapist), Milton Erickson (a hypnotherapist) and Virginia Satir (a family therapist).
NLP was formed from the culmination of all this learning by studying how, what and when they did what they did, modelling excellence through observing behaviour (verbal and non-verbal), thinking and emotional state. NLP is based on science and there’s increasing evidence emerging as to its efficacy following advances in neuroscience.
Korzybski (1948), often called the father of semantics, provided one of the key presuppositions in NLP: ‘the map is not the territory’ which means our perception of reality is our own version of reality. How we internalise and make sense of our world is unique to each individual person. This understanding enables us to accept our thoughts and feelings for what they are, just thoughts, just feelings. We can become curious about them, we can evaluate them, and we can change them to be healthier and more life-affirming. We can improve our maps and by doing so we can improve the quality of our life, experiences, relationships, health and success. NLP can be used to change people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours when these are preventing them from successfully achieving what they want.
In supervision this is pivotal to understanding ourselves as coaches and our clients’ experiences.
If you are a practitioner or master practitioner of NLP, having a supervisor who ‘speaks the same language’ and can support you in your use and development of NLP interventions, is essential.
Coaching supervision can be defined as:
“…a collaborative process facilitating coaches (and coach supervisors) to grow their reflective practice with a view to continuous improvement and professional development, client safety and the strengthening of professional identity. The process considers the entire system surrounding the supervisee and their client work and seeks to bring value to all those stakeholders connected to that work.”
(Clutterbuck, Whitaker & Lucas, 2016, pp18-19)
A three-pronged approach
Proctor’s (1986) three-pronged approach details commonly accepted functions of coaching supervision.
Normative: where the supervisee and supervisor explore the governance elements of best practice in relation to compliance with professional competencies and ethical guidelines, legislation and organisational standards. And both consider the synergy between the intended and actual practice.
Formative: where the supervisor strives for continuous professional development and improvement in practice for their supervisee and themselves. This developmental perspective will increase competency, capacity and capability. in the growth and progress of the supervisee as both coach practitioner and reflective practitioner.
Restorative: where the supervisor supports the wellbeing and mental health of the supervisee and seeks to restore a healthy energy and work-life balance. This provides a confidential, safe space to explore personal issues, insecurities, doubts. Where the ubiquitous supervisee’s question, ‘
‘Am I doing it right?’ can be debunked.
And ultimately a fourth prong is present in quality coaching supervision:
SUPER-vision: perspective, ‘helicopter view’.
It’s still a quest for many to see coaching supervision embedded as a regulatory professional requirement in coaching practice although coaching supervision is recommended by coaching bodies such as the ICF, EMCC and AC. However, in the world of NLP coaching, it’s often a mere curiosity, if not an anathema. Yet it has so much to offer.
NLP is a psychotherapeutic way of coaching; it’s also content-free and fast. NLP practitioners are interested in what a client does and how, rather than, why, they do what they do. The notion is that, if we know what, when and how a client does what they do and that strategy is not serving them well, we can change the way they do what they do, so the problem no longer arises.
NLP practice is efficient and effective, some may say, magical. There’s a high degree of skill and technique-based precision of both process and language. It’s highly intuitive and requires use of rapport, sensory acuity and maximum flexibility to be in tune with your client, so there’s synergy. It does require resilience and confidence as a coach to hold the space and persevere with your client, even, when faced with resistance, in order for the ‘breakthrough’ to happen.
It’s arguably the most rewarding experience for you as a coach to see your client change their lives before your very eyes.
When you change lives in the moment, the transformation is seen, felt and heard by you.
To coach in this way, requires that you ‘be’, ‘do’, ‘have’ and ‘be it’ so there’s full integration within you. You’re modelling excellence: the way you talk, sound, speak, behave and show up.
In order to achieve and maintain that degree of excellence as an NLP coach, be that as a practitioner or master practitioner, requires excellent training and ongoing coaching supervision.
Supervision in NLP
The coaching supervision deployed in NLP does have the normative, formative, restorative and SUPER-vision functions within it though much more discreetly. Supervision in NLP, whilst still coach-led, is more centred around focus and intentionality for self, the coach managing their business and their client work, viz. the coach’s mindset, management and mastery:
Mindset: the coach’s personal mindset, expansion, growth and development as an individual, in service to them and your clients in areas such as energy, intuition,
self-analysis and self-awareness, introspection, reflection and reflexion.
Management: managing their business setup and growth; career development and progression, relationships in personal and professional life; preferred client base, scope and area of practice.
Mastery: planning, preparing and reviewing work and interventions with clients. Honing your skills, perfecting your art and science as an elegant practitioner of excellence.
I love NLP coaching and practise it fervently, with joy and enthusiasm because I believe it gets to the root cause of the presenting issue for your client and effectively obliterates that issue, easily and effortlessly, so the client’s issue is no longer a problem for them.
References
- R Bandler and J Grinder, The Structure of Magic, Vol. I. Science and Behaviour Books, 1975
- R Bandler and J Grinder, The Structure of Magic, Vol. II. Science and Behaviour Books, 1976
- D Clutterbuck, C Whitaker and M Lucas, Coaching Supervision: A practical guide for supervisees. Routledge, 2016
- P Hawkins and R Shohet, Supervision in the Helping Professions, Open University Press, 2012
- A Korzybski, Science and Sanity, Institute of General Semantics, 1948
- B Proctor, ‘Supervision: A co-operative exercise in accountability’, in A Marken and M Payne (Eds), Enabling and Ensuring Supervision in Practice, Leicester National Youth Bureau/Council for Education and Training in Youth and Community Work, 1986
FIND OUT MORE
- The Association of Coaching Supervisors (AoCS) is an international community of coach supervisors and a source of good practice, where you can easily find an experienced, qualified and often accredited coach supervisor to work with: www.associationofcoachingsupervisors.com
l Jill Pinington is AOCS’ regional coordinator for the North of England, an EMCC qualified coach supervisor, certified trainer of NLP (ABNLP), NLP Coaching, (ABNLP), works with NLP practitioners and is an NLP master practitioner. She also works in the NHS and healthcare industry.