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‘When Dr Siobhain O’Riordan and Professor Stephen Palmer come together to edit a
book, all coaching psychologists have much to gain! Introduction to Coaching Psychology
is a superb read for all wanting to translate science to practice. Whether you are reading
this book to become a better coach or for training new coaches, this is a must-read book in
the field of coaching psychology’.
Kimberly Allen, PhD, BCC, CFLE, Associate Director of Academic Programs, CALS,
North Carolina State University, USA; Chair, Family Life Coaching Association; author,
Theory, Research, and Practical Guidelines for Family Life Coaching

‘Introduction to Coaching Psychology nicely provides a comprehensive synthesis of the


basics and last advancements of this field. The editors of this book are the founders of this
domain and they have done a tremendous work in bringing together great contents and
best experts in this field. This book is a must read for all psychologists and coaches
interested in the theory, research and practice of coaching psychology’.
Oana A. David, PhD, Associate Professor Habil, Department of Clinical Psychology and
Psychotherapy, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

‘Simply the right book at the right time. Coaching psychology can make a valuable
contribution in this delicate phase of profound changes in individuals, communities,
organizations, countries and economic, social and political patterns of development. Now,
I have an introductory book to recommend to Italian psychologists and coaches newer to the
field who want to invest in quality coaching and develop a sturdy coaching capability
anchored to the theory, research and practice of coaching psychology’.
Silvana Dini, Co-founder and Steering Committee member of SCP Italy; ISCP Honorary
Vice President; Coaching Psychologist (FISCPAccred); Coaching Supervisor (ISCP Accred);
Management Consultant

‘Routledge’s Coaching Psychology book series has been an invaluable resource and a
great example of an academic-practitioner approach in the fields of coaching and coaching
psychology. Now it seems to be the time to look back and offer an overview of the field,
starting with the development of coaching and coaching psychology, key approaches and
models, applications and professional practice issues, as well as offer a look into the future
of coaching. With its 14 chapters and an impressive line-up of contributors, Introduction to
Coaching Psychology provides this systematic overview for a wide audience interested in
one of the most exciting areas of contemporary psychology’.
Jelena Pavlović, PhD, Assistant Professor of Organizational Development and Change;
Founder of Koučing centar, Serbia

‘I highly recommend this book, because it is just what coaches, coaching psychologists and
junior psychologists interested in coaching psychology were waiting for on account of its
contents, structure and, especially, its accuracy. It offers a global vision of the elements that
are involved and determines the best practices in coaching psychology for example:
approaches and models, applications, research, case studies, the coach-coachee relationship.
I am also reminded of the significant role psychology bodies provide for coaching psychology
in the international market as well as for promoting recognition by society in general’.
Carmen Santos, President, COPC Coaching Psychology Section; Official Psychology Society
of Catalonia, Spain

‘Introduction to Coaching Psychology is an essential guide to coaching with the use of evidence-
based practice and state-of-the-art research in psychology. The book is a must-have for
anybody willing to be an expert in coaching while relying on profound, specialist psychological
knowledge. The book has been prepared by the acclaimed body of scientists, psychologists and
practitioners, which is a clear added value of the publication. I highly recommend the book to
be placed on the reference list for any coaching-related university courses’.
Dr Anna Syrek-Kosowska, ASK Expert, WSB University and Kozminski University, Poland

‘Introduction to Coaching Psychology boasts fourteen chapters from leading professionals


in the field, covering highly topical and valuable coaching psychology concepts,
approaches, and professional practice insights. Siobhain and Stephen are real leaders in
this area, and have put together a comprehensive book that is invaluable to practitioners
working across a variety of contexts. The chapters also open up the world of coaching
psychology to a wider audience - the book can be used by practitioners, researchers,
students, and anyone interested in coaching psychology. In all, Introduction to Coaching
Psychology represents the brilliant work that is taking place in coaching psychology today’.
Dr Martin J. Turner, CPsychol., HCPC Reg., FAREBT (Acad), Reader in Psychology,
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

‘Introduction to Coaching Psychology is an excellent introductory book for anyone who is


new to the field of coaching psychology. This book particularly helps entry-level coaches
and coaching psychologists who want to get familiar with the main-stream coaching
theories, approaches, models, assessments and applications’.
Dr Qing Wang, Associate Professor in Educational and Coaching Psychology, School of
Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, China

‘I very much welcome this book which meets a well overdue need in the maturing area of
coaching psychology. The range of globally recognised contributors all have exceptional
pedigree from both a theoretical and practitioner perspective. The well balanced chapters
thoroughly encapsulate key concepts and provide practical advice for those interested in
evidence based approaches to coaching. The editors, both acknowledged experts in the field
have done a great service in delivering a highly readable and accessible publication, extremely
useful to both psychologists and the wider community of coaches. Highly recommended’.
Dr Douglas B. Young, PhD, MISCP, ISCP, International Centre for Coaching Psychology
Research

‘Finally, a book that clears up what coaching psychology is and how it can contribute to
the success of individuals and organisations. Introduction to Coaching Psychology is an up
to date and practical tool for teaching and learning the essence of coaching psychology.
Editors and contributors are the outstanding experts of coaching psychology. My
prediction is that this book will become one of the most preferred resources for coaching
psychology courses all over the world. I would certainly recommend it to my students, and
also to my novice and experienced coach and coaching psychologist colleagues’.
Vince Szekely PhD, President, Hungarian Association for Coaching Psychology; Visiting
Lecturer, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

‘As coaching psychology continues to be recognised as a complementary field to positive


psychology, this text is a must-have in for all evidence-based coaching practitioners’
libraries. Congratulations Siobhain and Stephen on continuing to raise the bar and lead
the way in the development of and interest in coaching psychology globally’.
Dr Suzy Green, The Positivity Institute; Honorary Professor in the School of Psychology,
University of East London, UK
Introduction to Coaching
Psychology

This collection featuring chapters by leading international practitioners offers an introduction


to coaching psychology for those new to it, including students, trainees, psychologists, and
coaches.
Introduction to Coaching Psychology covers key topics, including the background and
development of coaching psychology, the coach–coachee relationship, coaching psychology
approaches and models, and themes such as assessment, contracting, and the setup in coaching
psychology practice. Applications in coaching psychology are considered, including a look at
coaching psychology specialisms and interventions, as well as discussions about working in
organisations, working with young people, and life and personal coaching. Professional practice
issues, such as boundaries and best practice, and coaching and diversity, are also explored.
Furthermore, a review of coaching psychology research is presented. The book also offers a rich
collection of case studies to illustrate the practice of coaching psychology in a real-world setting
and concludes with a consideration of the future of the field.
This timely and accessible book will be essential reading for anyone new to the field, as well
as coaches, psychologists, and counsellors interested in the theory, research, and practice of
coaching psychology.

Siobhain O’Riordan, PhD, is a chartered psychologist, a chartered scientist, and founder chair
and a fellow of the International Society for Coaching Psychology (ISCP). She is a principal
practitioner of the Association for Business Psychology, a fellow of the International Stress
Management Association UK, a member of the Association for Coaching, an honorary
member of the Institute of Health Promotion and Education, and an academic member of the
Association of Rational Emotional Behavioural Therapists. She is an ISCP accredited super-
visor, a course co-director/trainer on the coaching and coaching psychology programmes at the
Centre for Coaching and Centre for Stress Management, UK, and is currently the editor of
Coaching Psychology International and the International Journal of Coaching Psychology.
Siobhain is also a co-editor of the European Journal of Applied Positive Psychology and the
International Journal of Stress Prevention and Wellbeing.

Stephen Palmer, PhD, is one of the leading pioneers in the field of coaching psychology. He is
Professor of Practice at the Wales Academy for Professional Practice and Applied Research,
University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Stephen is the coordinating director of the ISCP
International Centre for Coaching Psychology Research, and founder-director of the Centre
for Coaching, London. He is the honorary president and fellow of the International Society for
Coaching Psychology, executive editor of the International Journal of Coaching Psychology, and
co-editor of the European Journal of Applied Positive Psychology. He edits book series, in-
cluding Coaching Psychology (Routledge). He has written and edited over 50 books and has
published over 250 articles and chapters.
Coaching Psychology
Series Editor: Stephen Palmer

Coaching psychology is a distinct branch of academic and applied psychology


that focuses on the enhancement of performance, development, and wellbeing in
the broader population. Written by leading experts, the Coaching Psychology
series will highlight innovations in the field, linking theory, research and practice.
These books will interest professionals from psychology, coaching, mentoring,
business, health, human resources, and management as well as those interested in
the psychology underpinning their coaching and mentoring practice.
https://www.routledge.com/Coaching-Psychology/book-series/COACHPSYCH
Titles in the series:
Very Brief Cognitive Behavioural Coaching (VBCBC)
Windy Dryden
Coaching Psychology for Learning: Facilitating Growth in Education
Qing Wang
Positive Psychology Coaching in Practice
Suzy Green and Stephen Palmer
The Art of Dialogue in Coaching: Towards Transformative Change
Reinhard Stelter
Constructivist Coaching: A Practical Guide to Unlocking Potential Alternative Futures
Kim Bradley-Cole and Pam Denicolo
Constructivist Approaches in Coaching Psychology
Jelena Pavlović
Introduction to Coaching Psychology
Siobhain O’Riordan and Stephen Palmer
Coaching Psychology for Mental Health: Borderline Personality Disorder and
Personal Psychological Recovery
Martin O’Connor and Hugh O’Donovan
Introduction to Coaching
Psychology

Edited by
Siobhain O’Riordan and
Stephen Palmer
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Siobhain O’Riordan and Stephen
Palmer; individual chapters, the contributors.
The right of Siobhain O’Riordan and Stephen Palmer to be identified as the
authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Title: Introduction to coaching psychology / edited by Siobhain O’Riordan
and Stephen Palmer.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. | Series:
Coaching psychology | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020051444 (print) | LCCN 2020051445 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780415789073 (hbk) | ISBN 9780415789080 (pbk) | ISBN
9781315222981 (ebk) | ISBN 9781351839532 (adobe pdf) | ISBN
9781351839518 (mobi) | ISBN 9781351839525 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Personal coaching. | Positive psychology. | Counseling
psychology.
Classification: LCC BF637.P36 I67 2021 (print) | LCC BF637.P36 (ebook) |
DDC 158.3‐‐dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020051444
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020051445

ISBN: 978-0-415-78907-3 (hbk)


ISBN: 978-0-415-78908-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-22298-1 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman


by MPS Limited, Dehradun
To all of my special people, including Chad, Val, Bill, Billy, and
Diane (SO’R).
To Rosalie, Tejal, Aniket, Harry, Sam, Josh, and Maggie (SP)
In memory of Professor Anthony Grant, for his significant
contribution to the development of evidence-based coaching and
to the profession of coaching psychology. Although many coaches
and coaching psychologists may remember Tony for his insightful
and inspirational lectures, conference papers, and masterclasses, he
will be remembered with great fondness by his colleagues and
students for his wonderful sense of humour (SP and SO’R).
Contents

List of figures xii


List of tables xiii
List of boxes xiv
Preface xv
Notes on the editors xvi
Contributors xviii
Foreword xxi

PART I
Introduction to coaching psychology 1

1 The background and development of coaching and


coaching psychology 3
SIO BHA IN O’ R IO R D A N A N D S TE P H EN P A LM ER

2 The coach–coachee relationship 18


A LANN A HE N D ER S O N A N D ST EP H EN P AL MER

PART II
Coaching psychology approaches and models 35

3 Coaching psychology approaches and models:


Solution‐focused, behavioural, and cognitive
behavioural 37
R AC HA EL SK E W S A N D S TEP H EN P A LM ER

4 Coaching psychology approaches and models:


Humanistic, integrative, and constructivist 52
A LISON WHY B RO W
x Contents

5 Assessment in coaching psychology 66


CA THER I N E S TEE L E

PART III
Applications in coaching psychology 79

6 Specialisms in coaching psychology 81


GISELE DI A S, S IO BH A I N O’ R I O RD AN , A ND S TEPH EN
PAL M ER

7 Working in organisations 99
SIOB HAI N O ’ R I OR D AN AN D S T EP H E N P ALM ER

8 Working with young people and youth coaching 112


O LE M IC H AE L S P A TE N

9 Life and personal coaching 127


SHEILA PA N CH A L, SI O B H AI N O’ RI OR D AN, AND S TEPHE N
PA LM ER

PART IV
Professional practice issues and research 139

10 Boundaries and best practice 141


A DRIA N M Y ER S A N D T AT IA N A BAC H K IROVA

11 Coaching and diversity 159


HO LAW

12 Coaching psychology research 175


Y I-L ING LA I A N D S TEP HE N P AL MER

PART V
Case studies and the future of coaching
psychology 191

13 Coaching psychology case studies 193


SIOB HAI N O ’ R I OR D AN AN D S T EP H E N P ALM ER

14 Reflections and developments for the future of


coaching psychology 205
SIOB HAI N O ’ R I OR D AN AN D S T EP H E N P ALM ER
Contents xi

Appendix 1: Coaching psychology and related


publications 214
Appendix 2: Web resources 216
Appendix 3: Coaching psychology professional bodies 217
Index 219
Figures

2.1 Coaching Alliance (CA) considerations 27


3.1 ACT matrix exercise 44
4.1 Level of pre-designation in integrative coaching
approaches 55
6.1 Specialisms in coaching psychology 82
6.2 The potential impact of chronic stress on performance
and wellbeing in coaching 84
9.1 Life coaching within the context of the transtheoretical
model of change 130
9.2 The INSIGHT Framework 134
11.1 Intersection between coaching psychology, diversity,
equality, and ethics 162
11.2 Universal integrated framework – A pragmatic model 164
11.3 Revised UIF – An integrative learning system 165
11.4 The Johari window 170
13.1 SPACE model with Karin’s problem 197
14.1 Delivery of face-to-face coaching by coaching psychologists 207
Tables

1.1 Mental health, coaching, and coaching psychology


training 8
6.1 Cognitive-behavioural solution-focused and positive
psychology coaching techniques and their intersections
as applicable to any coaching psychology specialism 88
10.1 The primary ethical principles of the BPS 145
10.2 Ethical moments of choice 146
12.1 Distributions and classifications of the included studies
(1995–2016) 177
12.2 Frequently applied and examined psychological coaching
interventions 178
14.1 An application of the individual INSIGHT model
in the context of COVID-19 transitions 210
Boxes

1.1 Reflective exercise – Coaching psychology training 9


1.2 Reflective exercise – Theories 13
2.1 Reflective activity – The coaching relationship 23
2.2 Reflective activity – The coaching agreement 28
3.1 Reflective activity – Have a go at the miracle question
or problem disappeared technique for yourself 39
3.2 Reflective activity – Have a go at the GROW process 40
3.3 Reflective activity – Working with PITS and PETS 42
3.4 Reflective exercise – Summarising approaches 43
6.1 Reflective exercise – Coaching psychology interventions 86
6.2 Reflective exercise – Coaching psychology specialisms 87
11.1 Coaching and diversity case study 167
12.1 Reflective exercise – Coaching psychology approaches 179
12.2 Reflective exercise – Evaluating the GROW model 180
12.3 Reflective exercise – The learner and teacher match 183
13.1 Reflective exercise – Considering the case studies 193
14.1 Reflective exercise – COVID-19 206
14.2 Reflective exercise – Tele-health 209
Preface

Since the turn of this century, coaching psychology has become increasingly
established in professional psychology bodies throughout the world. This is
represented by a range of activities including journals and publications,
national and international conferences, and reciprocal agreements with
professional bodies such as the International Society for Coaching
Psychology (ISCP). In terms of education, coaching psychology modules
are appearing in undergraduate psychology programmes in the UK and
Continental Europe. Additionally, there are now Certificate, Advanced
Certificate, Diploma, MSc and DPsych coaching psychology programmes,
PhD studies, and recognised courses around the globe.
The editors of this book have endeavoured to actively support the
advancement of coaching psychology over the years. As volunteers, they
have contributed as editors of peer-reviewed publications and journals and
held roles within professional psychology and coaching psychology bodies
to support the development of the profession. Furthermore, they have both
contributed within academic and educational coaching psychology settings
and worked as coaching psychologists and supervisors in organisations and
with individuals.
Given the growing interest in coaching psychology, it is now time for this
introductory book catered to an audience newer to the field, which will also
be suitable for all psychologists, coaches and counsellors interested in the
theory, research, and practice of coaching psychology.
We would like to thank each contributor and supporter of this project, for
their collaboration and participation.
Notes on the editors

Siobhain O’Riordan, PhD, is a chartered psychologist, a chartered scientist,


founder chair and a fellow of the International Society for Coaching
Psychology (ISCP). She is a Principal Practitioner of the Association for
Business Psychology, a fellow of the International Stress Management
Association UK, a member of the Association for Coaching, an honorary
member of the Institute of Health Promotion and Education, and an
Academic member of the Association of Rational Emotional Behavioural
Therapists. She is an ISCP Accredited Supervisor.
With her academic background, Siobhain is an experienced trainer,
examiner, and supervisor on graduate/postgraduate coaching and coaching
psychology programmes. She is a course co-director/trainer on the coaching
and coaching psychology programmes at the Centre for Coaching and Centre
for Stress Management (UK).
She is a past editor of the publications The Coaching Psychologist and the
International Journal of Health Promotion and Education. She is currently an
editor of Coaching Psychology International and the International Journal of
Coaching Psychology. Siobhain is a co-editor of the European Journal of
Applied Positive Psychology and the International Journal of Stress
Prevention and Wellbeing. In 2010 she received the Distinguished
Contribution to Coaching Psychology Award (British Psychological
Society Special Group in Coaching Psychology). Siobhain is an Honorary
Research Fellow of the Wales Academy for Professional Practice and
Applied Research (WAPPAR) at University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Stephen Palmer, PhD, is one of the leading pioneers in the field of coaching
psychology. He is Professor of Practice at the Wales Academy for
Professional Practice and Applied Research, University of Wales Trinity
Saint David. Stephen is the coordinating director of the ISCP International
Centre for Coaching Psychology Research, and Founder Director of the
Centre for Coaching, London. He is the honorary president and fellow of
the International Society for Coaching Psychology. He was the first chair of
Notes on the editors xvii

the British Psychology Society Special Group in Coaching Psychology and


former honorary president of the Association for Coaching.
The British Psychological Society (BPS), Division of Counselling
Psychology, awarded him the Annual Counselling Psychology Award for
‘Outstanding Professional and Scientific Contribution to Counselling
Psychology in Britain for 2000’. In 2008, the BPS Special Group in
Coaching Psychology gave him the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award in
Recognition of Distinguished Contribution to Coaching Psychology’.
Stephen is the executive editor of the International Journal of Coaching
Psychology and Co-editor of the European Journal of Applied Positive
Psychology. He edits book series, including Coaching Psychology
(Routledge). He has written and edited over 50 books, including the
Handbook of Coaching Psychology: A Guide for Practitioners (with
Whybrow, 2019), and has published over 250 articles and chapters.
Contributors

Tatiana Bachkirova is a professor of coaching psychology and director of the


International Centre for Coaching and Mentoring Studies at Oxford
Brookes University, UK. She is a recognised author, international
speaker, and an active researcher. Her books include Developmental
Coaching: Working with the Self (2011) and The SAGE Handbook of
Coaching (2017).
Gisele Dias is a chartered psychologist (British Psychological Society),
coaching psychologist, and neuroscientist. She is a lecturer in
psychology at the University of Greenwich and has a special interest in
developing and evaluating psychological interventions to promote
wellbeing, resilience and positive mental health in different groups and
communities.
Per-Olof Eriksson is a chartered psychologist and one of Sweden’s most
experienced coaches, delivering executive and career coaching to both
private and public sector organisations. He is the founder and chair of
“Coaching Psychologists”, part of The Swedish Psychological Society,
and honorary vice president of the International Society for Coaching
Psychology.
Lizz Fields-Pattinson is a chartered psychologist, stress management
cognitive behavioural (CB) coach, and LEAP equine facilitated
learning practitioner. She has many years experience in consultancy
within organisations, improving their culture around health safety and
wellbeing. She is now Director of Harness Coaching CIC, which
combines traditional CB Coaching with Equine Facilitated Practice.
Kristina Gyllensten works as a psychologist and researcher at Sahlgrenska
University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her particular interests are
workplace stress, stress management, and cognitive behavioural therapy
and coaching, on which she has co-authored a number of articles and
chapters.
Contributors xix

Alanna Henderson is a practising coaching psychologist working primarily


with coachees on developmental and well-being goals. She also lectures
on the Career Management and Coaching MSc at Birkbeck University,
London. With a particular interest in the impact of the coaching
relationship on coaching process and outcomes, Alanna has authored
several book chapters and peer-reviewed articles on the topic.
Yi-Ling Lai is currently a lecturer in organisational psychology at Birkbeck
University of London. Yi-Ling had several years in talent management
and leadership development consultancy experience prior to her academic
career. Yi-Ling has published several peer-reviewed journal papers and
book chapters in coaching and social psychology areas.
Ho Law, Prof (Hons) PhD CPsychol FISCP (Accred) AFBPS FHEA is a
director and fellow of International Society for Coaching Psychology; an
associate fellow of the British Psychological Society; fellow of the Higher
Education Academy; life fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine;
honorary professor of research & psychology at Colombo International
Institute of Higher Education (CIIHE), Sri Lanka; and the founder of
Empsy® Cambridge Coaching Psychology Group in the UK.
Adrian Myers is a senior lecturer in coaching and mentoring at Oxford
Brookes University. He also lectures in change management. He is a
chartered occupational psychologist. Adrian has a background in
leadership development and management in the steel industry. His
research interests include the coaching process and cultural trends
which influence the practice of coaching.
Hugh O’Donovan is a chartered psychologist, teacher, author of “Mindful
Walking”, conference speaker, and principal practitioner with Hugh
O’Donovan and Associates. He is Co-Founder of the first Masters in
Coaching Psychology in an Irish University (University College Cork) as
well as a founding member of PSI, DWOP, Coaching Psychology Group.
He is an honorary vice president of the International Society of Coaching
Psychology (ISCP).
Filomila Papakonstantinou is a psychological coach, facilitator, speaker, and
coaching supervisor. She holds an Advanced Diploma in Coaching
Accredited by the Association for Coaching and is qualified in several
psychometric tools. She is an L&D Partner and internal coach in the
Financial Ombudsman Service and has extensive leadership and career
coaching experience.
Sheila Panchal (CPsychol) is a business psychologist with 20 years of cross-
sector consultancy and coaching experience. Her published work includes
‘Developmental Coaching: Life Transitions and Generational Perspectives’
xx Contributors

(co-edited with Stephen Palmer) and ‘Turning 30: How to get the life you
really want’ (co-authored with Ellen Jackson).
Rachael Skews is a chartered psychologist and a full member of the British
Psychological Society’s (BPS) Division of Occupational Psy-
chology. She is a member of the BPS Special Group in Coaching
Psychology. She is a director of the International Society for Coaching
Psychology, a fellow of the Centre for Evidence-Based Management, and
an associate fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Ole Michael Spaten, Licensed psychologist, BA MA PhD Specialist
Psychotherapy, MISCPAccred Supervisor, Fellow ISCP, Head of
Psychology Master Program, Director of Coaching Psychology Unit,
and Senior Researcher at Department of Communication and
Psychology, Aalborg University. Award-winning psychologist Ole
Michael Spaten is a leading pioneer in Danish Coaching Psychology
research; he conducted the first randomised control trial in Scandinavia
evaluating the effectiveness of brief cognitive behavioural coaching. He is
the founding editor-in-chief of the Danish Journal of Coaching
Psychology. Ole’s research interests and publications relate to self and
identity, social learning, coaching psychology-psychotherapy practice,
and intervention.
Catherine Steele is an associate professor of psychology at the University of
Leicester and an occupational and coaching psychologist. In her
academic role, Catherine teaches in the area of coaching and well-being
at work. In her coaching practice, Catherine offers coaching programmes
to both individuals and groups, and specialises in coaching for health and
wellbeing.
Alison Whybrow is a chartered psychologist and practitioner-researcher.
Transforming leadership capability and curious to deepen and expand her
practice whilst stretching the horizons of the professions she belongs to,
with the aim of facilitating a regenerative approach to living within our
earth’s systems. Author, speaker, coach, and supervisor.
Foreword
Managing the Stress of the Pandemic and Recession: The Challenge for
Coaching Psychology

Professor Sir Cary Cooper, ALLIANCE Manchester Business School,


University of Manchester, UK

The two main forces which undermine a person’s mental well-being are
‘uncertainty’ and ‘lack of control’. The pandemic and the ensuing recession
will be a double psychological whammy, which is likely to lead to a tsunami
of mental health problems as well as people worried about their jobs,
careers, and financial worries. Even before the pandemic, most countries had
a mental health crisis because of the lack of parity in funding between
mental and physical ill-health. In the UK, just before the health crisis, 57%
of all sickness absence in the UK economy was for stress, anxiety, and
depression, surpassing muscular-skeletal diseases for the first time. During
the height of the pandemic in May 2020, the UK Office of National
Statistics found in a large-scale study that 63% of people nationally were
experiencing stress and anxiety, with fears for their jobs, their future (75%),
and for their financial wellbeing (70%).
Never before have we had such major global events at the same time, with
the concomitant need for coaching, counselling, and psychotherapeutic
support. We need a proverbial army of coaches, coaching psychologists, and
counsellors to provide support for the walking wounded in the workplace
and in communities, as well as those unable to function in society more
generally. Coaching psychology is part of that army, who can make a
difference to people’s lives. We need to remember the words of Henry David
Thoreau in 1853 when he wrote: “how prompt we are to satisfy the hunger
and thirst of our bodies, how slow to satisfy the hunger and thirst of
our souls!”.
This book will help in the training of the present and future army of ‘people
carers’, of people who can support the people who need the reassurance and
comfort of coaching psychologists as well as counsellors. During these
difficult times, coaching psychologists can provide the insights that will help
people find the way through turbulent times, and will create the opportunity
of some inner peace. They can provide what John Ruskin — the British social
xxii Foreword

reformer — suggested was important for people entering the Industrial


Revolution in 1851: “In order that people may be happy in their work, these
three things are needed: they must be fit for it, they must not do too much of it
and they must have a sense of success in it”.
This book will help in the training of a generation of coaches, coaching
psychologists, and counsellors for those in need of guidance and support.
Part I

Introduction to coaching
psychology

This book offers opportunities for both learning and reflection to the in-
terested reader. A range of topics are offered to share the theory, research,
and practice of coaching psychology. Part I aims to introduce the discipline
of coaching psychology and begins to set the scene.
In Chapter 1, the editors outline the context and development of coaching
and coaching psychology. Links between coaching psychology and other
areas of psychology are also offered. Chapter 2 explores the nature of the
coach–coachee relationship, where Alanna Henderson and Stephen Palmer
focus on topics such as the critical role of the coaching alliance in the
coaching process and in coaching outcomes.
Chapter 1

The background and


development of coaching and
coaching psychology
Siobhain O’Riordan and Stephen Palmer

Introduction
This chapter offers an overview and introduction to the field of coaching
psychology. We will focus on setting the scene and begin by outlining the
context and development of coaching and coaching psychology, while also
briefly linking our discussion to the field of positive psychology as an as-
sociated applied area of psychology. A snapshot of some of the topical
current research areas will also be outlined. The international establishment
of coaching psychology, as an area of research and practice over the last two
decades, will be summarised. Later, we will briefly explore links between
coaching psychology and other areas of psychology and what this suggests
for the future. The learning aims of this chapter will enable the reader to:

• consider definitions of coaching, coaching psychology, and positive


psychology and gain insights about areas of their commonality, co-
existence, and differences;
• learn about findings from coaching psychology research on current
topics including coaching psychology supervision, coaching psychology,
and mental health and ecopsychology informed coaching psychology
practice;
• understand the development of coaching psychology within an
international context and learn about the establishment of coaching
psychology over the last 20 years;
• discover characteristics and milestones that have emerged during the
development of coaching psychology, as an independent area of
psychological research and practice; and
• reflect upon the links between coaching psychology and other areas of
psychology.
4 Siobhain O’Riordan and Stephen Palmer

Context and development of coaching psychology

Understanding coaching and coaching psychology


There are various general definitions of coaching and coaching psychology
to draw upon from the published literature. These are commonly shared on
training courses as well as in books and publications because such summary
statements help us clarify and refine our understanding of these areas of
practice and/or applied psychology. They also enable coaches and coaching
psychologists to articulate the focus of their work in both research and
practice-based settings (e.g., to their clients and coachees). We will examine
some examples of these descriptions next in this chapter.
From the perspective of coaching, perhaps the most well-known definition
is offered by Whitmore (1992, p. 8); this promotes the view that “Coaching
is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is
helping them to learn rather than teaching them – a facilitation approach”.
Downey (1999, p. 15) simply stated that it is “… the art of facilitating the
performance and development of another …”. Grant (2003, p. 254) ex-
panded this to suggest that life coaching is “a collaborative solution-focused,
result-orientated and systematic process in which the coach facilitates the
enhancement of life experience and goal attainment in the personal and/or
professional life of normal, nonclinical clients”. From a solution-focused
perspective, it has simply been described as “an outcome-oriented,
competence-based approach” (O’Connell & Palmer, 2019, p. 270). When
we reflect upon some of the common themes, we define the purpose of
coaching as the philosophy of encouraging the coachees’ learning, re-
sourcefulness, and self-insight in a non-directive collaborative way to en-
hance their goal-striving and achievement.
Currently, further research is required to understand the actual effects of
coaching but a literature review by Schermuly and Graßmann (2018) found
that positive aspects for the client (or coachee) included improvements in job
performance and changes in coping abilities and highlighted the important
contribution of coachee self-efficacy to coaching outcomes. Negative points,
which can arise even when coaching is believed to be effective, included the
triggering of problems for the coachee as well as a decrease in job sa-
tisfaction and lowered goal attainment. This review study also suggested
that there were some negative effects for coaches (e.g., well-being, reduced
sense of competence, lack of recognition) and workplaces (e.g., coachees’
development pathway is a poor fit with the organisation).
It has been observed that coaching and coaching psychology have de-
veloped at a noticeably fast pace in recent years; Whybrow and Palmer
(2019) have highlighted “Whilst coaching and coaching psychology main-
tain distinctions, their paths are aligned; walking together rather than
divergently, each learns from and is informed by the other” (p. 5).
The background and development 5

Indeed, Palmer and Whybrow (2019) provided a summary of the past,


present, and future state of play of coaching psychology in an early chapter
of their Handbook of Coaching Psychology, which may be a useful resource
for the interested reader with a desire to learn more.
Like coaching, there is no universally accepted definition of coaching
psychology. So, this means there are also various descriptions available in
the literature aiming to represent the key features of coaching psychology.
Interestingly, some place a slightly different emphasis on the main in-
gredients of this area of psychological research and practice, which have
frequently been influenced by broader national psychology contexts and
have also changed or have been revised over time. For example, one early
definition of coaching psychology was originally contributed by Grant and
Palmer (2002) and adapted by the British Psychological Society Special
Group in Coaching Psychology (BPS SGCP), who asserted that it “… is for
enhancing well-being and performance in personal life and work domains
underpinned by models of coaching grounded in established adult and child
learning or psychological theories” (Palmer & Whybrow, 2007, p. 3). This
definition was aligned, but different, to those offered by other professional
bodies—such as the Australian Psychological Society’s Interest Group in
Coaching Psychology (APS IGCP) who set out in 2002 that “Coaching
Psychology, as an applied positive psychology, draws on and develops es-
tablished psychological approaches, and can be understood as being the
systematic application of behavioural science to the enhancement of life
experience, work performance and wellbeing for individuals, groups and
organisations who do not have clinically significant mental health issues or
abnormal levels of distress” (APS IGCP, retrieved 2007). A key takeaway
here is that definitions of coaching psychology tend to highlight the psy-
chological approaches, theory, and evidence base that underpin the
coaching process. This appears less obvious in most definitions of coaching.
The APS IGCP emphasised positive psychology in their original defini-
tion, which offers us a rationale to say more about this here. The field of
coaching psychology and positive psychology have many congruent aims,
and areas that overlap and have been considered as “best friends” and
complementary in the literature (Green & Palmer, 2019). However, the focus
of coaching psychology as an applied positive psychology emphasises the
development of coaching psychology alongside the broader field of positive
psychology. Explanations of positive psychology have included “… the
scientific study of what makes life most worth living” (Peterson, 2014, p. 2)
and “… the study of the conditions and processes that contribute to the
flourishing or optimal human functioning of people, groups, and institu-
tions” (Gable & Haidt, 2005, p. 104). This is in line with the aims and un-
derpinning philosophy of the discipline of coaching psychology. However,
Green and Palmer point out their key differences, which include positive
psychology prioritising the goal of enhancing wellbeing and optimal
6 Siobhain O’Riordan and Stephen Palmer

functioning, whereas coaching psychology places the individuals meaningful


goal-striving and achievement more in the foreground. Positive psychology
coaching can be understood as “… evidence-based coaching practice in-
formed by the theories and research of positive psychology for the en-
hancement of resilience, achievement and wellbeing” (Green & Palmer, 2014
cited in Green & Palmer, 2019, p. 10). Palmer and Whybrow (2019) found
that 63% of coaching psychologists and 57% of coaches reported using
positive psychology-based coaching approaches. Beyond positive psy-
chology, coaching psychologists use a range of other psychological ap-
proaches and draw on broader evidence-based practice in their work; this
will be discussed and elaborated throughout this book.
The APS IGCP later changed its name to the APS Coaching Psychology
Interest Group (CPIG) and now states that “Coaching Psychology can be
understood as the systematic application of behavioural science to the en-
hancement of life experiences, work performance, the wellbeing and po-
tential of individuals, groups, and organisations” (APS CPIG, 2020). In this
description, there is no explicit reference to positive psychology. The BPS
SGCP (2020) now defines coaching psychology as ‘the scientific study and
application of behaviour, cognition and emotion to deepen our under-
standing of individuals’ and groups’ performance, achievement and well-
being, and to enhance practice within coaching’. Bringing together these
different elements, we consider coaching psychology to be the application of
psychological theory, research, and evidence-based practice to encourage the
coachees’ learning, resourcefulness, and self-insight in a non-directive col-
laborative way to enhance their goal-striving and achievement.
So, it is worth noting that coaching psychology is still a developing field
and there is no one agreed definition. Of course, this is no different from
other disciplines of psychology where different national psychology bodies
have developed their own definitions of counselling, clinical, sport, health,
and forensic psychology.

Topics in coaching psychology


There are many areas and specialisms in coaching and coaching psychology.
Typical topics within the scope of the work of coaching psychologists focus
upon the life/personal domain or relate to coaching in organisations. Coaching
psychology is offered within a range of different contexts such as within the
workplace, education, health, and wellbeing settings, personal (life) topics,
performance (e.g., academic, work-related, sports), and even within less tradi-
tional environments such as animal-assisted interventions. Within this book, we
have focused on a number of these domains and aimed to provide case studies
to help illustrate some of the areas of coaching psychology practice in action.
As will be illustrated throughout this book, there are several topics of
interest to coaching psychologists and to the further establishment of the
The background and development 7

profession. Some of these key current topics for coaching psychologists


include supervision, mental health, and ecopsychology. We will now con-
sider some research findings on these three topic areas, which can be shared
following initiatives by the ISCP International Centre for Coaching
Psychology Research (ICCPR) (https://www.iscpresearch.org).

• The role of coaching psychology supervision


In 2017, an online pilot study was conducted on the topic of Coaching
Supervision, where 112* respondents (drawn from across 21 countries)
answered a range of questions about their coaching/coaching
psychology practice and supervision arrangements (Palmer, 2017). In
this study, 69.66% (n = 62) said that it should be mandatory for coaches
and coaching psychologists to receive supervision of their coaching
practice, with most respondents answering that regular 1:1 supervision
was very important for a practitioner’s coaching practice (56%, n = 50).
When asked how helpful coaching supervision has been for them in the
past 12 months, most respondents found it helpful. Factors such as trust
were also rated as important by most respondents in the coaching
supervision relationship. This cohort largely answered that supervision
enhanced their wellbeing and that they would bring a coaching
assignment to supervision in which they believed they performed
badly. Most respondents also believed that supervision enhances their
performance with coachees.

• Working with mental health within coaching psychology practice


To offer additional insights, in 2019 the ISCP ICCPR undertook an
online pilot study on the topic of Mental Health in Coaching and
Coaching Psychology Practice (Palmer, 2019). The aim of this ongoing
work is to further explore the current context relating to mental health,
coaching, and coaching psychology. The study was an online survey
undertaken by 110* coaches and coaching psychologists who were based
across 20 countries.
Table 1.1 outlines a summary of how respondents answered key
questions in terms of training in coaching and coaching psychology
practice, which shows that whilst there is a preference for mental health
training, not all training programmes include this within the syllabus.
Aside from these findings, respondents reported that the action most
taken when they realised a coachee was experiencing mental health issues
was ‘Recommended that the coachee considered seeing a mental health
professional’ (81.63%, n = 80). Over half also ‘Discussed with the coachee
their mental health problem’ (63.27%, n = 62) and recommended the

*
Not all questions were answered by every respondent.
8 Siobhain O’Riordan and Stephen Palmer

Table 1.1 Mental health, coaching, and coaching psychology training

Responses

Yes No Unsure I have not attended


an extended
coaching or
coaching psychology
Question training programme

Should coaches and 83.67% 2.04% 14.29% --


coaching (n = 82) (n = 2) (n = 14)
psychologists
receive training in
mental health to
inform their
coaching and
coaching psychology
practice?
Did your coach/ 51.02% 36.73% 4.08 8.16%
coaching psychology (n = 50) (n = 36) (n = 4) (n = 8)
training programme
include any lectures
or reading material
on recognising
Mental Health
Problems?
Did your coach/ 61.22% 25.51% 5.10% 8.16%
coaching psychology (n = 60) (n = 25) (n = 5) (n = 8)
training programme
include any lectures
or reading material
on when and how to
refer on a coachee
with Mental Health
Problems?

coachee see their General Practitioner (56.12%, n = 55). When asked what
action they took when a coachee shared that they had suicidal thoughts
and/or considered harming themselves, it was reported that most
respondents had again “Recommended that the coachee should consider
seeing a mental health professional” (60.92%, n = 53) and “Recommended
that the coachee see their General Practitioner” (41.73%, n = 41). Some
other courses of action included “Discussed with the coachee their suicidal
thinking” (44.83%, n = 39) and “Encouraged the coachee to discuss their
mental health problem with partner or family member” (35.63%, n = 31).
Most respondents said they would definitely bring to a supervision session
a coaching assignment in which they believed their coachee had a mental
The background and development 9

health problem (70.10%, n = 68) and when they had done so, most
reported this had been extremely useful (63.89%, n = 46).
This pilot study offers some preliminary insights to help encourage
further research as well as practitioner reflection, debate, and the
engagement in good coaching and coaching psychology practice.

Box 1.1 Reflective exercise – Coaching psychology


training

Should coaching and coaching psychology training include how to


recognise and tackle mental health issues?

• Ecopsychology informed coaching psychology


Interested in exploring alternatives to traditional “sit and talk”
coaching formats, O’Riordan and Palmer (2019a) reported the findings
from two studies based on outdoor coaching formats. This work
drew upon an ecopsychology-informed coaching psychology
approach. During these short research studies which were
conducted at different times and locations, participants were
invited to have a coaching conversation whilst undertaking a short
walk near a blue space (by the water) outdoor activity. Findings from
both studies indicated that participants’ self-reported wellbeing and
vitality scores improved following coaching within these natural
outdoor-based settings, which is in support of the findings from
existing work in this area. The ISCP ICCPR has also reported initial
findings from their ISCP Survey: Tackling climate change issues
raised within coaching & coaching psychology practice (Palmer, 2020).
Coachee concerns included being worried about the future, feeling
overwhelmed and hopeless, and the long-term impact on family life.
Some interventions coaches found useful included providing
resources for information, conversational intelligence, digging
deeper into values and legacy, and asking how “that” impacts on …?

Links between coaching psychology and other areas


of psychology
Our focus in this book is on coaching psychology, so in terms of the context
of this specific area of practice, it is relevant to note that in 2006, Cavanagh
and Palmer stated that “… six months in the rapidly expanding field of
coaching psychology really is a long time” (p. 5). This viewpoint seems to
have stood the test of time, and the development and global establishment of
10 Siobhain O’Riordan and Stephen Palmer

coaching psychology has continued. Developments within the coaching


psychology community have been summarised by Cavanagh and Palmer
who, in 2012, highlighted that International Congresses in Coaching
Psychology had taken place in London, Dublin, Barcelona, Stockholm and
Pretoria1 within a year. Since then, congress events have been held in
Sydney, Israel, Rome, Melbourne, America, Denmark, and London. The
9th International Congress of Coaching Psychology was hosted by the
International Society for Coaching Psychology (ISCP) in London in
October 2019. The 10th International Congress of Coaching Psychology has
been held as a virtual four-day congress event in 2020.
Palmer and Whybrow (2007, p. xix) suggested that “… we will see more
collaborative work between all of the professional psychological bodies over
the next few years”, and there are plenty of examples of mutual and re-
ciprocal work between coaching psychology bodies/groups to evidence the
reality of this prediction. More recently, we have argued that “The in-
creasing status and maturation of this area of psychology potentially also
offers important insights, evidence, opportunities and implications for
academic and applied psychology in general” (O’Riordan & Palmer, 2019b,
p. 574). We also believe that the role of professional bodies is critical “… in
the dissemination of knowledge and information in their journals, pub-
lications, websites, social media, virtual communities, events and con-
ferences” (p. 576). In 2019, Whybrow and Palmer noted that there were 21
formal interest groups in coaching psychology around the world.
So, we have seen the establishment of an increasing number of coaching
psychology bodies and groups across the world. Although they do differ in
some aspects, including their stages of development, structure, and (where
relevant)—based on any national/local requirements—by their presiding
professional psychology body. However, they also share at their core a range
of common areas and mutual objectives and strategies to support the de-
velopment and establishment of the profession of coaching psychology.
We have summarised elsewhere some of the themes in the education, re-
search, profession, and community of coaching psychology (O’Riordan &
Palmer, 2019b, pp. 573–574), including key characteristics and milestones.
These seem appropriate to briefly revisit here and include:

• greater focus in coaching psychology education and research;


• links within the international coaching psychology community,
including the establishment of relationships between professional
psychology and coaching psychology bodies;
• a growing number of coaching psychology interest groups or
membership networks within national psychology bodies—many of
which sit within the structure of nationally recognised psychology
bodies, while some are also independent groups;
• initiatives contributing to the professionalisation of the field such as
The background and development 11

accreditation/certification for coaching psychologists and coaching


psychology supervisors.

Whilst most professional psychology bodies facilitate the state or national


registration of psychologists, a number of psychology and coaching psy-
chology bodies offer a system of accreditation/certification or register for
coaching psychologists (or this is a future objective). The ISCP was also the
first to offer a register for accredited coaching psychology supervisors.
Further, to promote the goals of the international coaching psychology
community, the ISCP shares memorandums of understanding with a
number of the professional bodies, which symbolise the intention to work
collaboratively on activities such as dissemination of knowledge and—more
recently—the recognition of dual pathways for the accreditation of coaching
psychologists. The overall combined membership of coaching psychology
bodies across the world represents thousands of people who have an interest
in coaching psychology, psychology students/undergraduates or graduates,
or perhaps qualified psychologists working as coaching psychologists.
Although books are very useful in learning about a particular topic, at-
tending conferences and reading the latest articles published in journals can
also be informative. Coaching psychology journals and publications include
the Coaching Psykologi: The Danish Journal of Coaching Psychology
published by the Coaching Psychology Units at Aalborg University and
University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The BPS SGCP has two publications:
The Coaching Psychologist (TCP), and a joint initiative with APS IGCP
titled the International Coaching Psychology Review (ICPR). The ISCP
publish Coaching Psychology International (CPI), to encourage submis-
sions, viewpoints, and the sharing of insights and developments from across
the world. The ISCP also sponsor the International Journal of Coaching
Psychology (IJCP) launched in August 2020 by the National Wellbeing
Service. Coaching journals and publications include Coaching Perspectives,
(published by the Association for Coaching), The International Journal of
Evidenced Based Coaching & Mentoring (published by Oxford Brookes
University), Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and
Practice, (published by Taylor Francis in collaboration with the Association
for Coaching and Institute for Coaching), Consulting Psychology Journal:
Research and Practice (publication of the Society of Consulting Psychology)
and Coaching at Work. These journals are very useful to keep both trainee
and experienced coaches and coaching psychologists up-to-date with the
field. Some publications are freely available online to either read and/or
download the articles.
There are ongoing discussions in the field about how to best promote
coaching psychology and it is fair to say that there is some resistance and
obstacles in its goal to be acknowledged as an independent area of research
and practice with the broader field of psychology—more so perhaps within
12 Siobhain O’Riordan and Stephen Palmer

particular nationally recognised psychology bodies. We have suggested that


“… standardisation and quality assurance might debatably be the bedrock
to moving the profession of coaching psychology forward and achieving less
resistance and wider acceptance both inside and outside of the field
of psychology” (O’Riordan & Palmer, 2019b, pp. 581–582). Some of the
helping professions within psychology have also been encouraged to actively
work with coaching psychology; for example, Grant and Palmer (2015)
reason that “… the time has come for counselling psychology to more ex-
plicitly engage with the knowledge and skill sets found in both positive
psychology and coaching psychology in order to develop more flexible and
effective evidence-based ways to help their counselling clients improve their
psychological functioning and wellbeing and help them attain meaningful
goals” (p. 22).
The importance of evidence underpinning practice is one of the defining
features of coaching psychology; this can be in the form of theory and re-
search drawn from across psychology and the allied disciplines. Grant and
O’Connor (2019) emphasise that this is a consideration for each coaching
psychologist because … “Staying abreast of good-quality current research is
essential if we are to be effective evidence-based practitioners” (p. 8). They
also point out that this doesn’t always need to be expensive and time-
consuming, outlining in their paper the steps to provide interested readers
with accessible and factually balanced ways of sourcing information to stay
up to date with coaching and coaching psychology developments via Google
Scholar (scholar.google.com) alerts. We would add that the virtual world
also offers a significant accessible evidence pool through online networks
such as ResearchGate (www.researchgate.net). Joining a professional
coaching psychology body is additionally frequently accompanied by
member benefits such as access to publications, journals, and opportunities
to attend and contribute to events and conferences (virtual and in-person).
All of these offer the opportunity to be up to date on current research and
thinking in the field of coaching and coaching psychology.
Although evidence-based practice research shared at conferences and
published in books and journals often inform coaching psychology practice,
theories taken from a broad spectrum of general psychology also influence
the direction of research and inform practice. A number of the key theories
include:

• Adult Learning Theories (e.g., Levinson, 1986; Kegan, 1982, 1994;


Kolb, 1984)
• Emotional Regulation: ABCDE Theory and Model (Ellis, 1962, 1991;
Ellis, Gordon, Neenan, & Palmer, 1997)
• Goal Theory (Grant, 2012; Locke & Latham, 1984, 1990; Latham &
Locke, 1984).
• Information Processing Theory (Beck & Clarke, 1997)
The background and development 13

• PERMA Theory of Well-Being (Seligman, 2011)


• Psychological Well-Being Theory (Ryff, 1989, 2014; Ryff &
Singer, 1996)
• Self-Efficacy Theory (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997)
• Self Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Ryan & Deci,
2000, 2017)
• Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986, 1988)
• Theory of Self-Actualisation and Human Motivation (Maslow, 1943)

Box 1.2 Reflective exercise – Theories

Which theories just listed are you already knowledgeable about and
how could they inform coaching practice?

As you read this book, you might consider or negotiate a more formal
pathway to become a psychologist—perhaps even wonder what the route
might be to become a coaching psychologist. Whilst we consider coaching
psychology to be an emergent and distinct discipline within the profession of
psychology, coaching psychology is also the home or co-home to many
qualified psychologists, even though they might, in parallel, work within the
more traditional areas of psychology such as counselling, education, health,
occupational/organisational, teaching and research, clinical, sports and ex-
ercise, or forensic psychology.

Chapter summary
This chapter has focused on outlining a range of themes to explain the
current international position of coaching psychology. Over the last two
decades, we can see its development has been rapid and successful. The
momentum has stayed future- and goal-focused. Continuing to look ahead,
a key challenge will be to achieve a more consistent recognition of coaching
psychology at the level of national professional psychology bodies across the
world. Arguably, in some circumstances, the contribution that coaching
psychology can make to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals,
organisations, and communities is possibly being held back until all of the
recognised national psychology bodies fully support both its existence and
possibilities. Even so, over the past two decades, the research community
has been publishing research and literature reviews that have furthered the
field of evidence-based coaching and coaching psychology (e.g., de Haan,
Grant, Burger, & Eriksson, 2016; Grant, Curtayne, & Burton, 2009; Grover
& Furnham, 2016; Jones, Woods, & Guillaume, 2016; Lai & Palmer, 2019).
14 Siobhain O’Riordan and Stephen Palmer

Whereas in the 1990s practitioners knew that coaching worked, we now


have the published research to demonstrate that it does.

Discussion questions

1. What are the key similarities and differences between coaching,


coaching psychology, and positive psychology?
2. What do you see as the five main challenges and opportunities for
coaching psychology as a profession over the next decade?
3. When you have read this book, revisit this chapter. How has your view
and understanding about the research and practice of coaching
psychology developed?

Note
1 https://www.coachingpsychologycongress.net

Further reading
Green, S., & Palmer, S. (2019). Positive psychology coaching. In S. Green & S.
Palmer (Eds.), Positive Psychology Coaching in Practice. Abingdon, Oxon:
Routledge.
O’Riordan, S., & Palmer, S. (2019). Global activity in the education and practice of
coaching psychology. In S. Palmer & A. Whybrow (Eds.), Handbook of Coaching
Psychology: A Guide for Practitioners (2nd ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge,
573–583.
Whybrow, A., & Palmer, S. (2019). Past, present and future. In S. Palmer & A.
Whybrow (Eds.), Handbook of coaching psychology: A guide for practitioners (2nd
ed., pp. 5–13). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

References
APS CPIG (2020). Coaching psychology. Retrieved 1st September, 2020, from:
https://groups.psychology.org.au/igcp/
APS IGCP (2007). Definition of coaching psychology. Retrieved 10th April, 2007.
From: https://groups.psychology.org.au/igcp
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change.
Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive
theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A. (1988). Social cognitive theory of moral judgment and action. In W. M.
Kurtines & J. L. Gewirtz (Eds.), Moral behavior and development: Advances in
theory, research, and applications (Vol. 1). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W. H.
Freeman.
The background and development 15

Beck, A. T., & Clarke, D. A. (1997). An information processing model of anxiety:


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BPS SGCP (2020). Definition of coaching psychology. Retrieved on 1st September,
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Cavanagh, M., & Palmer, S. (2006). Editorial - The theory, practice and research
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Cavanagh, M. J., & Palmer, S., (2012). Editorial: Coaching psychology coming of
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Chapter 2

The coach–coachee
relationship
Alanna Henderson and Stephen Palmer

Introduction
The learning aims of this chapter are about:

• understanding the nature of the coaching relationship;


• appreciating the critical role of the coaching alliance in the coaching
process and in coaching outcomes;
• comprehending the functional similarities (as well as differences) in
coaching alliances to other helping relationships and across coachees;
• awareness of the links between the coaching relationship and coaching
psychology, in research and practice terms; and
• understanding how coaching relationship research findings can usefully
inform coaching practice.

The purpose and focus of this chapter is to demonstrate the fundamental


importance of coaches and coachees actively fostering strong coaching al­
liances, drawing upon coaching research evidence and discussing examples
in coaching practice.
The focus of the chapter is on illustrating what has been found in research
studies to indicate the formation of effective coaching relationships, and
suggest how coachees and coaches can actively work on establishing, de­
veloping, maintaining, and ending these coaching relationships in the service
of constructive coaching outcomes.
The chapter will cover the following areas, by:
• Providing background and context, and explaining the relevance of, the
coaching relationship to coaching psychology.
• Discussing Working Alliance Theory as a framework useful in approaching
the coaching alliance.
• Emphasising the importance of creating and maintaining a coachee-
appropriate coaching alliance; introducing key themes, practical issues and
problems that may arise in working with the coaching alliance, as well as
pointers to how these might be avoided or addressed.
The coach–coachee relationship 19

• Outlining four areas of coaching psychology which are linked to the


coaching relationship.
• Examining the ways in which coaching relationship evidence informs
coaching practice, by considering how the key themes translate into
coaching work, and through a case study with a coachee, Howard.

Key themes, an introduction to the theory and basic


concepts

Brief background and context


A constant in all our lives is the experience of establishing, developing,
maintaining, and—sometimes—ending our relationships. During this life-
long activity, relationships evolve and change, and we notice that some
aspects of relationship forming are similar, while some different, in specific
relationships. The coaching relationship also needs to be established,
developed, maintained, and ended. Whilst it is a relationship between coa­
chee and coach as two people, with an interpersonal dynamic that is unique
to the two individuals participating much like any other relationship, the
coaching relationship is also a professional relationship formed for a par­
ticular reason. Coaching relationships also contain certain commonalities,
such as the necessity for both individuals to believe in its propensity to prove
helpful to coaching and achieving the coachee’s goals. Its purpose is to
enable the coaching process and assist the coachee in reaching their goals
and/or enhance their well-being through effective coaching outcomes.

Key themes

Actively building coaching relationships


The fundamental basis of this chapter is that we need to actively build ef­
fective coaching relationships with our coachees for two reasons. First,
many aspects of our coaching relationships—such as trust in each other and
the coaching process and commitment—are important in building effective
coaching relationships that can navigate the challenges as well as benefit
from the achievements of the coaching process. Second, and crucially, re­
search studies have found that effective coaching relationships (primarily the
coaching alliance aspect of the coaching relationship) are linked with
coaching success (Baron & Morin, 2009; De Haan, Duckworth, Birch, &
Jones, 2013). Together, these key findings in coaching research suggest that
if we establish, develop, and maintain effective relationships with our coa­
chees over the course of the coaching endeavour, coaching success (in the
form of various coaching outcomes) is more likely to occur.
20 Alanna Henderson and Stephen Palmer

The research studies referred to here point to the general findings using coaching
samples, important in fostering these aspects of the coaching relationship and the
forming of an effective relationship to encourage desired coaching outcomes.

Tailoring the coaching relationship


What we also need to bear in mind is that every time we begin coaching a
new coachee, we are establishing a coaching relationship that generally may
be similar to those with other coachees; however it is also specific to this
particular individual. This tailoring of the coaching relationship to the
particular coachee can help optimise the coaching process and outcomes. It
involves multiple ways in which the coaching relationship may vary and, in
later sections of this chapter, this topic will be explored further.
Also relevant to this discussion of the similarities and differences in in­
dividual coaching relationships are the findings on positive relationships from
relationship science (e.g., Reis, De Jong, Lee, O’Keefe, & Peters, 2016). These
findings propose that instead of thinking of relationships along the good–bad
continuum, it is more helpful to think in terms of the presence and absence of
both favourable and unfavourable attributes. In our context, this translates
into the concept that a “good” coaching relationship is more than the absence
of a “bad” coaching relationship and that the positive or negative outcomes of
relational activities can depend on the specific situation and context.

Working Alliance Theory, goals, tasks, bonds, and evidence on the


coaching relationship
The findings of a link between the quality of the coaching relationship and
coaching outcomes parallel the consistent research findings over decades of
a robust link between the quality of the relationship between therapist and
client, and the outcomes of therapy or counselling programmes. This link is
most frequently measured in research studies using Working Alliance, a
relationship factor believed to occur in all helping relationships.
Working Alliance Theory (Bordin, 1994), originating in a psychotherapy
context, is a broadly accepted relationship framework and contains two
main assumptions:

1. It measures the degree, level, and kind of collaborativeness and


purposiveness of the work taking place, regardless of the conceptual
approach taken by the practitioner.
2. The Working Alliance exists as an interchanging, reciprocal relationship.

Working Alliance (in coaching often interchangeably referred to as the


coaching alliance) refers to the quality and strength of the collaborative
relationship between the client and practitioner.
The coach–coachee relationship 21

There are three distinctive, interrelated features underlying purposive,


collaborative work in the alliance:

• Goals – consensus about and commitment to the goals of coaching.


• Tasks – mutual agreement on the behavioural and cognitive aspects
relating to the coaching work.
• Bonds – trust, respect, rapport, or connection between coachee and
coach.

Explicit discussion, negotiation, agreement, and (sometimes) renegotiation


of these three features plays a critical role in helping create trust and respect
in the coaching alliance.
It is noteworthy that defining the coaching relationship—much like de­
fining coaching—is often not as straightforward as it might appear, both for
researchers and practitioners. General to more specific use of the term
“coaching relationship” are utilised, ranging from:

• the coaching relationship as a proxy for the coaching process in itself;


• as a construct within individual conceptual approaches (e.g., person-centred);
• a component factor of the coaching relationship (e.g., coaching alliance
or working alliance);
• rapport or other mutual relational characteristics in the interpersonal
dynamics; or
• a combination of two or more of the above usages.

The argument for a degree of functional similarity between coaching and the
coaching relationship, with therapy and the therapeutic relationship, has
been made as part of the search for the common factors—or active in­
gredients—in coaching (De Haan et al., 2016; McKenna & Davis, 2009;
O’Broin & Palmer, 2010a).
Working Alliance has been increasingly discussed in the coaching and
coaching relationship research. The majority of research studies measuring
the coaching relationship and its association with coaching outcome have
used an equivalent measure of the Working Alliance (sometimes also termed
the coaching alliance). These findings suggest that it is an important re­
lationship factor to consider in coaching processes and coaching outcomes,
although more work needs to be done to establish whether other related
factors also play a part in coaching processes and influence coaching out­
comes (see Henderson & Palmer, 2021).
In the coaching literature, a working definition of the coaching alliance
has been coined as follows:

The coaching alliance reflects the quality of the [coachee] and coach’s
engagement in collaborative, purposive work within the coaching
22 Alanna Henderson and Stephen Palmer

relationship, and is jointly negotiated and renegotiated throughout the


coaching process over time.
(O’Broin & Palmer, 2007, p. 305)

Links between the coaching relationship and other areas of


coaching psychology
As an interpersonal dynamic universally present in all coaching pro­
grammes, the coaching relationship is potentially linked to all areas of
coaching and coaching psychology. For the purposes of this chapter, three
areas linking the coaching relationship—with particularly relevant issues in
everyday coaching practice—will be discussed.

Boundaries
The coaching relationship is the medium through which the setting and many
of the initial boundaries of the coaching are put in place, often through ne­
gotiation and agreement of the contract between coachee and coach (see also
O’Broin & Palmer, 2010b). Usually, a written contract is signed by the coa­
chee and coach—and sometimes by the organisational sponsor, if there is one.
The contract serves to set the coaching objectives, ensures that both (or all)
parties understand their responsibilities, and sets the parameters of coaching,
confidentiality, respective expectations, and the practical aspects of the
coaching such as availability, contact, and between-session assignments.
Notwithstanding the written contract, a psychological contract also exists
between the coachee and coach. Rather than merely expectations, this
psychological contract involves the mutual reciprocal obligations which each
party perceives are in place that binds them both to the particular course of
action required to achieve the coachee’s goals (see Rousseau, 2001 for more
detail on psychological contracts).
The coaching relationship—and the coaching alliance, in particular—are
media which provide the collaborative framework which permits negotiation of
the goals of coaching, including proximal goals (or goals that need to be
achieved for the coachee’s ultimate goal to be achieved). Both coachee and
coach will have goals and tasks in the coaching which must be clear, negotiated,
understood, and agreed upon by both. Their tasks will differ depending on the
type of coaching, the conceptual model adopted, the individuals involved. The
relevance of the tasks to achieve the goals, and the understanding of how the
coachee and coach’s tasks assist in this endeavour, must be clear and agreed.
Dryden (2017) discussed an additional feature in the coaching alliance to
these goals, tasks, and bonds; a factor likely to increase the collaborativeness
of the coaching work—that of Views of the coachee and coach. Particularly
relevant in coaching where a more egalitarian relationship may be established
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CHAPTER IV
Yolande de France walked straight down the hill to her doom. She
had no Spanish silk umbrella, like Cartouche’s, to shield her head
from the tempest, nor any strength, like his, to dare orthodoxy. She
wore only a simple cloak and hood, like “Red-riding-hood the darling,
the flower of fairy lore;” and that was quite insufficient to protect her
from the wolf.
At the door of the “Hôtel” her father met her, distraught and
nervous. He led her, his lips quivering, into the little side study which
he called an ante-room. He was obviously, pitifully, agitated.
“Where have you been?” he said. “But no matter, since you are
here. Yolande, the moment has come when you must decide.”
“Decide, father?” She trembled.
“Whether,” he answered, “you will bow to my earnest wishes, or
commit me to dishonour and the grave.”
She felt suddenly faint, and sat down in a chair.
“Father!” she whispered; “I don’t understand you.”
“I am only too easily understood,” he said. “The Marquess di
Rocco, who holds my very existence in the hollow of his hand,
renews his suit at this moment, and peremptorily.”
“I cannot marry him.”
“Wait, before you condemn me, me, your father, to worse than
death. I must be plain with you, Yolande, in this terrible crisis. I do
not plead my word to him, although you as a de France should
appreciate its inviolability. It is associated with other pledges which,
in default of your consent, would mean my instant ruin. I owe him
money, Yolande, which it is impossible for me to repay—money
borrowed chiefly to enable you, my daughter, to maintain the
condition which is your due. You alone have it in your power to
liquidate that debt.”
She did not speak. She could not, indeed. But he gathered a little
confidence from her silence.
“And after all,” he said, with a sickly smile, “one can conceive a
less attractive way out of an impasse. Riches, position, a princely
jointure, an alliance with the most powerful house in Savoy, whereby
our own would be enabled to recover its lost influence—are these
small considerations to be discarded for a personal sentiment, which
a month of such devotion would cure?”
She shuddered, repeating, “I cannot marry him.”
“On the other side,” he hurried on, ignoring her words desperately,
“utter material ruin and, what is worse to me, my word, my honour
foresworn. Listen, Yolande. In that very hour when you become, if
you will become, his wife, he settles his entire property upon you by
will. You will be the most influential woman in the duchy, a force for
the good which is so dear to your heart. Is to put this in your power
the act of a libertine, or of one rather who yearns to find his
redemption at the hands of a virtue which he holds so inestimably
dear?”
She cried out at last, rising from her seat and staggering as if she
were blind.
“Father! father! give me time at least!”
Even in her despair she knew that it were useless to plead how
her heart, her soul were engaged elsewhere. The shock, at this
pass, would have driven him to a very frenzy of cruelty. As it was, he
leapt to the little concession implied in her appeal, and sought to
improve upon it instantly.
“Impossible. He is on the very eve of a journey. He demands the
ceremony at once—this moment.”
“The ceremony? O, mother of God!”
“A formal one only, conditionally, for a year. Not till that time has
elapsed may he claim you for his wife in fact. It was my provision,
made in consideration of your youth and inexperience.”
She stared at him as if mad.
“You are my father,” she began. He interrupted, to better her,—
“Your dead mother’s trustee for your welfare, Yolande. As I hold
that charge sacred from abuse, believe at least in the sincerity of my
desire to urge, impartially, upon you the wisdom of a step which I am
sure she would have approved.”
The girl gave a little rending laugh—horrible—in a note quite
foreign to her.
“Is he—M. di Rocco—in the house?” she asked.
“He is in the next room awaiting us. The Maire, the notary, and the
good Father of Le Marais are also there, attending on your decision.”
“Only my mother is wanting,” said Yolande. “Call her to this
conspiracy against her child, and see what she answers to the
impartial head of it.”
He had turned his fine eyes from her, even as, it is said, the royal
despot of beasts will cower under the fearless human gaze; but at
this the goaded fire flashed into them.
“She would answer,” he cried, “cursing the graceless offspring of
our house, who could so misread a father’s tender love.”
“No, father, she is in heaven. The secrets of our hearts are bared
to her.”
He cringed before her for a moment, defeated and exposed.
Looking in her noble eyes, he knew that his moral tenure of her
heart, her duty, hung upon a thread—knew that nothing but the last
poignant threat of self-destruction could restore them to him. His
stately cowardice had even foreseen this contingency.
“You leave me no alternative,” he said, his face as grey as ashes.
“I cannot survive dishonour and my broken word. Thus, Yolande, do I
take your message to her!” and with the word he fetched a pistol
from his pocket and put its muzzle to his temple.
She uttered a fearful scream, and flew to him—wrenched down his
arm, cried, and fondled him with inarticulate moans. He stood quite
passive.
“Give me time!” she could only sob at last.
“I can give you nothing, Yolande,” he answered. “Yours is all the
gift. I am a bankrupt but for you.”
He made a movement as if to break from her. She held him madly.
In that minute the whole joy of life drained from her veins and left
them barren. At length she released him, and stepped back.
“Father,” she said, “in all your life never mention my mother’s
name to me again. When I die, bury me away from her in another
grave. I am only worthy to be your daughter. Deal with me as you
will.”
A double rose of colour had come to his cheeks. He made an
eager step towards her, but she retreated before him.
“It is enough for me that you have vindicated your name,” he said.
“It is enough that I am not mistaken in you.”
“Spare me that comment on my shame,” she said. “Why will you
keep me in this torture?”
But he must still hunger to justify his self-degradation by enlarging
on it.
“Hush!” he said. “It is a sacrifice, I know; but perhaps, Yolande,
only a provisional sacrifice. Dare I whisper my own expectations?
You will be free for a year—a wife in nothing but the material
endowments of wifehood; a—a prospective dowager, Yolande. The
Marquess is much shaken—a prematurely old man—a—”
She turned from him, feeling sick to death.
“I am waiting,” she said icily.
********
That was how the Marchese di Rocco gained his wife. For the rest,
the priest, the Maire and notary were creatures of his own, and
among them soon accomplished the ceremony and settlements. At
the end, monsignore offered to kiss his newly-made bride; but she
backed from him.
“Is this in the bond?” she asked coldly of her father. He was very
righteous and peremptory at once.
“It is a breach of it,” he said. “I must ask you, monsignore, to
observe our compact to the letter.”
The old libertine grinned.
“A pledge only, to be redeemed in a year,” he said. “But it will
keep, sweet as roses in a cabinet. In the interval, I hope the
Marchesa will honour my poor abode, during the absence of its
master.”
“No, pardon me,” said de France. “She will continue in her father’s
house.”
“I shall do neither,” said the lily.
“How!” cried the Chevalier.
“I am my own mistress,” she said. “From this moment please do
not forget that—” and she swept from the room.
He stared after her, dumbfoundered; but di Rocco burst into a
great laugh.
“By God, I like her spirit!” he said. “She is a prize worth the
winning.”
CHAPTER V
There was a little auberge on the Montverd, kept open during the
summer months for the benefit of those (not many in 1783) who
came to enjoy the view. There, in a green oasis, planted amongst the
stupendous buttresses of the mountains, lived Nicholas Target and
his daughter Margot, the latter a good sensible girl and the
responsible aubergiste. The father was a drunken scamp, a guide by
profession, but long discredited as such in the eyes of all but his
daughter, whose faithful heart continued to make its compromise
with the self-evident. The fellow spent his days, of slouching and
soaking, mostly at the foot of the steep path which descended from
the inn to the moraine of the Winds, where, in a tiny shed, he kept a
store of woollen socks for the feet of those who desired to cross the
glacier. This at least left the auberge free of his presence, and
Margot to the peaceful entertainment of her guests.
Amongst these, on a certain tragic day, came to be included
Yolande, new Marchesa di Rocco. Only the wonderful visitor came to
stay, it seemed, and not merely to gather Dutch courage for the
passage of the glacier. She took a bed at the inn, and cold
command, as by right of her husband, its rent-lord, of its general
conduct. She had always had an affection for Margot, the good girl,
and this was her way of showing her confidence in her discretion.
“I want to be alone,” she had said; “and hither none comes but the
stranger who cannot know me or my concerns. I look to you to
secure me utter privacy—from man, from woman, from child, from
the whole world. Only if my father comes must I see him, for I am his
daughter. For all else be my true and faithful watchdog, Margot.”
Margot had of course heard of the tragic ending to that idyll on Le
Marais. In common with her fellow-women she had deplored the
finish to a pretty romance; but then, when one’s feudal lord stepped
in at the door, love must fly out at the window. It was pitiful, it was
sad, but it was inevitable. She promised with all her heart to
contribute what gentle salve was hers to that open wound.
She said it with fervour, but in a panic. It was difficult for her to
reconstruct, from this figure of bloodless hauteur, the sweet and
kindly patroness of yesterday, who had never held herself other than
such a simple girl as she was herself. Could shock so turn to stone?
It was a catalepsy of the soul.
And Yolande made her home there in the auberge. With all Le
Prieuré at her feet, she elected for this chill small refuge of the hills.
She felt she could breathe there—was nearer God and her mother.
She felt she could pray a little even, and with more chance of being
heard in that austere silence. There was no sound of waterfalls in all
the vast valley to strike between her and her isolation, rushing down
into the hateful plains where men dwelt, dragging her thoughts on
their torrents. What voices reached her came from above—the
whisper of avalanches, the echoing crack of ice-falls in those
enormous attics of the world. She was alone with her desolation
among desolations.
Once, and once only, her father visited her there. He was very
humble and deprecating. He had come to remonstrate, and he
remained to weep. She saw his tears without emotion, and bid him
kindly to the descent, lest the mists should rise presently and give
him cold. He went without a word.
Did she ever think of Louis and that dead idyll? A will of self-
reticence had so been born in her that perhaps she was able to hold
his figure from her mind. If she had not, the memory of the cruelty of
her part to him must have driven her mad. Not to think at all was her
hold on reason—not to think what he was thinking, suffering,
designing. That he could come to claim her yet, in defiance of law,
orthodoxy and every right but the right of human nature, she could
not believe, nor wish to believe. He was not so to be dethroned from
her worship of him past. It would be another Louis than the Louis of
her knowledge who could so dare. Yet was she not another
Yolande? An awful rapture, should outrage have conceived a wicked
will in him like hers! But Louis would not come. He was a purer soul
than she, and prayed, always prayed, before he committed himself
to action.
The far unconquered heights above her were her reassurance,
she told herself, that he was of those who accept repulse
unquestioning. His faith was always first in heaven, and its high
reasons for baffling high achievement. Christ’s creed, and he a
Christian. He could not love her so much, “loved he not honour
more.” She bowed to that higher rival, and believed that the thing
remotest from her wishes was to see her ousted. And her brain
reeled to the sound of every footstep which came up the mountain.
Among them all she never dreamed of listening for her husband’s.
That di Rocco had kept his word and left Le Prieuré on the morrow of
the tragedy she never doubted. It was not he, but the interval which
was to separate her from him which filled her thoughts. Nebulous,
unformed, the idea was still never less than a fixed one in her mind
that any consummation to that tyranny but Death’s was
unspeakable. Whether his or hers it mattered nothing. The knot must
be cut before it was double-tied; and in her heart she rejoiced to
think of his succession to an empty bed. She did not suppose she
could possibly survive the year—twelve long months of suspension
between torture past and the prospect of the living “question” to
come. She had only to be herself and die. “Duty” could not traverse
that decision. Her heart was cold already.
Rare and alien the footsteps came up. One day it would be a
traveller, one day a goatherd. The world went by her thinly, and
vanished into the mists. She remained alone, and fell, after each
interruption, into her old communing with Death. He was the only
understanding friend left to her.
One day, as she was in talk with him, high on the hill where no one
usually came, a stranger suddenly stood before her. Either the
watchdog had been slack or the interloper cunning. He doffed his hat
to her with the most sympathetic grace imaginable.
“You seek the auberge, monsieur?” she said haughtily. “It lies
below. You are off the road.”
“And mademoiselle also?” he asked. “But supposing we each
undertake to put the other on it?”
She had been seated on a stone. She rose hurriedly.
“The road lies down, monsieur.”
“As I would convince mademoiselle,” he said. “I have just come up
it from a stricken friend.”
Her intuition touched some meaning in his words. She looked
breathlessly at him.
“If you know me, monsieur, as your manner seems to imply, you
will know that I am out of love with subterfuge.”
“I know you, mademoiselle, by sight and reputation.”
“Scarcely, monsieur, if you so address me.”
“Ah!” he said. “I do not hold by orthodoxy. And yet there was a
time when I was tender of it. You would be madame on a surer title
had I had my way.”
“Tell me who you are?” she demanded icily.
“It can hardly interest you. They call me Cartouche.”
Her face fell frowning.
“I have heard of you. I would not be ungracious, sir,” she said.
“You saved a life that was once dear to me.”
“I wish I could say I saved it because it was dear to you. I had not
seen you then.”
“You can dispense with your compliments, sir. Your reputation is
sufficiently well known to me without.”
“Then doubtless mademoiselle is aware that disloyalty to friends is
not a part of it. Moreover, it is a human eccentricity to love what we
have saved.”
“It is easy to love some people.”
“It is easy, though our natures may be the remotest from theirs.
Verjuice loves oil in this queer salad of life. But where I have come to
love through saving, I would save again and yet again.”
“You speak a good deal of yourself, monsieur. Forgive me if I
cannot quite share your interest in the subject. No doubt your friend
appreciated your assistance in saving him a second time from
destruction. It is fataller, I am sure, in such eyes as yours, to fall in
love than into an abyss.”
“You misunderstand me—I hope not wilfully. I did not mean to
speak of saving my friend from you, but for you. I do not mean it
now. I am here to offer you my services.”
She drew herself up magnificently.
“I thank you, monsieur. I was to be excused perhaps, for wishing
to read on the better side of an insolence. You had done well,
according to your lights, I am sure, to strive to keep us apart—well to
your worthy patron; well for your worthy self. I could have respected
you at least for that consistency. But to offer to mend what you have
helped to mar! I am at a loss to understand how I have invited this
insult.”
A dark flush rose on Trix’s cheek. What was this new-born
perversity in him which made him not only bare his heart to this sting
of words, but, like a very anchorite of love, take pleasure in his
chastising? Her frost fired him.
“You are bitter, mademoiselle,” he said. “I could answer, very truly,
in self-defence that I was so far from choosing to have a hand in this
business, as it has sped, that I foresaw from the first what has
actually happened—that your exaltation would spell my ruin. I would
answer that, I say, but that I own to no man’s power to ruin me.”
She was quite unmoved.
“Those who serve evil must bide evil,” she said. “If, as you would
seem to imply, monsieur, your employer has made you the
scapegoat of his reformation, I can only regret, very sincerely, my
involuntary part in your dismissal. Believe me, I would give all my
exaltation to reinstate you.”
“I used the term unthinkingly,” said Cartouche. “It was the formal
phrase of a worldling. Will you persist in thinking me too bad to be
moved by the distresses of virtue hard beset?”
“And how would you propose to help that poor virtue, sir? For what
are your services offered? I will not even sully myself by
understanding—unless to suppose that you design to make me an
instrument of your revenge on one who has wronged you.”
The flush on his face deepened.
“You are an angel, madame,” he said grimly. “You claim your full
prerogatives. I can never please you better, I see, than by avowing
my knowledge of the gulf which separates us. I, too, will be myself,
flagrantly and without compromise. My affections are all earthly. Very
well, I love the man I have saved, because I saved him. I see him
stricken down—helpless—his very reason threatened under a
calamity worse than death.”
Her face had gone bloodless; she answered, faltering,—
“As to that, monsieur, assure yourself, assure him if you please,
that nothing but a convention separates us now, nor ever will.”
He looked wonderingly at her. Did she mean to kill herself? He
could quite believe it, as the more pardonable of two self-offences
Then he breathed and laughed.
“A convention!” he cried. “I am nearer you by that admission.
There is no moral bondage in conventions. Let me bring my friend to
you and save him.”
She reared herself like a very snake.
“I would you had never saved him,” she said deeply; “I would you
had never laid that claim on his regard. My only regret in dismissing
you is that I re-condemn him to this corruption. Go, sir, and insult and
trouble me no longer!”
He had lost, and turned to leave her. But for a moment he paused,
in anger and confusion, to fire his final charge,—
“Very well, madame! Only be quite sure of the strength of that
convention—as sure as your husband may be of its weakness. I do
not think he will wait a year for the test. Farewell!” and he went.
And no sooner was he out of sight and hearing, than Yolande bent
herself face downwards on the rock, and delivered her soul in a cry
of agony,—
“Louis! my Louis! so ill, so broken! and I may not help thee, nor
think of thee!”
CHAPTER VI
If all the rest of feminine Le Prieuré was agreed in accepting Louis-
Marie’s discomfiture with regretful resignation, Martha Paccard was
certainly not going to number herself of that complacent sisterhood.
She was hot with pity and indignation, and, because vexed, illogical
of course.
“What did the man seek?” she asked sharply of Jacques Balmat,
referring to the Chevalier de France. “Honour, renown, riches,
through this connection with a débauché? Our monsieur had
provided them all, and with a better savour, if only you had spurred
him timely to achieve the ambition of his life. But how was the poor
boy to accomplish that ascent, with you and your wisdom for ever at
his elbow persuading him from it? You men are all alike—great
promises, and little reasons for not performing them.”
“No later than the day of the marriage, Martha, I urged him to
come and try once more.”
“Then you did very wrong. What title had you to demand that risk
of him, when all his happiness was at stake in Le Prieuré?”
“To increase the odds in his favour, to be sure.”
“Favour and odds! Has he not his patrimony, enough to frank a
presence less angelic than his?”
“I do not see how to ascend the mountain could have added to it,
certainly.”
“Don’t you? But there is money in fame, let me tell you, even if it is
achieved ultimately through a book. As for you, you may ascend
Mont Blanc, and nobody will believe it, because they will have to
take your word, which is nothing.”
“They will take my word, nevertheless.”
“They will be more credulous, then, than I. I have long lost faith in
it. And if I still doubted, there is that poor sick boy at home to confirm
me. By this time, if you had done as you promised, not fifty di
Roccos could have equalled him in reputation.”
“Is he very ill, Martha?”
“He wrings my heart. Why are you so strong, Jacques, and so
honest and so resolute? I cannot conceive my father parting us at a
blow. And yet I am a dutiful daughter too. I think we love weak men
like mothers. I am glad you are not weak, Jacques.”
“So am I. So shall your father be some day.”
“You must learn modesty, Jacques. Poor M. Saint-Péray is a
model of it.”
“And he has been jilted.”
“So he has; that is the truth. He still sits as if stunned. I don’t know
what will happen when he recovers himself. Jacques, for pity’s sake
watch him when that happens—for pity’s sake, Jacques.”
“I will be his shadow, Martha.”
“But not for him to know. I dread the time terribly. I think there is
often no such fiend as a good man wronged through his goodness.
And there has been an evil one whispering in his ear, I am sure.”
“An evil one?”
“M. Gaston, the old lord’s black whelp. He brought him home that
day—straight from hearing the disastrous news. He has been with
him once or twice since. Jacques, I should not be surprised—I
should not be surprised, I say, if that devil were urging him to dare all
and abduct—her up there.”
“Would you not? I think I wish I could believe it.”
“O, hush! are you all fiends? This Cartouche, they say, is ruined in
the marriage. He may have his reasons—but you!”
“Well, good-bye, Martha. I will watch him.”
“That is right; to save him from himself—such a self, my God, as
he may come to be! Good-bye, Jacques.”
She went on her way home. It was a chill, oppressive day for the
season, with threat of cold storm in the air. Few people were abroad.
As she neared her door, she noticed that a man was keeping pace
with her. He reached the house as she did, and accosted her as she
was lifting the latch. She recognised him for the Dr Bonito whom her
father had supplanted at the Château, and her heart gave a little
heave.
“Whom do you seek, monsieur?” she said, standing with her back
to the door as if to bar his passage. She had not in her heart
approved her father’s promotion to that distinction; but to any outer
criticism of it she was ready to ruffle like a mother hen at a cat.
The doctor, it appeared, however, was to disarm her with a show
of the most ingenuous urbanity.
“M. Saint-Péray lodges here?” he said, with a smile like a spasm
of stomach-ache. “I should like to have a word with him.”
She looked at him with her honest eyes. It was at least a relief to
find that his visit was not connected with his replacement by her
father.
“He is not at all himself, monsieur,” she said. “Will not a message
suffice?”
“Doubtless,” he answered. “Only I must deliver it myself.”
“A message?”
She questioned his face searchingly. Whose possible delegate
could he be? Certainly he and M. Louis were at one in the question
of their discomfiture by di Rocco. There was that much of sympathy
between them. Besides, it was known that this man dealt in the
occult—could cast nativities and foretell deaths. His message might
be one of comfort and reassurance. Things were already at such a
pass that no conceivable evil could congest them further. A certain
awe awoke in her eyes. The neighbourhood of mountains engenders
superstition.
“Is your—your message, monsieur,” she said, with a little choke,
“from someone—somewhere that only such as you can
understand?”
He chafed his bony hands together, leering at her wintrily.
“Yes,” he said. “I think it may interest him.”
“Wait, then,” she answered, deciding in a moment, “while I ask him
if he is willing to receive it.”
She had intended to leave him on the doorstep while she went, but
he followed her in closely, lingering only at the foot of the stairs while
she ascended.
Louis-Marie sat in a little room which overlooked the hills. His
ambitions and their unfulfilment were eternally symbolised before his
vision. He was not much changed outwardly; only his eyes appeared
physically to have shallowed. A cloud had come between them and
the sun, and the transparency of their blue was grown chalky, as if a
blind had been pulled down over his soul. And as yet no lights were
lit behind, to show the shadows of what moved there. He was as
quiet and courteous as ever in seeming; but women are as sensitive
as deer to atmosphere, and Martha never saw him now but she
quaked in anticipation of a storm to come.
He was reading, or feigning to. He looked over to her kindly.
“What is it, Martha?” he asked.
“There is one come to see you, monsieur, with a message from
the stars.”
She trembled a little. He laughed.
“That is kind of him, whoever he is. Is it a fallen star, Martha? It
can have no message for me otherwise.”
“It is fallen, monsieur, and therefore, maybe, in sympathy with its
kind. It is Dr Bonito, the mage and soothsayer.”
“What! is he too the victim of a reformation? Heaven is very
impartial, Martha. It condescends to no degrees in its chastisement.
As well, after all, to be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.”
“Quite as well, if it is necessary to be hanged at all,” said Bonito at
the door, to which he had mounted softly.
Martha exclaimed angrily, but Saint-Péray did not even stir.
“Pray make yourself at home, fellow-asteroid,” said he. “I must not
complain if like attracts like. You can leave us, Martha.”
She obeyed reluctantly. Having followed impulse, she retired on
mortification, which is the common way.
“What is your message?” said Louis-Marie, impassively, the
moment his visitor was left alone to him. “You can sit or not as you
like,” he added. “I am master of nothing.”
Bonito, as apparently phlegmatic for his part, remained standing
where he was.
“You may think you know enough of my reputation to insult me,” he
said. “It is no concern of mine what you or anyone thinks. The surest
sign of worth is to be worth men’s slander, as its surest reward is
ingratitude.”
“Pardon me,” said Saint-Péray. “I have never thought of you at all
until this moment. But I agree with you so far—that to be vile and
unscrupulous is, in this world, to be successful. If you are fortunate,
we will admit, by antithesis, that you are virtuous.”
“They call me a Rosicrucian,” said Bonito. “I am at least so far in
sympathy with the sect as to believe in the universal regeneration
and the cosmopolitanism of the intellect. They call me also an
alchemist. Certainly I would transmute the dross of life into gold. It is
the world’s way to gild the calf and worship it. We see below the vile
enamel. No idols of wealth or patriotism for us; no states or churches
as jealous entities. Base metal is under the skin of all. Into the
furnace with the vast accumulation, and there anneal it, with the salt
of godliness, into that one and universal benevolence which shall be
shoreless, landless, eternal—a single harmonious republic of the
entire human race!”
He took breath. Saint-Péray sat as apathetic as a deaf mute. The
other never thought to attribute his unconcern to his own uninvited
self-exposition. Any propagandist, even of disinterestedness, is
always absorbed in the first place in himself. In a moment he gave
tongue again,—
“No need to question of the force which is to compel this
transmutation. It has been growing consistently with the mind of
man. The shame of the dominion of the brute in a world which
intellect has shaped for itself; the shame of liberal knowledge lying at
the mercy of illiberal ignorance; the shame of the animal coercing the
angel, the fool cackling discredit on the sage—these things must
cease off the earth at last. For when learning learns to combine, it
shall be to ignorance as is the little bag of gun-powder, rammed
home, to the material bulk which it is capable of annihilating. This is
as certain as it is that the moment of the intellectual renaissance,
age foreseen, is at last approaching. Because I, too, hunger and
thirst with the fool, am I, Bonito, no better than a fool? The ‘fool’ can
make it appear so, because in his numbers he commands the
markets. Or has commanded—we shall see. The hour of his
disillusionment perhaps is imminent. In the meantime we, who
prepare the stage, do not cease of our efforts to divert the paths of
evil, to over-reach iniquity, to gather each his quota of dirt and filth
ready for the burning.”
He ended on a loud note, and wrung his lips between his thin
fingers, leering at the other. If he had been tempted into an over long
exordium, the more plausibly, he thought, would its moral “thunder in
the index.” His craftiness was not to stultify itself by over-
precipitancy.
Saint-Péray discussed his twitching face quite unmoved.
“I am obliged for your interesting message, sir,” he said. “You are
reported to be a Rosicrucian? That concerns someone, no doubt;
only I was under the impression that that sect eschewed politics.
Thank you for putting me right. Good morning.”
Bonito did not stir.
“I aim,” he answered coolly, “in common with kindred spirits, many
and potent, at the universal purification. Our politics are no more
than that. Latency, cabala—all the rest of the terms which are held
by the ignorant to condemn us, are only so many proofs of the divine
sympathy with our mission. We can read the stars because we have,
so to speak, friends at court there. Woe on him that scoffs at our
message! Woe on di Rocco, I say, who heard and would not
believe!”
He had shot his bolt, and as instantly saw that he had hit the mark.
Louis-Marie gave a mortal start, and sat rigid. The curtain of his eyes
was rent; there seemed things visible moving behind it. But not a
word came from him.
“My message now is to you,” said the physician, low and distinct,
“as to the one most intimately concerned in the scotching or
expediting of a half-acted iniquity. I propose no plan; I point out no
way. Bear that in mind very clearly. My task was accomplished when
I warned di Rocco that his horoscope revealed Mars at the
conjunction of the seventh and eighth houses, presaging quick death
for him to follow on his marriage consummated. I have said that he
disbelieved me. Disregarded would be the truer word. Passion in him
was desperate enough to dare the test.”
“But not for a year.”
It was Saint-Péray who spoke, though his voice was scarcely
audible. Bonito laughed little and low.
“Do you believe it? I know him very well indeed. There is no
monster in all the world so self-convinced of his own irresistibility.
You think he has left Le Prieuré. As a fact he does not start for Turin
until to-morrow morning, when urgency compels him. But he will not
fail to storm the coy fortress first—to-night he will do it—either to
persuade or enforce!”
He paused, listening for an answer, but none followed.
“You may question how I know this,” he went on. “Be satisfied; we
who read the stars command our instruments. He is to go secretly
after dark, to-night, I say, crossing the glacier of the Winds from the
further side towards the Montverd. Nicholas Target will be there to
conduct him; Nicholas Target will have been instructed first to
dismiss his daughter from the auberge on some errand which will
delay her. Monsignore will find the Marchesa quite alone and
defenceless—nothing to complain of for a wife. He will presently
leave her to return, as secretly, by the way he came. What then?
There are pitfalls on the glacier, and Target will likely be drunk.
Perhaps Fate will choose to verify its prediction during that passage.
I cannot tell. For me, I have done my part. If this act is necessary for
his destruction, a young widow will be ensured in Le Prieuré before
long. That is my message to you; I speak it, with absolute conviction
of its truth, for your consolation. If the marriage is consummated, the
man must die. On the other hand, if one would save a threatened
honour, balk by a timely abduction the hand of Fate, one would
certainly procure a renewed lease of life for a villain, and a villain,
one might be sure, who would not accept his despoliation with
meekness. It is a nice point in ethics, upon which I will not presume
to give an opinion. It had occurred to me once, I admit, that a
revelation of the plot to the father would be the proper course.
Reflection, however, convinced me that he would be only too glad to
sanction, indirectly, the most treacherous of means for breaking
down the barrier which his daughter had raised between himself and
a potential greatness. In the end, monsieur” (he prepared to leave),
“I resolved to confide the issue to the hands the most strong, in faith
and godliness, to direct it—to your hands, in fact. You have my
sympathy and good wishes. I have the honour to bid you good
morning.”
He might have been speaking to an apparition for any response he
could extort. Only Saint-Péray’s eyes were fixed upon him with a
greed more horribly eloquent than words. He felt them following him
as he left the room—clinging, it seemed, like the discs of tentacles to
his back as he descended the stairs—pursuing him, silently, deadlily,
through all the convolutions of his way, however he might twist and
turn to elude them. He was not a fanciful man for all his mysticism;
but the impression of this unwinking pursuit haunted his soul into the
very dominion of sleep. The eyes followed him upstairs, in the little
inn where he was sojourning for the moment, and lay down with him
on his pillow.
********
On that same day Mr Trix received his final congé from his patron
with the most serene good temper.
“Rogue, rogue,” said the old devil—“though I have loved a rogue,
we must part. There is no place in this reformation for a Cartouche.”
“You have taken good care of that,” said the young man,
pleasantly. “It is very natural you should not wish to be haunted by
your past. Besides, I can foresee all sorts of complications if we
remained penitents together.”
“Don’t tell me that you also are a penitent—no, no,” said the
Marquess, with a nervous chuckle.
He was fumbling at a cabinet against the wall.
“See here,” he said; “I wouldn’t do the graceless thing by your
mother’s graceless son. If this hadn’t happened—had redemption
been denied me, I won’t say but that it might have been my intention
to make you my heir—an evil inheritance. That’s past, that’s all over.
Better to lose the world than your soul, eh? But I should blame
myself to deprive you of the means to honesty. Take my advice,
rascal, and live cleanly for the future. We’ve sown our wild oats, you
and I. We must both be out of the house by to-morrow, and leave it
clear to the sweepers and garnishers. In the meantime, here’s to
commute your expectations. Money I can’t command, without abuse
of the marriage settlements, but its equivalent lies here—take it.”
He held out a handful of jewels, of ancient setting and
indiscriminate value. Cartouche received the heap passively.
“It would be false modesty in me to refuse my wages,” he said.
“Yes, yes,” said the other, returning, still agitated, to the cabinet.
“There may be another trifle or so. There—”
He paused, holding a ring in his hand.
“This is your mother’s hair,” he said, suddenly and sharply. “You
can have it also, if you wish.”
Cartouche received the ring from his hand.
“Thank you, father,” he said quietly.
“No such thing!” began di Rocco, loudly; but his voice broke on the
word. Cartouche stepped forward, and kissed him on the cheek.
“Goodbye!” he said. “I wish you had made a good man of me.”
Di Rocco turned to the wall. When he looked round again,
Cartouche was gone. Then the old libertine sat down and wept. But
tears in such are nothing but the provocation to fresh evil emotions.

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