Coaching Session - Case Study Example

Coaching Session: Reflective Essay [Student’s Name] [Institution] [Instructor’s Name] [Course] [Date] Introduction In life coaching, there are various theories that guide practitioners in the delivery of services. Traditionally, coaching sessions are geared towards reaching pre-identified goals. The client or coachee sets the goal while the coach facilitates the attainment of these goals. The coach in this case plays the role of a confidant and consultant in suggesting ways that the coachee can attain the set goals (Garvey et al., 2009). There are various issues and theories that guide the relationship between coach and coachee. The successful application of such theories can pinpoint to a successful coaching session. However, the most critical measure of success is the attainment of the set goals. Coaching therapy can last one session with follow-up sessions while in other cases it can carry on for several sessions depending on the goals set and the client’s particular situation. This essay captures the happenings of a life coaching session with a client identifying the application of theories and coaching strategies in facilitating the client to achieve his goals of finding new ways of being helpful to the community and living a fulfilling life at old age. Client background Kilby Johnson is a 71 years old male and a recently retired pharmacist. Although he was born and raised in Australia, he spent his adult working life in Germany. He has returned to Australia a wealthy old man and has bought a beautiful expansive house in his boyhood neighborhood in Sydney. However, he says that he feels like Australia is a foreign land despite spending all his early and teenage years here. He feels out of place and has not been bonding well with a few of his childhood friends and distant family members. He says that they accuse him of abandoning his ailing parents who had died a decade ago. At the moment, he has two pet dogs named Rascal and Fred. Other than watching television, the two dogs keep him occupied most of the time. He has never married and has no existing close family members in Australia with the only remaining sister having relocated to the US a few years ago. Having been branded a workaholic all his life, he is looking forward to spending the last few years of his life in a relaxing way. However, he is not used to idling and he claims he has a lot of energy which he needs to put to use before he becomes too old. He has approached me as a life coach to assist him in identifying the most appropriate and less strenuous ways that he can contribute to the community and feel useful as a retiree who still has some energy left through one initial session and two follow-up sessions. Session development and application of theory Given the age differences between me and the client, there was need to build rapport and trust to facilitate a working environment. Peterson and Hicks (1996, as cited by Peterson, 2006) recommend that building a trusting relationship with a coachee allows formation of a partnership of equals. This means that the coachee can divulge and share information without fear and without feeling embarrassed. In this case, the fact that Johnson had two pet dogs created a very convenient point of convergence. I informed him about increased cases of stolen pets around Sydney. I therefore cautioned him not to allow his dogs outside unattended if his home does not have a hedge. Another chance of bonding arose from the accusations leveled against him by his friends. I sympathized with him and even consoled him by telling him that their criticism was unfair because they did not understand him well. In fact they had not walked an inch in his shoes to understand why he stayed away for so long or even whether he sent them money or supported them in any way oblivious to them. This topic created space for the initial small talk before settling on the issue of the day. The session started with a review of my role as a coach. It was important that client understood my role and place in the interview as coach. For this reason, I asked him why he thought he required the services of a life coach. He indicated that he needed guidance in choosing the right path of life for his last few years. He wanted new community-involving activities to replace his many hours of watching TV. As a coach, it was my duty to make the client identify the goals and objectives of every session. Parsloe (1992) says that in life coaching, it is important for the coach and coachee to set the goals for each session. He compares this to learning objectives in teaching. There are several types of goals. For this particular client, the goals were distal as opposed to proximal (Grant 2006). The goals were distal because the client identified the goals as community involved work or projects that can lead to a more fulfilling life in last days on earth. Alternatively, the goal could be termed as outcome based. This is because the client indicated that he wanted to put in about three to six hours for every six days of the week. The goals were formulated using the SMART model. This model calls for specific goals, goals to be measurable, goals to be achievable given the context of the coachee, relevant to induce inspiration and motivation and also time framed (Megginson & Clutterbuck, 2005). In this case, the goals were measurable in the amount of hours that the client would put in and also the emotional satisfaction gained. The goals were relevant in that the activity was to promote the community’s well-being, the goals were achievable in that the coachee had the time and energy to accomplish the goals and that the goals were time framed, though vaguely in that the client would pursue the goals as long as he had the energy. The first session with client was concerned in facilitating the client to learn from his environment. As an adult, he understands his strengths and weaknesses well such that he can tell which type of activities can or cannot work for him. This kind of approach is based on the concept of andragogy. Andragogy refers to “the art and science of helping adults learn” (Knowles, 1980, as cited by Cox, 2006, p. 193). This approach is very different compared to dealing with children because children are assumed to have no experience. In this case, applying andragogy was important in relating with the client. Through andragogy, I perceived Johnson as one determined man who wished to make his last few years on earth count. He was motivated by his experiences in wanting to make a contribution the community. To him therefore, I as a coach was not a tutor but an advisor or just a person hired to draft an action plan for him (Grant, 2006). This acknowledgment was very useful in setting the pace of our interview session. I used the transformative learning and self-reflection strategies to know about the client’s past experience and assess how it would influence his quest for a more fulfilling life. The transformative learning strategy seeks to reflect on values, beliefs and principles from the past. These values, believes and principles are assessed and compared against the acceptable norm and where necessary are transformed into new ones. According to Law et al. (2007) and Cox (2006), self-reflective strategies enable experience to be translated into a meaningful concept. Consequently, I asked him to tell me and explain to me the various community based activities he had engaged in while in Germany. He indicated that he had organized and engaged in fundraising activities involving fellow employees to raise money for buildings schools in Africa. As he explained this case, he sounded passionate about children and very concerned about the welfare of others especially the poor. On asking him about his views on children, he claimed he would not know how to handle them because he had never had one or taken care of one though he would love to help them in any way possible. For this reason, I viewed that Johnson was a ripe candidate for philanthropic work, community work and volunteer work. On making this suggestion, he said that he had a lot of money which he could donate to charity groups and work in those charity groups as a volunteer. Motivation interviewing was applied in the case of Johnson to encourage him to slow down life. Although the man acknowledges that he is getting old and losing some of his vigor, he cannot go back to his youthful days and thus any invovlemnt in community work must be not very physically demanding.. Passmore (2007) says this technique seeks to motivate individuals to modify behavior and attain set goals. It is similar to the transformative model in one way or another as it also seeks to transform individuals. In the case of Johnson, the fact that he has been a workaholic all his life cannot go unnoticed. He seems to have heeded the call for retirement and took to a relaxing lifestyle. However, his choice of retirement method of keeping pet dogs and watching television is not only unhealthy but is likely to lead to stress and depression. Television watching need to be replaced with more engaging activities that will enable him feel that he is a not only an Australian but also a worthy community member and also feel that he is spending his last few years of his life in a good and admirable manner. In this regard, I sought to motivate him to acknowledge himself as a person and through his contributions in his profession. The fact that some of his old friends have accused him of abandoning his parents does not mean that his life and contributions in the field of pharmacology have been a waste of time. For this reason, I set to make him believe that he had not lived his life in vain and that whatever activities that he would engage in were not driven towards correcting a mistake. The relationship flow theory came in handy during the interview. I used this theory by guiding the client through questions to enable a balance between goals and skills. For instance, I asked the client how he felt in relating with kids and what he found to be fascinating about kids. In his response, he said “kids are very innocent and I like the way they are always curious and take up knowledge like a sponge.” This statement alone guided me in assessing his skills and challenges and making the right choice and striking balance between his skills and goals (Wesson and Boniwell, 2007). Consequently, I floated the idea of him teaching some basic German or chemistry to interested students in a local community center or public school. He was very much taken by the idea. He agreed that he would identify interested students at the local community center and teach them German, which he was very fluent in. He would also volunteer in a local elderly people nursing home. This I figured would not only help him spend time in a proactive manner but would also enable him deal with his past in regards to his parents. Caring for the old would somehow help him fulfill the void and created by the feeling that he abandoned his parents as his friends accuse of doing. The above activities have high potential in creating a feeling of satisfaction with life. By being a German teacher for children and the elderly, the man could make use of his time in a constructive manner. Although he seems not to know it, he is being affected by the accusations that he abandoned his parents. By him caring for his parents, it will award him inner peace with himself. To ensure that the session achieved its intended purpose and that the client benefited, we agreed on evaluation procedures. First of all, he was to acquire basic instructional materials and a foreign language curriculum book at the local bookshop. At first, he wanted me to acquire the materials for him which was not possible. This kind of challenge in clients having impossible expectations from coaches is highlighted by Hawkins (2008). He was to spend two hours at the community center with the kids for six days a week in the evenings. In the morning, he was to report to the local home for the aged as a volunteer. Here he would be assigned tasks to accomplish by the personnel in charge. I also suggested teaching German language to the old folks at the him as research suggests that new language acquisition skills keeps off some age related complications such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (Adams, 2012). He was to report all these activities daily in a journal and record his progress. His journals would also capture what he felt about the day and the contributions he was making to society. He would report for follow-up session after two weeks to assess his progress. References Adams, S. (29th March 2012). Learning another language ‘could protect against dementia.’ The Telegraph. Retrieved online on 22nd Aug 2013 from, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9173552/Learning-another-language-could-protect-against-dementia.html Garvey, R., Stokes, P., & Megginson, D. (2009). Coaching and mentoring: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Grant, A. M. (2006). An integrative goal-focused approach to executive coaching. In D. R. Stober & A. M. Grant (Eds.), Evidence based coaching handbook: Putting best practices to work for your clients (pp. 153-192). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Hawkins, P. (2008). The coaching profession: Some of the key challenges. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 1(1), 28-38. Law, H., Ireland, S., & Hussain, Z. (2007). The psychology of coaching, mentoring and learning. Chichester, UK: Wiley. Megginson, D., & Clutterbuck, D. (2005). Setting goals. In Techniques for coaching and mentoring (pp. 37-52). Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann. Parsloe, E. (1992). Coaching, mentoring and assessing: A practical guide to developing competence. London: Kogan Page. Passmore, J. (2007a). Addressing deficit performance through coaching: Using motivational interviewing for performance improvement at work. International Coaching Psychology Review, 2(3), 265-275. Peterson, D. B. (2006). People are complex and the world is messy: A behaviour-based approach to executive coaching. In D. Stober, & A. Grant (Eds.). Evidence based coaching handbook. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Wesson, K., & Boniwell, I. (2007). Flow theory: Its application to coaching psychology. International Coaching Psychology Review, 2(1), 33-43. Read More

Peterson and Hicks (1996, as cited by Peterson, 2006) recommend that building a trusting relationship with a coachee allows formation of a partnership of equals. This means that the coachee can divulge and share information without fear and without feeling embarrassed. In this case, the fact that Johnson had two pet dogs created a very convenient point of convergence. I informed him about increased cases of stolen pets around Sydney. I therefore cautioned him not to allow his dogs outside unattended if his home does not have a hedge.

Another chance of bonding arose from the accusations leveled against him by his friends. I sympathized with him and even consoled him by telling him that their criticism was unfair because they did not understand him well. In fact they had not walked an inch in his shoes to understand why he stayed away for so long or even whether he sent them money or supported them in any way oblivious to them. This topic created space for the initial small talk before settling on the issue of the day. The session started with a review of my role as a coach.

It was important that client understood my role and place in the interview as coach. For this reason, I asked him why he thought he required the services of a life coach. He indicated that he needed guidance in choosing the right path of life for his last few years. He wanted new community-involving activities to replace his many hours of watching TV. As a coach, it was my duty to make the client identify the goals and objectives of every session. Parsloe (1992) says that in life coaching, it is important for the coach and coachee to set the goals for each session.

He compares this to learning objectives in teaching. There are several types of goals. For this particular client, the goals were distal as opposed to proximal (Grant 2006). The goals were distal because the client identified the goals as community involved work or projects that can lead to a more fulfilling life in last days on earth. Alternatively, the goal could be termed as outcome based. This is because the client indicated that he wanted to put in about three to six hours for every six days of the week.

The goals were formulated using the SMART model. This model calls for specific goals, goals to be measurable, goals to be achievable given the context of the coachee, relevant to induce inspiration and motivation and also time framed (Megginson & Clutterbuck, 2005). In this case, the goals were measurable in the amount of hours that the client would put in and also the emotional satisfaction gained. The goals were relevant in that the activity was to promote the community’s well-being, the goals were achievable in that the coachee had the time and energy to accomplish the goals and that the goals were time framed, though vaguely in that the client would pursue the goals as long as he had the energy.

The first session with client was concerned in facilitating the client to learn from his environment. As an adult, he understands his strengths and weaknesses well such that he can tell which type of activities can or cannot work for him. This kind of approach is based on the concept of andragogy. Andragogy refers to “the art and science of helping adults learn” (Knowles, 1980, as cited by Cox, 2006, p. 193). This approach is very different compared to dealing with children because children are assumed to have no experience.

In this case, applying andragogy was important in relating with the client. Through andragogy, I perceived Johnson as one determined man who wished to make his last few years on earth count. He was motivated by his experiences in wanting to make a contribution the community. To him therefore, I as a coach was not a tutor but an advisor or just a person hired to draft an action plan for him (Grant, 2006). This acknowledgment was very useful in setting the pace of our interview session. I used the transformative learning and self-reflection strategies to know about the client’s past experience and assess how it would influence his quest for a more fulfilling life.

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