Abstract
In this chapter, I will consider the practice of brief Rational-Emotive, Cognitive- Behavioral Coaching (RECBC) by design. By brief RECBC, I mean between 1 and 6 sessions. While RECBC may turn out to be brief by default, which may occur for a number of reasons, I will concentrate in this chapter on brief RECBC by design, where coach and coachee have made an agreement to meet for a contracted number of sessions between 1 and 6. I will discuss the indications and contraindications for brief RECBC, outline some important coach and coachee characteristics that facilitate the effectiveness of such brief work and outline the process of RECBC pointing out how coaches help their coachees get the most out of the contracted sessions. I will focus largely on brief development-focused RECBC (DF-RECBC), although what I will say will be relevant to other forms of RECBC. In development-focused RECBC, problem-focused coaching can also be carried out for a brief period if the coachee encounters an obstacle that can be dealt with quickly. While I will not discuss brief problem-focused coaching here, I refer the interested reader to the steps that can be followed in this form of brief coaching in my chapter entitled ‘Rational-Emotive, Cognitive-Behavioral Coaching: A Step-based Framework for Practice’ in this volume.
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Notes
- 1.
Applying Garvin and Seabury’s (1997) schema here I distinguish between someone who is applying for coaching (known as an ‘applicant’) and someone who has agreed a coaching contract with a coach (known as a ‘coachee’).
- 2.
In this chapter I refer to what the person wants to achieve from development-focused RECBC as coaching ‘objectives’ and what they want to achieve from problem-focused RECBC as coaching ‘goals’.
- 3.
This approach to single session RECBC is based on Albert Ellis’s pioneering ‘Friday Night Workshop’ in which he interviewed two volunteers on a problem of everyday living (Ellis & Joffe, 2002).
- 4.
In this chapter, I refer to the development-based objective that the coach and coachee agree to focus on as the ‘target objective’.
- 5.
Remember that if several obstacles to progress are anticipated, the person is not a good candidate for brief RECBC.
- 6.
In chapter “A Step-Based Framework for Practice”, I outline a step-by-step guide to the practice of ongoing or longer-term RECBC.
- 7.
In this chapter, I will assume that the person is suitable for RECBC.
References
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Dryden, W. (2018). Brief Rational-Emotive, Cognitive-Behavioral Coaching. In: Bernard, M., David, O. (eds) Coaching for Rational Living. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74067-6_9
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