Solution-focused and cognitive-behavioural coaching

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Anthony M. Grant · 2000 · Sydney, Australia

What it is

SF-CB coaching is a framework, not a manualised therapy. It is a coaching approach for "normal, nonclinical clients", which Grant (2003, p. 254) defined as a collaborative, solution-focused, results-oriented and systematic process. It aims to improve goal attainment and life experience. Grant built…

Format

• SF-CB coaching has no fixed phases. The structure is (i) an initial life review and goal-setting stage, (ii) a run of weekly cycles of review, evaluation and action planning, and (iii) a closing evaluation of goal attainment. Each session follows a goal-focused structure such as GROW.
• Stage A: Start-up (intro session, workshop or first session).

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Grant's later (2017) statement of the process. In his 2017 SF-CB paper, as summarised by the Institute of Coaching, Grant described SF-CB coaching as building a cycle of self-regulated change in six steps: (1) identify possible outcomes; (2) set specific goals; (3) identify resources and options, and build action plans; (4) identify personal strengths and build self-efficacy to support motivation; (5) monitor and…
• Stage B: Weekly self-regulation cycles (the core).
• Goal: each week, systematically work through the self-regulation cycle for each goal.

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 fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• 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

• Rumination that escalates distress is a clinical indicator (4.1).
• Practical, low-effort changes are often quick wins early in coaching.
• Rising distress scores mean pausing and screening, not pushing harder on goals.
• Repeated non-completion despite tiny steps suggests a cognitive, environmental or clinical block.
• Monitoring that turns into self-criticism. Point the coachee to what the data show they should do more of.

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.