Acceptance and commitment coaching

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Jon Hill, Joe Oliver · 2019

What it is

ACC applies Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and its theory to coaching. Coaching here means work with generally well-functioning people on performance, development, well-being and resilience. It is a coaching model, not a psychotherapy. Its developers address coaches, coaching…

Format

• Typical session count and format. The authors publish a six-session model (chapter 29). Its session-by-session content is. The outline below is my. It follows the book's chapter order and standard coaching contracting, and should not be cited as Hill & Oliver's protocol:
• Criteria for moving on. Not published in the sources used. Use process-based checks rather than time-based ones: can the coachee notice the process in vivo, use it in session, and apply it between sessions in the service of the stated goal?

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Practical sequence in the book (Part 2 chapter order). 1) What ACC conversations are about. 2) Assessment. 3) The Matrix. 4) Formulation. 5) The Workability Game. 6) Use of metaphor. 7) Process work in this order: defusion → struggle to acceptance → present moment → self as context → values → committed action. 8) Persistence and habit. 9) Mindfulness on the move. 10) Special populations and difficulties: high…
• Sessions are usually individual, one-to-one, face-to-face or online. Hill & Oliver also cover group coaching, training and development. Session length and spacing are not specified in the published sources. In coaching practice they are commonly fortnightly, 60–90 minutes.
• EMCC and Association for Coaching (both signatories to the Global Code of Ethics, with APECS, AICP and the UNM Mentoring Institute). The Code requires thorough, open contracting, clarity about the limits of confidentiality, practising competently and only when fit to practise, referral to other professionals "should the need arise", and ongoing supervision. The summary page does not state an explicit…

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?
• 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?
• 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

• Practice turning into a box-ticking rule. Keep it light and tied to values.
• Perfectionist self-criticism after a lapse. Treat it as more passenger chatter (4.7).
• A formulation that reads like a diagnosis. Keep it functional and goal-linked, not pathologising.
• The coachee trying to throw passengers off the bus, which is a control agenda. Reflect it as another detour.
• Burnout, substance use or sleep loss hidden behind high performance. These are ICF referral indicators (Section 5).

Problems the guide addresses

• Signs a coachee needs referral to clinical care (ICF)
• Risk and emergencies
• Stuck coachees
• "I don't know my values" and painful values work
• Resistance and pushback
• Overwhelm in session
• Non-adherence between sessions
• Ruptures
• Modality-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.