Person-centred coaching: Facilitating the coachee

Abstract

‘Person-centred counselling’ is a form of coaching in which the coachee is welcomed entirely on his or her own terms and is given a maximum of space to work in his or her own way on personal issues. The coach refrains as far as possible from any form of direction, contributes a minimum of new information or advice, and acts as a sort of partner and companion in the coachee’s process of development. We might start by considering where counselling lies in terms of the various facilitating styles that we can identify (see Learning with Colleagues, Chapter 16), namely:

• Expert: focused on the coachee’s issues and problems.

• Process manager: focused on the process between the coachee and his or her problems.

• Trainer: focused on the skills and abilities of the coachee.

• Developer: focused on the person and values of the coachee.

The most personal is the most universal.

Carl Rogers, On Becoming a Person