Integral and systemic coaching

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Joanne Hunt, Laura Divine, John Whittington · Ottawa

What it is

"Integral and systemic coaching" is not one published model. It is a grouping of two related coaching schools: integral coaching, built on Ken Wilber's AQAL integral theory and developed into a trademarked method by Joanne Hunt and Laura Divine at ICC (Ottawa), and systemic coaching, which coaches…

Format

• Integral Coaching® programme: four conversation types
• Hawkins & Turner (2020): the book's chapters run from multi-stakeholder contracting (ch. 5), to "the systemic coaching process" (ch. 6), methods and tools (ch. 7), eco-systemic coaching (ch. 8), group and team work (ch. 9), supervision (ch. 10), systemic ethics (ch. 11) and evaluation (ch. 12). The…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Within any conversation ICC uses a simple arc: a beginning (connection and check-in), a middle (most of the time) and an end (next steps and date). Hunt also notes that each meeting re-establishes trust. No session length or total session count is published in the sources. Coach training is separate: Frost describes Module 1 as five months and Module 2 as nine months.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Integration: ICC's four conversations give the programme structure. Systemic work adds (a) stakeholder-aware contracting at Intake/Offer, (b) a system map or constellation as part of Intake or a development cycle when the topic involves relationships, teams or organisations, and (c) completion…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• 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?
• 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

• Consistency over intensity.
• Skipping Explore and jumping to Action.
• Abstract answers. Ask for one concrete behaviour.
• A physical settling or a strong "no". Both are information.
• Answers becoming more specific and more about the self over time.

Problems the guide addresses

• The coaching–psychotherapy boundary and signs that a coachee needs clinical care
• Stuck client (no movement across cycles)
• Resistance to a metaphor or systemic offer
• Non-adherence to practices
• Overwhelm in session
• Constellation-specific difficulties
• Ruptures and relationship problems
• Sponsor and stakeholder conflicts (systemic coaching)
• Psychotherapist-specific pitfalls

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.