Dialogical coaching: An experiential approach to personal and professional development.

Abstract

Coaching practice is dominated by discussion. This is at odds with theories of cognition and adult learning, which emphasize experiential processes in stimulating beneficial changes in thought, feeling, and behavior. In this practice-focused article, we make the case for an integrative and experiential approach to coaching that is informed by dialogical self-theory ("dialogical coaching"). This is followed by a series of vignettes that illustrate the dialogical coaching process. Conceptually, dialogical coaching views the mind as being composed of dynamic parts ("I-positions") that are capable of engaging in harmonious, conflictual, or imbalanced relationships with one another. Practically, dialogical coaching aims to bring about transformations in the dialogical mind through the use of enactive procedures collectively referred to as chairwork. Examples of how chairwork might be applied to common coaching issues form the focus of this paper, including work-related stress, decision-making, interpersonal conflicts, skills training, professional transitions, and personal growth. Evidence that supports and informs dialogical coaching is presented alongside future directions for research. What's It Mean? Implications for Consulting PsychologyMany coaching issues can be understood in terms of problematic interactions between parts of the self ("I-positions") occurring within the dialogical mind. Dialogical coaching aims to resolve these conflicts through "here-and-now" dialogues between I-positions, principally through the medium of chairwork. In line with theories of cognition and learning, we suggest that this active and experiential approach to coaching may be advantageous because of its memorability, novelty, and capacity to bring about enduring cognitive-affective changes.

Delivering tele-chairwork: A qualitative survey of expert therapists

“…Chairwork is now regarded as a "common" therapeutic method (Tschacher et al, 2014), which has been incorporated into a variety of therapeutic approaches including cognitive behavioural therapy (Pugh, 2019), compassion focused therapy (Gilbert, 2010), ego state therapy (Emmerson, 2003;Watkins, 1978), internal family systems therapy (Schwartz & Sweezy, 2020), schema therapy (Young et al, 2003), the voice dialogue approach (Stone & Stone, 1989, and many others. Whether these methods might be subsumed into a superordinate, "dialogical" category of psychotherapy or coaching has recently become a focus of renewed discussion (e.g., Kellogg, 2019;Kipper, 1986;Pugh & Bell, 2020;Pugh & Broome, 2020).…”

“…These include questioning the client in the role of I-positions, including personifications and internalized representations of other individuals ("interviews"; e.g., Blatner & Blatner, 1991;Dillard, 2013;Stone & Stone, 2007); encounters with or between I-positions, including representations of others ("dialogues"; e.g., Gilbert, 2010;Greenberg & Malcolm, 2002;Perls, 1969); mapping and measuring relationships between I-positions ("depictions"; e.g., Pugh, 2020;Roediger et al, 2018); enacting past or future events ("dramatisations"; e.g., Arntz & Weertman, 1999;Beck et al, 1990;Moreno, 1985); and the retelling and revisioning of personal narratives ("disclosures"; e.g., Kellogg, 2019;Polster, 1987). 1 At a broader level, chairwork has been divided into those methods which aim to facilitate interactions with or between I-positions ("horizontal" procedures) and those which support decentred observation of I-positions ("vertical" procedures) (Drucker, 2013;Pugh & Broome, 2020).…”

Attitudes and applications of chairwork amongst CBT therapists: a preliminary survey

“…Whilst experiential interventions are often used in CBT, few studies have explored the therapeutic applications of 'chairwork': a collection of procedures which utilise chairs, their positioning, and movement in order to facilitate here-and-now interactions with parts of the self, including internalised representations of other individuals ('horizontal' dialogues or procedures), or decentred observation of parts of the self ('vertical' dialogues or procedures) (Table 1) (Pugh and Broome, 2020). Archetypal forms of chairwork include enactments in which the client is questioned in the role of parts of the self ('interviews'); conversations between two or more parts of the self ('dialogues'); creating scenes from the past, present or future ('dramatisations'); and using chairs as representational objects to map and measure relationships ('depictions') (see Kellogg, 2019).…”