1. therapy allianceReproduced with the permission of choice Magazine, www.choice-online.com Reproduced with the permission of choice Magazine, www.choice-online.com THETHEORETICALFOUNDATIONSOF COACHINGYou mean this stuff wasnt just made up? By Patrick Williams, EdD, MCCC oaching is a new field that borrows frombelieve are really adaptations or evolutions of these and builds upon theories and research four. Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology grew from a mix from related fields that have come before of the Behavioral and Humanistic schools. Positive it. It is a multidisciplinary, multi-theory Psychology utilizes Cognitive-Behavioral approachessynthesis and application of applied behavioraland adds to the theories that Humanistic Psychologychange.emphasizes: a non-mechanistic view, and a view of pos- Although coaching has a unique paradigm, much sibility as opposed to pathology as an essentialof what is useful in coaching goes back decades andapproach to the client. And Ken Wilbers Integraleven centuries. The attraction of pursuing personalapproaches to psychology and life are, I believe, a newdevelopment and exploring meaning, began withlabeling of what was called Transpersonal. Along withearly Greek society. This is reflected in the famous each revolution in psychology, a changing image ofquote by Socrates, The unexamined life is not worth human nature has also evolved.living. Since then we have developed many ways of Psychology began as the investigation of conscious-examining our lives. What persists, however, is that ness and mental functions such as sensation and per-people who are not in pursuit of basic human needs ception. Much of the early influence on psychologysuch as food and shelter do begin to pay attention tocame from the philosophical tradition, and early psy-higher needs such as self-actualization, finding ful-chologists adopted the practice of introspection usedfillment, and spiritual connection. In ancient by philosophers.Greece, as now, an intense desire to explore and findIntrospectionists were an early force in psychology,personal meaning can be observed.with Wilhelm Wundt in Germany and Edward Tichener in America being two of the early defenders of intro-Contributions from psychologyspection as a method of understanding the workings ofThere have been four major forces in psychological the human mind. But they soon realized the inadequaciestheory since the emergence of psychology in 1879 as aof introspection for the validation of the young science ofsocial science. These four forces are Freudian, Behav- psychology. Consciousness and mental functioning wereioral, Humanistic, and Transpersonal. In recent yearsdifficult to study objectively. Psychology was experienc-there have been three other forces at work, which Iing growing pains then, much as coaching is today.VOLUME 4 NUMBER 2 49

2. therapy alliance Reproduced with the permission of choice Magazine, www.choice-online.com Reproduced with the permission of choice Magazine, www.choice-online.com Key theoristsously, Shakespeare had commented, What a piece of What follows is a quick tour of the growth of psychol- work is man? The Behaviorists took this literally and ogy and how its major thinkers set the stage for the looked upon humans in the early 20th century as coaching revolution. Homo mechanicus, an object to be studied like any Williams James was the father of American psychol- machine would be studied. Homo mechanicus was a ogy. James preferred ideas to laboratory results and ismachine whose mind was ignored. best known for his view that humans can experience In the 1950s, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers ini- higher states of consciousness. He wrote on such tiated the third force in psychology, Humanistic Psy- diverse topics as functions of the brain, perception ofchology. It focused on the personal, ontological, and space, psychic and paranormal faculties, religious phenomenological aspects of human experience, as ecstasy, will, attention, and habit. Because of his ori- opposed to the reductionist and mechanistic theories entation, he gradually drifted away from psychologyof Freudianism and Behaviorism. and in his later life emphasized philosophy. Neverthe- Maslow eventually posited the fourth force, less, William James had a tremendous influence on theTranspersonal Psychology, which included mind, body, growth of the psychology profession, and he is still and spirit. It delved into altered states of consciousness widely read today. One of his most historic books, The as a way to explore the transpersonal realm. This Varieties of Religious Experience, is a treatise that offers research began to open up our knowledge of the human as much today as it did yesterday in the areas of spiri- mind and expand our windows of perception and tuality and transpersonal consciousness. possibility. Sigmund Freud influenced the first force in psychol- ogy. While psychology in the United States was strug-Other influences gling for an identity and striving for recognition by theA vast array of research into life-span developmental scientific community, European psychology was beingpsychology has also created an understanding of devel- reshaped by the theories of Sigmund Freud. Freud cre-opmental trajectories that can be very helpful tocoaches. Daniel Levinsons early work on the lifedevelopment of Harvard graduates over their 50-yearMuch of what is usefullife span yielded great insight into mens developmentwithin that age cohort (Seasons of a Mans Life, 1978).in coaching goes back Carol Gilligans work on girls and women createddecades and eveninsight into the ways that womens thinking andbehavior differs from mens over the life-span. Robertcenturies.Kegan has created theories and methods for assessingthe development of levels of consciousness in human ated quite a stir in the medical community with his ideaslife span development. and theories, but he finally gained acceptance in psy-The hallmark of coaching is its synthesis of tools chiatry with the talking cure breakthrough psycho- from other fields as well as its capacity for innovation. analysis. Freud brought us such terms as unconscious,As the profession grows, it is developing a focused, id, ego, and superego. research base of its own of what works within the As Freudian thought was taking shape in Europe and unique paradigm that is coaching. the United States, William James and others began to focus on measurable behavior. Many American psychol- For a brief historical review of scholarly theories, see ogists began to combat Freudian theories as anotherwww.choice-online.com for a continuation of this arti- non-verifiable, subjective pseudo-science of the mind. cle by Patrick Williams. The time was ripe for the emergence of Behaviorism as the second major force in psychology, led by B. F.Patrick Williams, EdD, MCC, is an ICF board member and CEO Skinner and John Watson. Hundreds of years previ-of the Institute for Life Coach Training. 50VOLUME 4 NUMBER 2