John Holt ‘Authentic-Self-Purpose’:
Counselling, Psychotherapy, Clinical Supervision, Coaching and Coaching Supervision
Association for Coaching (AC) Accredited Coach, MBACP (Accredited Counsellor & Clinical Supervisor),
Certified Hakomi Therapist, Diploma in Humanistic Psychology, UKRC Registered Independent Counsellor & Psychotherapist,
MA Criminology, Postgraduate Diploma Applied Social Studies, Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW), BSc (Hons) Sociology
INFORMATION ON COUNSELLING & PSYCHOTHERAPY
Counselling & psychotherapy can be helpful for people experiencing a range of difficulties or challenges - ranging from relationship issues, bereavement, lack of confidence, undefined sense of self, to the possibility of a major reappraisal of life direction.
COUNSELLING: offers an opportunity to work on a specific difficulty for an agreed number of weekly sessions, often focusing on conscious attitudes & motives surrounding the difficulty.
PSYCHOTHERAPY: tends to be more open ended and the process generally takes longer to complete, with an additional focus on unconscious material often rooted in childhood, where expectations of life and subsequent patterns of behaviour may have been established & have some bearing on how life seems to you now. Psychotherapy works towards a deeper level of change in you and how you choose to live your life.
MY STYLE OF WORK IS ‘INTEGRATIVE-RELATIONAL’: drawing on Humanistic, Psychodynamic & Hakomi process approaches, honouring each person’s unique spirit & personal reality. I aim to create & maintain a safe therapeutic framework, within which I encourage you to explore difficulties, issues & personal process. I receive regular clinical supervision for my work, where I may discuss your issues whilst maintaining your anonymity. Otherwise, within BACP guidelines, I observe strict confidentiality. Dealing with concerns or complaints ~ As a member of BACP, I observe their code of ethics, copies of which are available, without question, on request.
RELEVANT QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE: I am a Qualified Social Worker, a Certified Hakomi Therapist, past full group member of IPN, a BACP Accredited Counsellor & Supervisor & a UKCR Registered Independent Counsellor. I also hold an MA in Criminology, a B. Sc (Hons) in Sociology, a Diploma in Humanistic Psychology & Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Social Studies. I have extensive post qualification experience in counselling, psychotherapy & group facilitation. I have also worked since 1984 as an organisational consultant in the ‘social economy’, public and commercial sectors and co-ordinate ‘The Phoenix Partnership’, a creative change management consultancy organisation. I also work occasionally as a part time lecturer in therapeutic supervision, external supervision & coaching supervision, humanistic psychology & management skills.
HOW I WORK : I offer weekly sessions, up to 6 sessions in number in the first instance, with a ‘review’ in session 6 to determine what the client wishes to do next (end the work; continue for a specific number of sessions, or continue on an open ended basis). You are free to terminate or ask for a ‘review’ at any time during or after the 6 session period. I will of course let you know if I feel we have gone as far as we can - in practice, this is usually clear to both me & the client.
WHAT IT COSTS: (as from 1st October 2010) Initial session is £39; thereafter I charge £46 per hour for Individual Clients, £53 for Couples & £57 for PCT referred Individual Clients. Fees are reviewed each summer and clients are notified in advance of any increase in fees. Student rate is £39 per hour.
CANCELLATIONS: The sessions last 1 hour and start at the agreed time (i.e.: if you arrive late, you get a shorter session). Let me know ASAP if you have to cancel a session. I will do likewise. Cancellations with less than 48hrs notice = ½ the fee; less than 24hrs notice = full fee. Should I have to cancel at any time I will make every effort to re-arrange a session as soon as possible.
INFORMATION ON COACHING
COACHING PRINCIPLES
· My essential philosophy of practice as a Coach is based on principles of humanistic psychology.
· These principles include: clarity, purpose and safety; collaboration and partnership in the spirit of ‘collaborative inquiry’; enabling the development of total self responsibility; transparency & honesty; creating space for both professional and relevant emotional development of the Client within clearly negotiated frameworks; regarding the Client as capable of self directed and healthy development as an individual and as a professional within their organisational and career context. Clarity and purpose underpin the starting point which is the creation of a clear ‘psychological contract’ drawn up as a three way agreement with both the prospective Client and his/her organisation.. Essentially, I am operating from a collaborative ‘power-with’ perspective, inviting the Client and their organisation to take responsibility for jointly identifying in a transparent way, through dialogue, their desired outcomes from the coaching contract.
· This approach encourages Client and Organisation ownership of the whole process and provides an opportunity for them to recognize my role as more of an ‘enabler and facilitator’ than ‘hired expert’ brought in to tell them what to do to resolve their current business or managerial challenges. The purpose of my work as a Coach is essentially ‘focused capacity building’ of the Client and their Organisation: often this requires an enabling of perceptual and behavioural change in the Client and their Organisation to increase their effectiveness at achieving strategic and business goals. It may also require enabling the Client to understand more fully how their cognitive and emotional reactions can impact on personal effectiveness, performance and well being.
· None of the above is realistically achievable without building a solid base of relational trust between myself and both the Client and also their Organisation. To facilitate positive change in individuals and organisations, it may be necessary to provide a ‘safe first step’ through creating a ‘reflective alliance’ with the Client built on trust, collaboration & partnership.
· Negotiated and agreed action should be achievable and make sense within the context of the current Client and Organisational reality & future aspirations. This may also require work to identify how Client personal & professional values align with those of the Organisation, in order to access ‘generative’ energy within both the Client and the Organisation towards identified and desired goals.
COACHING PHILOSOPHY
As a Coach I aim to create optimum conditions for the Client to identify and develop aspects of their authentic self in terms of their awareness, self responsibility and work effectiveness; demonstrated through attainment of emergent objectives, within the framework of desired outcomes. I seek to provide a safe and appropriately challenging environment, based on a clearly negotiated contract including purpose, roles, desired outcomes and shared understanding of what each party, in a spirit of partnership, will contribute to the process. The work is bounded by a clear ethical framework and maintenance of appropriate professional boundaries, guided by the Client’s agenda and emerging objectives over time, related to desired outcomes. I may choose to share particular Models with the Clients, in the spirit of transparency and working in partnership, if I feel it is ‘what is needed here right now’ and contributes towards achieving desired outcomes.
The purpose of Coaching is explained, focused on desired outcomes of Client effectiveness. Contractual clarity serves to differentiate coaching from other possibly complementary professional processes including counselling, psychotherapy, external supervision and mentoring.
My Coaching approach is contained within the framework of ‘working at relational depth’. The Models may include: humanistic psychology; Gestalt psychology; self efficacy; strengths and solution focused approaches; positive psychology; psychodynamic approaches; emotional intelligence and aspects of the Hakomi method.
The above Models offer a range of possible interventions contributing to building the framework of ‘relational depth’, which itself describes the kind of environment I am seeking to co-create. Alongside this, I would use Whitmore’s GROW Model as a sound foundation for my coaching practice. At the Meta level, I would also seek where appropriate to utilise both Hawkins & Shohet’s 7 Eyed Model and Page & Wosket’s Cyclical Model as a container for reflection & intervention on ‘task’ and relational ‘process’. Hawkins and Shohet’s focus on the contextual environment creates space to consider the organisational culture, the extent of sponsor involvement and expectations of the coaching contract.
I use Client responses to the usefulness of my theoretical models as a yardstick of how effectively I am applying my Coaching Philosophy. Shared models also provide the opportunity to build a shared vocabulary with the Client, thus increasing a sense of shared meaning, whilst working in partnership within the Coaching Contract and the Client’s own agenda. Shared meaning is, for me, central to the success of Coaching.
I ask why the Client has chosen to participate in Coaching and what they desire as outcomes by the end of the Contract. We would take account from the start of the organisational context, and what if anything is expected by the sponsoring organisation in terms of ‘desired outcomes’. During this stage I would be listening carefully to what the Client said, and perhaps not said, in terms of their own desired outcomes and those of their sponsoring organisation. If there appeared to be a lack of congruence somewhere in this initial stage, I would seek further detail, to ensure that what needed to be acknowledged was named, and discussed as part of the contracting procedure.
In paying attention to the Client’s frame of reference and approach to reflection and dialogue, I seek to match what I can offer, to increase the Client’s sense of safety and meaning in the coaching process. I may refer to my role, their role and that of their sponsoring organisation. Wherever possible I work outside of the pitfalls of the ‘drama triangle’, as understood within ‘Transactional Analysis’, discouraging the Client from seeing themselves as a ‘victim’ and their organisation as a ‘persecutor’, whilst seeing me as a potential ‘rescuer’. Instead, I hold a ‘vision’ of the Client taking full responsibility for their part in co-creating their desired outcomes, in a spirit of ‘partnership’ with myself and other key parties. Essentially I am seeking to build a partnership focused relationship based on transparency, dialogue, reflection, negotiation, shared meaning, safety and appropriate challenge.
Whilst initial stages prioritise the need for clarity and naming desired outcomes within the organisational context, secondary stages provide opportunities for the Client and I to ‘reality check’ how far the Client might be from achieving desired outcomes. Mindful of familiar ‘patterns’, I would encourage dialogue around necessary steps required and the Client’s perceived obstacles to achieving them, towards securing a desired outcome. This is a reflection of Whitmore’s GROW Model, as well as Senge’s ‘Creative Tension Principle’ of naming and engaging with the dissonance between ‘current reality’ and ‘shared vision’. If this aspect has already been explored, we can discuss possible options for dealing with challenges.
I provide space to explore patterns around the Client’s ‘process’, perceptual world, and approaches to creating solutions, which may or may not have worked in the past. This may provide a link into using, for example, the ‘Strengths Approach’ as advocated by Buckingham and Clifton, in order to increase both Client awareness of their own ‘process’, of internal resources and also of effectiveness in a proactive response to work based challenges. This secondary stage of Coaching offers reflection & review of progress to date. The third stage refines chosen options as ‘staged objectives’ on the way to securing final desired outcomes, reviewed and reflected upon each time we meet, as part of iterative learning. This may influence final awareness and achievement of desired outcomes and may have led to subtle adjustments in objectives over time. I may utilise the latter stages of the Page & Wosket Cyclical Model (that is, after ‘contract’ and ‘focus’… exploring a creative ‘space’ then ‘bridge’ back into the workplace) as the Client and I consider what remaining action steps are necessary to achieve the Client’s desired outcome(s).
The final stage provides both: a shared detailed review & reflection on progress around ‘task’ and ‘process’; and also future ‘signposting’ of Client plans to sustain a consistent application of consolidated learning & action. This reflects the fifth stage of the Page & Wosket Model ‘Review’, as well as echoing Whitmore’s GROW Model in terms of the ‘Way forwards’, post-Coaching.
COACHING PRACTICE
In practice, my job as a Coach is fourfold, to:
· Carefully listen to what the Client is ‘saying’ (space for them to share their own ‘story’ and the significance they place upon it).
· Gain an understanding of the Client’s thinking processes and raise the Client’s curiosity about how those processes & constructs may be influencing their own perceptions about their work.
· Provide space to hear the Client’s feelings about their work, facilitating whatever emotional expression is necessary to clear blocks and/or deepen understanding of how emotional aspects affect performance
· Use my own self awareness and professional experience as an intuitive resource to pick up on ‘hunches’ or themes which enable me to be an effective ‘change agent’ for both the Client and their Organisation.
· I take my role as a ‘steward’ of the Coaching process seriously: to uphold aspects of personal & relational safety as well as offering challenge where the work requires it. Alongside this, in a more ‘subjective’ sense, I am also there to be a real person, engaged in a relational meeting with another person. I seek to welcome all aspects of the Client’s self whilst giving feedback where appropriate about how I experience these aspects, if this is what I feel the Client needs from me. I offer an opportunity for dialogue, within which awareness of old patterns of perception & new options of personal choice may emerge. In a humanistic sense, I seek to engage in ‘co-operative enquiry’ about what is happening here & what may be needed. I encourage Clients to recognise their own wisdom rather than mine, and take an ‘educational’ view of life, rather than a ‘self pathological’ view.
· Fundamentally, the whole approach is underpinned by the notion of ‘trust’: in the Client’s own wisdom; in their & my spontaneous and intuitive feelings; in our joint ability to stay with periods of ‘not knowing’ long enough to enable deeper understanding to emerge; in our joint ability to co-create what is needed here; in dialogue & open communication; in the utilization of ‘power with’ approaches within a clearly defined contractual framework; in my accumulated ‘craftsmanship’ in my work; and last but not least, in the generative power of healthy human relationships to complete a thorough and effective job together.
RELEVANT QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE: I am an Association for Coaching (AC) Accredited Coach and Accredited Coach with Primeast. I also hold an MA in Criminology & a B. Sc (Hons) in Sociology, a Diploma in Humanistic Psychology & Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Social Studies. I have extensive post qualification experience in coaching, coaching supervision, action learning facilitation & group facilitation. I have also worked since 1984 as an organisational consultant in the ‘social economy’, public and commercial sectors and co-ordinate ‘The Phoenix Partnership’, a creative change management consultancy organisation. I also work occasionally as a part time lecturer in therapeutic supervision, external supervision & coaching supervision, humanistic psychology & management skills.
HOW I WORK : I negotiate an agreed contract with the client and their sponsoring organisation, for a time limited period. A ‘review’ is offered towards the end of this period, to determine what the client and sponsoring organisation wish to do next (end the work or continue for a further contracted specific number of sessions). Of course, the client and their sponsoring organisation are free to terminate or ask for a ‘review’ at any time during the contracted coaching period. I will of course let the client and sponsoring organisation know if I feel we have gone as far as we can - in practice, this is usually clear to all parties.
WHAT IT COSTS: (as from 1st October 2010) For Organisationally Sponsored Clients, the initial session is £50 per hour; thereafter I charge £77 to £150 per hour depending on the size of the sponsoring organisation and the sector in which they are located and operate. For Individually Self Financing Clients, the initial session is £46 per hour and thereafter is £57 per hour. Fees are reviewed each summer and clients and sponsoring organisations are notified in advance of any increase in fees. Coaching Student rate is £46 per hour.
CANCELLATIONS: The sessions typically last 1.5 hours and start at the agreed time (i.e.: if you arrive late, you get a shorter session). Let me know ASAP if you have to cancel a session. I will do likewise. Cancellations with less than 48hrs notice = ½ the fee; less than 24hrs notice = full fee. Should I have to cancel at any time I will make every effort to re-arrange a session as soon as possible.
John Holt: Authentic - Self - Purpose
14-16 Swadford Street, SKIPTON, North Yorkshire, BD23 1RD
Telephone: 01535 658800 / Mobile 07759-020438
Email: info@johnholt-authentic-self-purpose.org.uk