PRACTICE model

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Stephen Palmer · 2007

What it is

PRACTICE is a coaching model, not a therapy. It is a structured problem-solving sequence that Palmer adapted from Barbara Wasik's (1984) seven-step problem-solving model. That model belongs to the D'Zurilla, Goldfried and Nezu problem-solving tradition. The acronym stands for Problem…

Format

• Session count and format. None of the sources gives a session count. The model is used inside a coaching meeting, and forms based on the sequence (Palmer 2008, Appendix 1) are used between sessions. The Danish version puts the confidence rating at E: before implementation it asks how confident the…
• Typical practical format: sessions of 60–90 minutes, often 4–8 meetings over a few months. That is common UK coaching practice, not a PRACTICE specification. Start with a written contract that covers goals, confidentiality and its limits, and the coaching–therapy boundary (see Section 5). One issue…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Theory of change: people get unstuck when a vague difficulty becomes a defined issue with a realistic goal. They then lay out and weigh several options, commit to the most workable one, break it into steps, act, and review what they learned. Because the acronym is easy to remember, the coachee can later run the sequence alone, so the coach is passing on a portable skill. Palmer and co-authors report using it in…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• issues that turn out to be more complex. Switch back to the full PRACTICE sequence.
• very high confidence that may mask avoidance, and persistently low confidence across plans (Section 5).
• answers framed as the absence of something ("I wouldn't feel stressed"). Ask what they would be doing instead.
• forms filled in only at P (stuck in problem description). It is working when the coachee brings completed cycles.
• reframes imposed by the coach. Let the coachee choose. It is working when the restated issue suggests new actions.

Problems the guide addresses

• The coaching–psychotherapy boundary as published
• Concrete signs a coachee needs referral to clinical care
• Risk or crisis in session
• Stuck at P: the coachee keeps telling the problem story
• "Yes, but" at A or C
• Goals imposed by a sponsor (organisational coaching)
• Non-adherence: the plan wasn't carried out
• Overwhelm and emotional flooding
• Ruptures in the coaching relationship
• Model-specific difficulties

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.