Supporting clients in complex times

Coaching lecture series "Coaching - Research and Practice"

David Lane & Mikael Cavanagh

Coaching has increasingly emerged as a viable intervention for a wide range of concerns. Much of the coaching literature and many of the training programmes currently available have identified clear programmes that work well in contexts in which the goals are clearly defined and agreed and the chances of success reasonably predictable.

However, there is also the need to respond to complex times in which objectives are unclear or ambiguous and outcomes unpredictable. Supporting clients to work in such complex spaces requires different approaches to coaching.

This presentation will outline some of the issues faced in working with clients in complex spaces and ways to conceptualise those spaces that lead to options for coaches to support their clients in complex times.

David Lane. PhD FBPsS, Coaching and Organisational Psychologist, Director Professional Development Foundation.

Michael J Cavanagh. PhD Clin Psych, Coaching and Clinical Psychologist, Deputy Director, Coaching Psychology Unit, School of Psychology, University of Sydney.

Further information

Reinhard Stelter, Coaching Psychology Unit, University of Copenhagen

The lecture is part of a series of lectures titled "Coaching - research and practice", which is sponsored by the EMCC. The lecture series aims to build a bridge between research and praxis in coaching and at the same time embed coaching practices in the research discourse. The intention is to hear from researchers, who explore coaching from a business, health or sports related angle. The Coaching Psychology Unit at the University of Copenhagen was established in order to launch and coordinate interdisciplinary research, education and dissemination in coaching.