Therapy Today

Dilemmas
view of the supervisor’s
role. I would also suggest
that Lucy consider whether
she is best placed to offer
coaching on the specific
topics of confidence and
career coaching, in any
event. Lucy has the academic
qualification to coach, and
one assumes some practical
experience, but coaching for
confidence is a specialist
area, as is coaching for
career advancement, and
the challenges of both should
not be underestimated.
Coaching is not a ‘one size
fits all’ solution, and Lucy
should always consider her
suitability to coach before
taking any coaching work
that is offered to her.
I would suggest that Estelle
review her supervisor’s role in
view of Lucy’s rejection of her
expressed need for caution
and apparent dismissal of her
professional view. Together
they can explore Lucy’s
motivations, but the outcome
depends upon whether Lucy
is prepared to place her
client’s needs before her own.
Linda Aspey (Chair,
BACP Coaching division)
Learning new approaches
and skills is exciting, and
I’m sure that many readers
will resonate with Lucy’s
enthusiasm for putting
her coach training into
practice and recouping her
investment. However, this
might be blinding her to the
potential dangers, and it’s
her role as the professional
to set and hold the
boundaries; she must stay
grounded in her therapeutic
training and principles.
Is Lucy being dismissive
towards Estelle, feeling
superior, or genuinely
misunderstood? Or is she
feeling defensive about
her wish to take Alex on,
when her own ‘internal
supervisor’ is speaking to
her but she doesn’t want to
listen? This needs exploring.
To foster mutual respect
and encourage curiosity,
Estelle should suggest
taking a learning perspective,
looking together at the
BACP Ethical Framework for
Good Practice in Counselling
and Psychotherapy for support.
Additionally, they could draw
upon the BACP Information
Sheet P4 – Guidance for ethical
decision making: a suggested
model for practitioners and use
the Socratic ‘What if’ process
to aid their discussion. They
need to consider Martin
and Lucy’s relationship, in
particular his motives for
referring Alex to Lucy, and
her responses to that request.
Whilst his intentions may
be well meaning, his true
motives may be unconscious
– is this a gift, a test of loyalty
or trust, a sharing of her, or
has he idealised Lucy? And
how does she feel – flattered,
seduced, pressurised or eager
to please? Perhaps he thinks
he’s helping; if so, why does
he think she needs his help?
How is the drama triangle
being played out here; who
could become the victim
or the persecutor or the
rescuer? (Lucy and Estelle
could consider this drama
in relation to their own
dynamic too).
They should explore what
Lucy already knows about
the fraternal relationship;
why is Martin finding a
coach for Alex and what
might happen if the coaching
doesn’t ‘work’ for Alex or if
he doesn’t share Martin’s
admiration of Lucy’s work?
And critically, what might she
do with information gained
from either party about the
other that could affect the
coaching or counselling
work, and what might cause
either of them to become
anxious about sharing their
thoughts? Martin has already
said that Alex needs help
with ‘confidence’, so if that is
the case, what might that say
about Alex’s vulnerability too?
It’s highly likely that
there are parallel processes
between Martin and Lucy’s
relationship and his former
marital one. Is it possible
that this could end up in
a messy divorce too?
Lucy and Estelle should
consider which of these issues
and questions (and others
that are bound to arise) can
usefully be addressed in
the therapeutic work with
Martin. There is certainly
value in him understanding
his motivations and the
wider, systemic implications.
At the end of the day it is
imperative that Lucy keeps
trust with Martin; to do
otherwise could be highly
detrimental. I hope that in
following these steps, Lucy
will feel that taking Alex on
as a coaching client would not
be in anyone’s best interests.
If it’s appropriate, she could
signpost Martin to other
sources of coaching for Alex.
Finally, Lucy might be
at least partially correct in
saying that Estelle ‘doesn’t
understand’ if she’s not
had training in supervising
coaches. Estelle should talk
with her own supervisor
about this and explore her
professional development
needs if she plans to supervise
coaching work too. Both
need to be clear about the
supervision contract and
Lucy may need to have
different arrangements in
place in order to manage
coaching and counselling
work going forward, unless
they are confident that the
two can be properly held here.
32 Therapy Today/www.therapytoday.net/November 2010