1st Edition
Reflective Practice for Coaches A Guidebook for Advanced Professional Development
This practical evidence-based guide to running Reflective Practice professional development programmes provides a dynamic and engaging resource for a wide range of coaches.
Reflective Practice is a proven learning and development approach that involves consciously and deliberately thinking about experiences to develop insights and apply these within coaching practice. McCormick argues that it is vital that coaches regularly reflect on their work to develop and grow professionally, and this book provides a definitive and rich source of material on how and what to reflect on. Topics include how to reflect as an individual coach; working in pairs and small groups; applying reflective practice in a training context; and how to run advanced group sessions for coaches. The book features a wide range of practical workbook exercises to challenge the reader’s current practice and extend their capability, as well as an evidence-based guide to enhancing skills in recently developed areas such as Unified Protocol Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Internet Supplemented Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Using Schema Therapy with Mindfulness Techniques.
Written by a highly experienced executive coach, this book is full of practical and effective ways to become more capable and proficient. It is essential reading for any career, life or executive coach who wishes to enhance their coaching capability through reflective practice, as well as for coaching training organisations, senior executive coaches offering sessions for other coaches, and academic institutions offering coaching qualifications.
Part 1: Introduction To Reflective Practice For Coaches
1. Reflective Practice – A Critical Focus
2. Practical Steps to Reflective Practice
Part 2: Connection and Safety: Setting the Stage For Practice Reflective Practice
3. Psychological Connection, Safety and Confidentiality
4. Establishing Effectiveness Measurement
Part 3: The Nature of Coaching
5. What Coaching Is
6. The Conceptual Models of Coaching
7. Executive Coaching
8. Coaching Effectiveness
9. Solution-Focused Coaching
10. The Critical Skills
Part 4: Using Innovative Therapeutic Techniques in Coaching and Reflective Practice Sessions
11. Eclectic Versus an Integrated Approach to using Therapeutic Techniques in Coaching
12. Using Unified Protocol Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Techniques
13. Internet Supplemented Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Techniques
14. Using Buddhist Psychology Techniques
15. Using Compassion-Focused Techniques
16. Using Schema Therapy and Mindfulness Techniques
17. Using Cognitive Analytic Therapy Techniques
18. Using Stress Inoculation Therapy Techniques
19. When to Use Which Therapeutic Technique or Approach
Part 5: Conclusion
20. Final Reflections
Biography
Iain McCormick PhD is the founder of the Executive Coaching Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. He trained in clinical psychology, subsequently completing a PhD in work stress. Iain has been coaching and consulting for 30 years, working in Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
"Coaching has grown exponentially over the last decade, and coaches are in need of professional development as much as their clients. Dr. McCormick’s book is a step-by-step approach for professional development for coaches using ‘reflective practice’. It is a very well written, well-organised and an easy to follow guide to help coaches develop their coaching skills as they discover more about themselves from the experience of their practice. This is a ‘must buy’ book for anyone engaged in coaching."
Professor Sir Cary Cooper, CBE, University of Manchester, UK
"Without adaption, we atrophy. Without learning, we never improve. Without reflection, we minimize learning from our experiences. Through this marvelous trip-tik of various approaches and models of coaching and psychotherapy, McCormick raises crucial distinctions in practice that can help clients. As professionals, coaches and therapists are paid for their time. Such performance pressure often suppresses reflective practices. This book helps to remind us what can help."
Richard Boyatzis PhD, Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve University, USA, Co-author of the international best seller, Primal Leadership and the breakthrough book on the latest research on coaching called Helping People Change."
"Reflective practice is essential for coaches' development and good practice, and it is becoming a recognised domain of expertise in its own right. This book explores a good range of definitions, approaches and tools, offering the right balance between theory and practice. It also provides a wide range of tools and exercises, inviting readers to try different techniques and challenge their thinking and practice. As an academic, researcher and coaching psychology practitioner and supervisor, I highly recommend this valuable book for trainee and professional coaches and supervisors."
Dr Andrea Giraldez-Hayes, chartered psychologist and director of the MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology at the University of East London.
"Reflective practice is essential for coaching practitioners. It helps us learn and develop our skills, knowledge and understanding as we join our coachees on their coaching journey. Dr Iain McCormick’s workbook is packed with techniques, case studies and reflective practice exercises. It is an excellent step by step guide to enhance reflective practice of both trainee and experienced coaches."
Stephen Palmer PhD, Professor of Practice at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, and Director of the National Academy of Coaching Psychology Ltd.
"The Reflective Practice for Coaches: A Guidebook for Advanced Professional Development is packed full of opportunities to learn more about the application of approaches to reflective practice, accompanied by practical and insightful exercises. This offers the potential to enhance the work of coaches working across different settings and contexts, from the beginner to the more experienced practitioner. The book is timely, engaging, practical, informative and straightforward in its contribution. This offers a key resource for coaches, coach supervisors and anyone interested in enhancing their understanding and doing more around evidence-based approaches to reflective practice".
Dr Siobhain O’Riordan, Chartered Psychologist, UK.
"Whether you are an experienced coach, or you're new, you will get something from this book.
The first part of the book takes a deep dive into what reflective practice is, and provides lots of useful activities geared around helping you to develop your reflective practice. The second part of the book explores specific approaches, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and how coaches can incorporate these into practice. The case studies that Iain provides brings to life each approach, and gives ideas for how you might use these approaches in your own practice.
This is not a book that's a 'read it and then leave it to gather dust on a shelf' kind of book. This is very much a guide that is designed for you to refer to time and time again."
Dr Hayley Lewis, Chartered psychologist, Coach, Consultant, University lecturer at Birkbeck University of London, UK.
"Reflective practice is one of the cornerstones of personal development... Yet for too long reflective practice has been under-acknowledged and under developed in coach education and in coaching books. Iain McCormick is determined to change this and places reflection at the centre of his new book...
The book explores coaching from multiple perspectives drawing on Iain's expertise as a coach and clinical psychologist, based in New Zealand, with interesting chapters on Schema Therapy, Compassion focused, Buddhist and Cognitive Analytic techniques, but what I enjoyed most where the chapters on integration and eclectic approaches and on coaching effectiveness.
If you are looking to broaden the range of approaches you use, are interested in reflective practice or want to think about how you draw together the different approaches into a more integrated approach, this book will make for an excellent read, and hopefully deepen and broaden your own practice as a coach, leader or supervisor."Jonathan Passmore, Executive Coach, Senior Vice President, Award winning I/O Psychologist, Consultant, Author, Professor Henley Business School, UK.
