Coaching Blog

Positive Psychology Coach: Why You Need Appreciative Inquiry in Your Coaching

Posted by Julia Stewart

Happy_Buttons.jpg

Why does your coaching need Appreciative Inquiry?

First of all, if you went to a good coaching school, you might be using some Appreciative Inquiry (AI) tools without even knowing it, because many of the tools that the ICF Competencies refer to as, "Powerful Questioning" and "Creating Awareness", as well as some of the actual language included in the IAC Masteries is taken directly from Appreciative Inquiry.

AI is baked right into most coaching, but not knowing that could cost you.

First of all, if your coaching school neglected to disclosed the sources of their awesome material, that's a little dishonest. Second, if you don't understand the basic theory behind the tools you use, you may have a harder time using them effectively. Third, you're more susceptible to magical thinking, when your training isn't grounded in evidence-based material, because alhough great coaching works "like magic", there are very real reasons why. Finally, not fully understanding how your profession works leaves you unable to improvise when unexpected issues arise during your coaching sessions.

So back to Appreciative Inquiry.

It's initially based on research done by David Cooperrider in the early 1980s at Case Western University. That puts it years ahead of the "invention" of professional coaching in the 1990s. It's also well ahead of the formal launching of positive psychology, as a field of research. However, positive psychologists are more upfront about their sources.

Cooperrider noticed that organizational outcomes improved, often dramatically, when people focused on what was already working, instead of mainly on what was wrong. His observations are influencing people around the world and as it turns out, individuals also experience dramatically improved outcomes when the apply the approaches of AI.

If you'd like to know more about Appreciative Inquiry, here is a video of the recent class called How to Use Appreciative Inquiry with Your Positive Psychology Coaching, led by me, Julia Stewart, along with Marcus Mottley, PhD, CPPC, a clinical psychologist, Certified Positive Psychology Coach® and expert on AI.

 

 
Learn more about positive psychology coaching. Get the FREE Become a Positive Psychology Coach eBook:
 
Free Become a Positive Psychology Coach eBook

Topics: Certified Positive Psychology Coach, Positive Psychology, positive psychology coaching, Appreciative Inquiry

    Subscribe for FREE: Learn About Coaching

    Follow Us

    The Coaching Blog

    If you're a professional Business or Life Coach or you're interested in becoming one, the SCM Coaching Blog covers topics you may want to know about: How to Become a Business or Life Coach, Grow a Successful Coaching Business, Get Coach Training and/or Business and Life Coach Certification, Become a Coaching Master and Evolve Your Life and Business. 

    Subscribe above and/or explore by tag, month or article popularity, below.

    Latest Posts

    Most Popular Posts

    Browse by Tag

    Top Career-Jobs Sites Living-Well blog