My Integral Coaching and the Wisdom of Behaviorism

              I believe that the insights of the psychotherapeutic schools associated with behaviorism might be helpful for my coaching clients. Now, I engage in Integral Coaching activity, which is based on Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory and Robert Kegan’s Subject-Object Theory. In each coaching case, I always need to assess client’s behavioral aspects. For example, in every coaching session, I make sure that I ask my clients about questions related to individual objective things (e.g., action, respond, behavior, energy flow, etc.). Furthermore, I pay attention to my behavior during coaching session, for instance, my posture, gesture, facial expression, energy state, and breathing rhythm.  

In addition to the assessment, I sometimes offer some developmental exercises for my clients to create a new way of being, considering my client’s past behavioral patterns. When I think about the best exercise for my clients, I’d like to refer to psychotherapeutic techniques more. Especially, I think that Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy will be helpful to modify clients’ behavioral patterns, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is also useful to make clients’ life rich and meaningful. In a word, the wisdom of behaviorism is indispensable in my coaching in order to assess and transform my clients.