International Coaching Psychology Review, 4.2, September 2009

Stephen Palmer & Michael Cavanagh
trolled study into the impacts of co-coaching
on objective performance in tertiary studies.
Franklin and Doran looked at the efficacy of
two different coaching conditions aimed at
improving performance on a range of selfreported
variables and objective performance
as rated by blind raters. This is the first
double-blind study in the coaching literature
and such studies are sorely needed. We hope
to receive many more double-blind studies
in the years ahead!
Jonathan Passmore and Susan
McGoldrick present the results of a qualitative
study into supervision using the
grounded theory approach. They examined
transcripts from one supervision session and
interviews with three supervisors and three
coaches in monthly or quarterly supervision.
While their sample size is small they do point
to some important considerations in supervision
– not least of which is the importance of
supervisor training.
Barbara Moyes carries on the discussion
about supervision in a very interesting and
stimulating paper. She examines the way in
which supervision is constructed in the
coaching literature and beyond. In particular
she considers the impact of therapeutic
models of supervision on coaching supervision.
Like Passmore and McGoldrick, Moyes’
article highlights the importance of articulated
models of supervision. Clearly there is
much work for the burgeoning coaching
profession to do in this area.
Andrew Armatas opens up an area of
practice in coaching that may be seen as
somewhat controversial – the use of hypnosis
in coaching. Hypnosis is a topic that tends to
arouse debate in psychology generally. This
may well be the case in coaching too. Is the
use of altered states of consciousness incompatible
with the coaching process as it is
commonly understood? Is hypnosis a valid
intervention in its own right, or merely an
adjunct to other interventions? Armatas’
consideration of the State/Non-state debate
in hypnosis provides a valuable contribution
in the overall debate about hypnosis in
coaching and is well worth a read.
Alanna O’Broin and Stephen Palmer
have offered an interesting article looking at
the coaching relationship from the Cognitive
Behavioural perspective. They note that
the empathy and the role of the coachcoachee
alliance is an under-researched
topic in cognitive behavioural approaches.
The bulk of work on the client-helper
alliance has been conducted in the therapeutic
literature and O’Broin and Palmer
call for more work on this within coaching.
As they outline, this is an important topic
that holds promise for a more sophisticated
understanding of what makes coaching
effective and how we may move practice forward
in the future.
David Lane and Sarah Corrie have
written an article that highlights an important
area of practice in coaching – formulation.
This has been a neglected topic in the
formation of the coaching industry, and even
today most coaches have little understanding
of formulation or case conceptualisation.
Despite this, formulation is at the heart of
professional practice. Lane and Corrie
present a model for the development of formulations
that can be used within a wide
range of theoretical approaches. This has
the potential to be a valuable contribution to
coaching practice.
This issue of the ICPR finishes with
theoretical and philosophical examination
of coaching and coaching psychology by
Reinhard Stelter. Reinhard places the
coaching in a philosophical historical and
social context. He suggests that coaching fits
the needs of our highly diverse and restless
post-traditional societies with their emphasis
on personal development in both the private
and social spheres. Stelter argues that values,
meaning making and dialogue should be
considered as forming foundational elements
in coaching. In this we see an example
of how coaching is extending its understanding
beyond simple goal attainment or
performance enhancement to a more
sophisticated and holistic model of change.
We commend the articles in this issue for
your consideration and look forward to
126 International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 4 No. 2 September 2009