Benchmark – Coaching Plan
Develop a coaching plan for an individual, your plan should include:
Boundaries you will set with the client (communication in session and out of sessions, meeting time)
Establishing client goals
A timeline for goal completion, how many sessions will it take to meet goals?
Establishing activities or work to be done outside of session by client
Check-in points, which includes a self-reflection of what is working with the client and what is not working, how to adjust, checking in with client to see they feel they are making progress
Wrapping up with client
Setting future goals with client
Reflection on development of skills, what worked, and what did not work
Use three to five scholarly resources to support your explanations.
Sample Answer
Coaching Plan
Coaching in psychology can be understood as a systematic application of behavioral science in enhancing life experiences, well-being and work performance for groups, individuals and organizations who do not have abnormal distress levels or clinically significant mental health issues (Passmore and Lai, 2020). In this paper, a coaching plan will be developed for an individual.
Boundaries
Setting of clear boundaries is a vital ethical issue in any therapeutic or coaching setting as it protects the client and the therapist from inappropriate relationships that can damage outcomes (Moulton, 2020). Achieving a capable coaching relationship requires the negotiation of a clear contract and contact agreement from the beginning of the coaching sessions. Proper negotiation is necessary as it reduces probabilities of misunderstandings and failed expectations and it can be beneficial in goal formulation. It includes confidentiality and informed consent issues and differentiates what will be part of the coaching dialogue and what will not and what is inside or outside the coaching agreement. It comprises of agreements on time schedule, frequency, session structure, cancellation and fee policies. Details on meeting time, dates and days if possible and email or phone number of the office will be given as well as office hours. Confidentiality will be emphasized and acknowledgement that all feelings and opinions are welcome. Intentionally meeting outside the therapy sessions will also be discouraged.
Establishing Goals
The cultural compulsion of future focused, target driven, repetitive goal chasing mode of working and living has been criticized as misguided and morally vacuous as it is often one dimensional and lacking in true richness of experience that can result in disengagement (Grant, 2018). Coaches have to keep in sight the importance of attaching purpose or meaning to targets and relating the targets to goals. For effective establishment of goals, goal laddering will be used where the coach helps the client in aligning goals with their values and understanding what it will mean to them in achieving their goals. Adequate time will be spent in facilitating exploration of the broader picture that the client envisions as their preferred future and will involve listening carefully and helping them develop detailed visions that include emotional themes. Negotiation and sensitivity will be used in determining the appropriate approach that fits the client and their preferences and choosing where on the spectrum between a little better and the ideal future to begin work.
Timeline
Time framing of goals is a vital part of the goal setting process and the coachee’s perception of the attainability of goals can be influence by time frames. It can involve distal goals which are long-term and similar to vision statements or proximal goals which are shorter term and include more detailed planning (Grant, 2018). Proximal goals usually involve 2-3 sessions where the first session is the initial interview where the history of the client will be learned. The second session can involve looking at the issue and determining solutions while the third session is for termination. Distal goals can involve more sessions like 4-12 and a timeframe of 1-6 months as they may require in-depth explorations and modification of solutions.
Activities out of Session
Assignments or in-between session assignments are used to refer to ‘homework’ negotiated with and given to the coachee to put strategies, action plans and techniques into action. The assignments emanate from what is discussed in sessions and should be achievable for the client and aimed at encouraging them to take additional steps towards achieving their goals (Szymanska and Palmer, 2015). It can involve meditation or reflective logs where they write for 15 minutes a day about what they are feeling or noticing as they attempt to achieve their goals. These can help keep clients on track while reinforcing the need for continuous personal work.
