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Coaching: An International Journal of

Theory, Research and Practice
Publication details, including instructions for authors and
subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcoa20

The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of the

psychology of coaching and mentoring
a
Ruxandra Maria Clinciu
a
University of Essex, Employability and Careers Centre, Wivenhoe
Park, Colchester, UK
Published online: 20 Jun 2013.

To cite this article: Ruxandra Maria Clinciu (2013) The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of the psychology
of coaching and mentoring, Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice,
6:2, 176-178, DOI: 10.1080/17521882.2013.807293

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17521882.2013.807293

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 Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 2013
Vol. 6, No. 2, 176
178, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17521882.2013.807293

BOOK REVIEW

The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of the psychology of coaching and mentoring, by

Jonathan Passmore, David Peterson and Teresa Freire, Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell,
2012, 552 pp., £120 (hardcover), ISBN 978-1119993155
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The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Coaching and Mentoring

represents a hugely valuable addition to the literature on coaching and mentoring.
This is not only because it is written and edited by leading experts from across the
USA, Asia-Pacific and Europe, hence adopting an international perspective, but also
because it focuses on evidence-based approaches and mental processes employed by
practitioners in the respective fields.
The editors of this volume, Jonathan Passmore, David Peterson and Teresa
Freire, have proven track records both in the academic and workplace domains and
their combined expertise spans across the USA, the UK and Portugal, therefore,
covering potential cultural differences in the field. Similarly, the contributors to this
book all have solid backgrounds in the area, ranging from international coaches, to
clinical psychologists, leadership advisors, high-calibre lecturers and professors,
counselors, and so forth.
The editors open the discussion by expressing their hopes that this title will
constitute a comprehensive literature review in addition to a useful resource
for postgraduate students, researchers and academics. As a postgraduate student
myself on the verge of completing my Master’s degree in Occupational and
Organisational Psychology with a dissertation on coaching, I can vouch that this
handbook could well represent a cornerstone in understanding the applied concepts
of coaching and mentoring. For those who are practicing or teaching various
models of coaching and mentoring, they may find this volume useful simply due to
how each chapter discusses current, up-to-date research on a particular topic and
then links it to practice and suggestions to move forward for both researchers and
practitioners.
Based on its title, I initially expected this volume to offer a general introduction to
the field, focusing on the major principles on which coaching and mentoring rely.
However, this was not the case at all, and this could perhaps constitute its particular
strength. With chapters describing the neuroscience of coaching, cross-cultural issues,
the role of philosophy or that of emotions in these two processes and many other
perspectives, this volume is a breath of fresh air, describing coaching and mentoring
through a myriad of lenses, more so than the books I have encountered so far. Having
said that, this may make it a more difficult read for those who are new to the practices
of coaching and mentoring and who would benefit more from an introductory
handbook on the topic, offering step-by-step practical guidance.
 Book Review 177

The handbook is structured in four sections, each comprising a number of sub-

chapters and focusing on one major theme. The first one describes coaching from a
psychological perspective through nine sub-topics, ranging from the meaning and
nature of coaching-related evidence, to the way of assessing how effective coaching is,
through to issues such as identity within coaching (at individual and group level), the
importance of ethics in coaching, how neuropsychology might be a useful tool, to
various gender issues that may arise in business coaching and also to team coaching
and its various implications.
In the second section, four leading experts explain mentoring and the various issues
around it. The first chapter of this section is particularly useful for those interested in
setting up mentoring schemes within organisations and issues that might require
taking into consideration when designing mentoring schemes. As with coaching, the
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second chapter of this section is designed for discussing the effectiveness of coaching
and how this might be measured, while the third one focuses on the issues of training
and educating mentors towards obtaining positive organisational outcomes and the
final one on mentoring programmes for under-represented groups.
As my work-related interests lie in setting up mentoring schemes, particularly for
under-represented groups of higher education students, I was eager to read the
relevant two chapters focusing on exactly this. The chapter written by Stokes and
Merrick looks at mentoring from several interesting angles, such as mentoring
schemes in education, the importance of diversity, peer mentoring, e-mentoring and
evaluation methods of different schemes, all in light of the potential but also the
limitations that mentoring might face. The chapter focusing on under-represented
groups is interesting in that while it highlights the fact that companies nowadays have
indeed adopted a trend of training and mentoring employees from wider cultural
backgrounds, it also argues that they do not have a good and consistent
understanding of the notion of ‘under-represented’ individuals and thus, there is
need for more in-depth research that will provide these individuals with better
development tools.
The third section comprises eight chapters which describe the main theories and
models of coaching: the humanistic, behavioural, cognitive behavioural, motiva-
tional interviewing, psychodynamic, gestalt, narrative and finally, positive psychol-
ogy model. This is a particular useful section for practitioners who may be new to
coaching and less familiar to these approaches, as the authors discuss the origin of
each model, research and theoretical frameworks around it as well as ways of
applying it in coaching.
For those with a keen interest in the humanistic/person-centred approach and
positive psychology models, the two chapters covering these areas will be particularly
relevant. The former is based around the idea that ‘‘coaching and humanistic
psychology are Bnatural bedfellows’’ and Gregory and Levy argue this by
providing a clear description of how coaching is linked to the humanistic school
with a specific focus on the importance of the coach
client relationship. Positive
psychology is described by Freire as an important contributor to coaching, albeit still
at an early stage of conceptual development, and elements that link but also
differentiate the two are presented, alongside relevant research and theoretical
frameworks that justify the emergence of a new discipline entitled positive coaching
psychology.
 178 Book Review

To conclude, in times when coaching and mentoring are gaining more and more
popularity within the world of work, it has become imperative that we understand
the psychological principles and theoretical concepts behind successful coaching
strategies. And this is precisely what this volume aims to do, to bridge the gap
between research and practice and thus provide academics, practitioners and
aspiring students in the field of organisational psychology an invaluable frame of
reference.
I read this volume with eagerness and curiosity as I felt each chapter was a piece
of a bigger jigsaw puzzle, looking at coaching or mentoring from different, yet
interconnected, perspectives. I would highly recommend it to my fellow students as
well as to academics and practitioners alike but also really to anyone who has a
genuine interest in coaching and mentoring and wants to broaden their horizons.
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Ruxandra Maria Clinciu

University of Essex, Employability and Careers Centre,
Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, UK
rmclin@essex.ac.uk
# 2013, Ruxandra Maria Clinciu

Notes on contributor
Ruxandra Clinciu is currently finalising her Master’s degree
in Occupational and Organisational Psychology at the Uni-
versity of Surrey with a dissertation focused on coaching. She
is a keen researcher and her main interests lie in training,
development, coaching and work
life balance. Ruxandra
currently works in Employability within the Higher Educa-
tion, where she primarily focuses on mentoring under-
represented groups of students. One of her foremost career
goals is to become a youth coach and help young people find
their purpose, direction and confidence.