Positive psychology coaching

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Robert Biswas-Diener, Ben Dean · 2007

What it is

Positive psychology coaching is an approach, not one manualised method. It is coaching (goal-focused, collaborative, for people who are not severely impaired) that draws its tools from research in positive psychology: character strengths, positive emotions, hope, goal theory, well-being and…

Format

• Learning transfer: practice between sessions, homework, self-administered positive psychology activities.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Format. One-to-one, short to medium term, face-to-face or remote, sometimes in groups or teams. The review found no agreed number or length of sessions. A meta-analysis it cites suggests that five or more sessions of at least 45 minutes over about six months help most with coping and goal-directed self-regulation, and that four or fewer may be enough for work attitudes or specific skills. Many single exercises are…
• Positive psychology coaching is an approach, not one manualised method. It is coaching (goal-focused, collaborative, for people who are not severely impaired) that draws its tools from research in positive psychology: character strengths, positive emotions, hope, goal theory, well-being and meaning. The core idea of change: people develop faster by identifying, using, regulating and building their strengths and…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Phase 5: Concluding and re-contracting. Goals: compare outcomes with the original objectives (repeat measures, possibly 360 feedback or a portfolio of evidence), then end or renegotiate a new contract.

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

• homework that is not done (5.4).
• novelty fading by mid-week. Agree daily cues in advance.
• pushing action plans on a client who is still ambivalent.
• answers that stay abstract. Press gently for specific episodes.
• responses that sound forced. Genuineness matters more than technique.

Problems the guide addresses

• The coaching–psychotherapy boundary and when to refer
• Stuck clients and stalled goals
• Resistance to the positive focus ("this feels fake")
• Non-adherence to between-session activities
• Overwhelm and emotional surfacing in session
• Ruptures in the coaching relationship
• 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.