Ram Psychology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coaching

 

      Coaching has been embraced by the British Psychological Society, and, on 15th December 2004, the BPS Special Group in Coaching Psychology held its inaugural meeting in London. While it was being set-up, and also during its formative years, it was envisaged that this new discipline might use positive psychology as a theoretical basis for interventions with clients, with a special emphasis being placed upon well-being and performance in the workplace. It was also argued that individual cases involving a revealed clinical dimension should be referred on to clinical professionals working in clinical care.

 

      Positive psychology has emphasized the strengths of individuals, juxtaposing apparent weaknesses as its opposite, with coaching professionals trying to strengthen the performances of client employees in the workplace. Unfortunately, by focussing on an individual’s performance, rather than carefully surveying the real organisational contexts within which employees function, much detail could be missed by adopting just a personality orientated, psychometric approach to solving performance issues. If, for example, certain individuals are being set tasks that are impossible to complete, then a quite natural feeling of helplessness can happen, not due to any weakness, but as a result of environmental conditioning.

 

      If signs of depression are seen during a supervisory process, for example, then a professional decision certainly does need to be made by the coach, or the manager, about what to do next. How depression is viewed, and in what theoretical context it is construed, will have a major bearing upon what happens with the client or employee, and also whether the coach, or manager, believes he or she still has the ability to continue to handle the case. If views are held about psychological strengths and weaknesses, framed in ideas embedded in positive psychology, for example, then an employee may feel that empathy has been supplanted with an unjustified view about particular weaknesses, or inadequacies, while the intelligent suppression of his or her behaviour may, in fact, be a positive and natural response to a highly stressful situation.

 

      Viewing depression as negative in such a context, while also emphasizing happiness as a construed opposite, would be inappropriate, simplistic and offensive. Mentalist constructions of psychological functioning, using dualistic notions that too often try to contrast negative depression with positive happiness, for example, do widely miss the mark; and aiming then to strengthen performance and well-being in such a theoretical context could actually block insight into the developmental issues at hand. Indeed, forcing psychological understanding into dualistic concepts is precisely what can cause some of the distress that is experienced by individuals, in organisational situations, to occur. Our understanding of the world does not fall neatly into construed opposites, and the net of human language does not have the capacity to adequately convey the myriad of perceptual experiences which individuals do have throughout the course of a lifetime. Indeed, reality can often be distorted by the very process of attempting to formulate human activities within dualistic concepts, in ways which disregard the context of a situation while attempting to define them.

 

      Transcending the relativistic world which is set up by mental processing, and seeing beyond the filtered, egocentric views which are created by this, removes the soul from the egocentric predicament. Letting go of preconceived ideas is part of the process of winning this developmental freedom beyond establishing a conventional position; and awareness of one’s own core psychological functioning, through introspection, is a key part of this development. While character is essential in adult development, it would be misleading to also assert that a natural slowing of one’s performance, which is the hallmark of depressed activity, is, in these cases, a form of psychological weakness. Stress often arises as a result of rushed and badly thought through decisions, and having the strength of character to wait and reflect, while adhering to core principles, such as Truth and other spiritual values, is, in fact, a sure sign of balance and wisdom.

 

      The implementation of a new way of working, that is not error-driven, and which uses information to positive effect, can be facilitated by professionals who can see through the complexity and problems that have been created by secular, positivist ideology. Opening the eyes of people to the consequences of methods that are not founded in Truth, is one way in which such a transformation can be realised. Training could assist with this process, provided it has the full backing of decision-makers who are responsible for the direction of the organisation. Focussed organisational consultancy with these individuals would be a step towards transformation, while coaching could supplement interventions that are done at the group and board levels.