Zurich Resource Model (ZRM)

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Maja Storch, Frank Krause · 1991 · Zurich

What it is

The ZRM is a resource-oriented, psychoeducational self-management training and coaching method, not a psychotherapy. It was developed from 1991 by Maja Storch with Frank Krause at the Chair of Educational Psychology (Prof. Fend), Universität Zürich, first for student teachers' psychosocial…

Format

• Underlying process model: the Rubikon circle. The ZRM takes the motivational stages need (Bedürfnis) → motive (Motiv) → crossing the Rubikon → intention → pre-actional preparation → action. Meier et al. (2021) close it into a Rubikon-Zirkel by adding evaluation (Auswertung) and let the coach move…
• Format and dose.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Group training (original form): about 10 participants, across several course days, with plenary input, small-group work, solo work and flipcharts; follow-up contacts after 4–12 weeks and after 6–12 months. A later practitioner summary gives a follow-up exchange 2–6 months after the course. Exact course length in the 2017 manual was not seen.
• What it is. The ZRM is a resource-oriented, psychoeducational self-management training and coaching method, not a psychotherapy. It was developed from 1991 by Maja Storch with Frank Krause at the Chair of Educational Psychology (Prof. Fend), Universität Zürich, first for student teachers' psychosocial competence and burnout prevention, later opened to other groups and to one-to-one coaching. The authors describe it…

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

• the same cautions as 4.3–4.5.
• expectations of instant change. Name relapses as normal in advance.
• reminders that stop being noticed (habituation). Swap or rotate them.
• prolonged self-blame after a lapse. Normalise it and return to A successes.
• support people who undermine the client. Choose others, or keep the goal private.

Problems the guide addresses

• The coaching–psychotherapy boundary as published
• Concrete signs that a participant needs clinical care (stop ZRM coaching, assess or refer)
• Process difficulties and responses

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.