Articles Section

Journal of Evidence-Based Psychotherapies,

Vol. 16, No. 1, March 2016, 3-18.

A RATIONAL-EMOTIVE BEHAVIOR APPROACH

IN LIFE COACHING
Demetris KATSIKIS*¹, Chrysoula KOSTOGIANNIS¹, Windy DRYDEN2
¹Hellenic Institute for Rational-Emotive and Cognitive Behavior Therapy,
Athens, Greece
²University of London, London, United Kingdom

Abstract
This article presents a brief but comprehensive overview of the coaching
field along with a Rational-Emotive Behavioral Approach in Life Coaching.
The Rational-Emotive Behavioral Approach was founded in 1955 by
psychologist and psychotherapist Albert Ellis in New York and is the first
cognitive behavioral approach in the history of psychotherapy. Since then, it
has significantly contributed to the field of psychotherapy as an evidence-
based approach (Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy, REBT) at a
preventative and a clinical level. The ABC model for REBT supports the
idea that our emotional, behavioral and cognitive output (C) is not
determined by the activating events (either real and/or inferential) (A) but by
the beliefs that we hold (B) about the activating event. Ellis and other REBT
scholars-practitioners had always highlighted the ABC framework for use in
non therapeutic settings after having written about a wide variety of REBT
techniques that can be easily integrated and applied in diverse coaching
settings and for many other fields of human performance. This article
delineates the basic steps that a REBT Life Coach can follow during
Rational-Emotive Behavior Coaching practice (REBC). It is also enriched
with research suggestions and practical considerations not only for the REBC
professional but also for all coaches in the coaching field.

Keywords: Coaching, Rational-Emotive Behavior Approach, ABC Model,

Rational-Emotive Behavior Coaching, Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy

Introduction: Definitions, purpose, history, characteristics, types, process,

differences from psychotherapy

Definitions. Coaching is a learning strategy that is used to build the

capacity of the individual to improve existing abilities, develop new skills, and
gain a deeper understanding of his/her practices for use in current and future

*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to:
E-mail: [email protected]

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situations (Hanft, Rush, & Shelden, 2004; Rush, Shelden, & Hanft, 2003). It
refers to a conversation between a coach and a coachee, where the coach acts as a
catalyst for the coachee’s learning process, in relation to some issue or goal set by
the coachee. Through questioning, the coach aims to facilitate a learning process
that helps the coachee to formulate clear goals — either work-related or
personal — to recognize obstacles that may prevent the coachee from reaching
their goals, and to identify steps towards reaching their goals. The coachee
reflects on his/her actions as a means to determine the effectiveness of an action
or practice and develops a plan for refinement and use of the action in immediate
and future situations.
According to Cope (2004) coaching is at the intersection of the mental
health type-of-help continuum, as it appears in the Figure below, amidst the
processes of management, teaching, mentoring, counselling, therapy and
mediation. Coaching helps all types of individuals to get extrinsic as well as
intrinsic solutions to their issues, to help themselves and help others in a
collaborative mode while focusing on performance as well as on potential at the
same time.

Extrinsic solution Intrinsic solution

Managing Teaching Mentoring Coaching Counselling Therapy Mediation

Focus on performance Focus on potential

Helping people Collaborative Coaching To help themselves

Figure 1. Type-of-help Continuum (Cope, 2004)

Purpose. The coaching process moves the individual from current

thinking, behaviors, and performance, to expanded thinking and enhanced
performance, toward a more integrated self, sustainable development, and success.
The ultimate purpose of coaching is for the coachee to master his/her well-being,
to get the most out of his/her life and flourish in the short- and the long-term.
History. Historically, coaching has been a term used primarily in sports.
Yet, coaching as a process can be found in the fields of business (Coe, Zehnder,
& Kinlaw, 2008; Doyle, 1999; Flaherty, 1999), education (e.g. Delany &
Arredondo, 1998; Kohler, Crillery, Shearer, & Good, 1997; Tschantz & Vail,
2000) and health (e.g. Dryden, 2011a, 2011b). The use of coaching as an adult
learning strategy has been described by early childhood special educators,
occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech-language pathologists as a

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practice to support families of children with disabilities as well as practitioners in

early childhood programs. For example, Hanft & Pilkington (2000) encouraged
early childhood practitioners to reconsider their role “to move to a different
position alongside a parent as a coach rather than a lead player” (p. 2) since this
allows for more opportunities to promote development and learning than direct
intervention by the therapist or educator. Also, Rush (2000) noted that a
practitioner-as-coach approach provides the necessary support to parents to
improve children’s skills and abilities rather than work directly with the child.
Early childhood special education teachers concluded that they “should be
prepared to act not simply as consultants to early childhood teachers but as
coaches” (p. 42) because this offers a more structured system for jointly planning
new learning and engaging in feedback as well as modeling by a coach (Dinnebeil,
McInerney, Roth, & Ramaswamy, 2001).
Characteristics. Most coaching models and approaches generally agree
that there are five generic characteristics of the coaching process (Rush & Shelden,
2005); joint planning, observation, action/practice, reflection and feedback. Joint
planning refers to an agreement by both the coach and the coachee on the actions
to be taken by both of them and/or the opportunities to practice between coaching
visits. Observation involves thorough identification and examination, from the
side of the coach, of the coachee’s actions or practices to be used to develop new
skills, strategies, or ideas. Action/Practice dimension includes the spontaneous or
planned events that occur within the context of a real-life situation that provide
the coachee with opportunities to practice, refine, or analyze new or existing skills.
Reflection is the analysis of existing strategies to determine how the strategies are
consistent with evidence-based practices and may need to be implemented
without change or modification to obtain the intended outcome(s). Feedback
entails information provided by the coach based on direct observation of the
coachee, actions reported by the coachee or information shared by the coachee, to
expand his/her current level of understanding about a specific evidence-based
practice.
Types. There are different types of coaching which are presented below
in a brief and comprehensive, but not exhaustive, manner. Coaching types are
differentiated across people involved (e.g. individual coaching, group coaching,
family coaching), locus or setting of coaching (e.g. internal coaching, external
coaching), approaches (e.g., cognitive behavioural, psychodynamic, person-
centered etc.; see Stober & Grant, 2006), orientation of goals (e.g. goal-oriented
coaching, no goal-oriented coaching), domains (e.g. executive coaching,
education coaching, health coaching, life coaching, ADHD coaching), level of
change (e.g. transactional coaching, transformational coaching) and modus of
delivery (e.g. face-to-face coaching, e-coaching, telephone coaching, self-
coaching).
Process. The traditional coaching process addresses questions like
“Where are you now?”, “What do you want to accomplish?”, “What will you do

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to get what you want?”, “How are you going to overcome barriers?” and “What
have you learned and how have your goals been reached?” It begins by setting a
specific objective according to the strengths and the values of the coachee.
Specific questions like “How can I help you to get the most out of your
life?”,”What would you be doing if you are going to see yourself flourishing?”,
“If you were getting more from life/career/relationships, what would you be doing
that you are not doing now?”, “If you were a plant, what ingredients would you
need to flourish?”, “If you were flourishing as a person, how would your life be
different?”, “In what way would you enrich your life?”, set the coaching process
agenda.
Based on these questions, the coach helps the coachee to form objectives,
set specific, realistic and achievable goals based on these objectives and engage in
appropriate tasks that don’t interfere with objectives and goals. Objectives are
more embedded in the coaching process rather than in an endpoint/outcome.
These objectives are genuine and consistent with the coachee’s values and include
largely a focus on the self rather than on others. The coach helps coachees to
build high levels of commitment keeping in mind Prochaska & DiClemente’s
(1983) stages of change known as precontemplation, contemplation, preparation,
action and maintenance (for a revised version, including stages of non-
contemplation, anti-contemplation, prelapse, lapse and relapse, see Freeman &
Dolan, 2001). Further, the coach helps coachees deal with personal and/or
environmental obstacles that hinder their flourishing process (see the Rational-
Emotive Behavior Coaching process below) while (s)he helps them develop the
necessary skills and confidence to carry out the coaching tasks successfully. The
main tasks of the coach at this point is to motivate the coachee to run the coaching
tasks, see the link between objectives, goals and tasks, problem solve any possible
obstacles to task completion and modify tasks in collaboration with the coachee if
necessary.
The coaching process places emphasis on the coachee’s current
understanding of his/her issues and current level of skills for the achievement of
his/her current goals (Grant, 2012). The coach helps the coachee to develop a
deeper level of understanding in a particular issue by providing a solid base of
factual knowledge, by understanding these facts within the context of a
conceptual framework, and by organizing the information to facilitate easy recall,
use, and transfer to other situations. It is a metacognitive approach in which the
coachee learns to self-assess his/her own level of understanding, to establish
learning goals, and to measure self-progress as an initial evidence-based tactic of
the coaching process (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Donovan, Bransford,
& Pellegrino, 1999). The coach makes his/her expertise clear from the outset and
explains that (s)he is an expert who will provide support, motivation for action
and environmental resources based on a solid collaborative working alliance (see
Bordin, 1976) and a step-by-step rationale. During the coaching process, the
coach establishes and maintains a good balance of activeness/directiveness and

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listening/empathy and helps the coachee to establish clear goals, progress

monitoring systems of assessment while (s)he connects the coaching outcome
with coachee’s effort and action in a clear way.
How coaching differs from psychotherapy. Traditional psychotherapy
models promote a pathogenetic model of health based on remedy and treatment
while coaching (and some counseling models as well, e.g. mental health
consultation model of Gerald Caplan; Caplan, 1964) endorse a sanogenetic model
based on prevention and proaction.
According to Williams (2003), psychotherapy is based on the
medical/clinical model of practice that relies on diagnosis and pathology.
Psychotherapy deals with identifiable dysfunctions, regards the person as a
“patient” and is mainly about fixing the past. Further, psychotherapy deals with
“healing” issues (resolution of pain and relief of symptoms) when the problems
have already been established. Psychotherapy usually asks the “Why” question
placing more emphasis on insight (e.g. “Why do I have those symptoms?”) while
coaching asks “How” (e.g. “How can I achieve my objectives?”) and “What” (e.g.
“What changes can I do to achieve my objectives?”) questions. Coaching is a
learning and developmental process model that focuses on attainable goals and
actions. Coaching promotes the idea of improved functioning and moves forward
from the use of DSM-V approaches to ICF approaches (International
Classification of Functioning manual from the World Health Organization).
Furthermore, coaching is about, dealing mostly with coachee’s present and
seeking to help him/her design and act on behalf of a more desirable future. Thus,
coaching appeals mostly to the 80% of the global population who is generally
healthy (including people that are at risk for psychological disorders) but can also
enhance the outcomes of counseling and psychotherapy.
Similar differences have been noted between psychotherapy and
counseling (e.g. see Thompson & Rudolph, 1992) while the differences between
counseling and coaching are less clear. Nevertheless, according to Cope’s
continuum presented above, counseling tends to be more focused on intrinsic than
on extrinsic solutions, on potential than on performance and on self-help than on
helping others while coaching is more at the intersection of the above-mentioned
variables. Also, the counseling process places greater emphasis on different types
of subclinical issues than coaching (e.g. intra- and interpersonal conflicts, lack of
information about self and others and skill deficits) (see Thompson & Rudolph,
1992).

Rational-Emotive Behavioral Coaching: Introduction and Process

Introduction and Research. Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy

(REBT) and Theory were introduced by the psychologist Albert Ellis in 1955; it is
the first type of cognitive behavior therapy (Ellis, 1994, 2001). REBT theory
holds the idea that people disturb themselves not by adverse events but by the

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rigid and extreme (irrational) beliefs that they hold about these events. Also,
people get and stay better not by events but by the flexible and non-extreme
(rational) beliefs they hold about these events. In the case of rational beliefs,
people experience healthy emotions (either negative or positive), carry out
functional behaviors and make realistic subsequent inferences about the situation
involved. In the case of irrational beliefs, people experience unhealthy emotions
(either negative or positive), carry out dysfunctional behaviors and make highly
distorted subsequent inferences about the situation involved.
REBT is an evidence-based approach with empirically and clinically
supported efficacy and effectiveness in therapeutic/counseling settings (David,
2014; David & Montgomery, 2011; David, Lynn, & Ellis, 2010, Katsikis, 2014)
and coaching settings (Neenan & Palmer, 2012). REBT is a problem-solving,
self-help method that has always had preventive and proactive applications with
diverse people and in diverse settings (e.g. education) with coaching being in the
REBT agenda for the past 15 years (Dryden, 2011a, 2011b; Neenan & Dryden,
2001, 2014); thus, Rational-Emotive Behavior Coaching (REBC) is about the use
and application of Rational-Emotive Behavior Theory in the coaching field.
The coaching literature has advanced considerably in the past fifteen
years. However, authors’ review of the existing knowledge base showed that
coaching practice and research remains relatively uninformed by relevant
psychological theory, especially Rational-Emotive Behavior Theory which is an
evidence-based approach in different fields. Despite theoretical formulations and
proposed coaching models in executive REBC (e.g. Anderson, 2002; Criddle,
2007; Ellam-Dyson & Palmer, 2010; Grieger & Fralick, 2007; Podea, Macavei, &
Wild, 2015; Sherin & Caiger, 2004), REBT and mindfulness training in coaching
(Collard & Walsh, 2008), standard Rational-Emotive Behavior Coaching (Kodish,
2002; Neenan & Dryden, 2001) and different types of cognitive behavioral
coaching (Palmer & Gyllensten, 2008; Smith, 2008), there is not much research in
the Rational-Emotive Behavior Coaching field. Still, different scientists and
practitioners (e.g. Jalali, Moussavi, Yazdi, & Fadardi, 2014; Turner & Barker,
2015; Wu, Chen, & Chen, 2014) use references from both fields (therapy and
coaching) without adequately highlighting the similarities and/or the differences
between REBT and REBC applications.
Nevertheless, there are upcoming and promising efforts, mostly in the
applied research area. For example, David and Matu (2013) proposed the
Managerial Coaching Assessment System (MCAS) for corporate settings, a multi-
rater instrument allowing for ratings from managers (self-report), employees
(other-report) and external observers equipped with adequate psychometric
properties (internal reliability and predictive validity of performance over 6
months); they also proposed the Rational Managerial Coaching Program (rMCP)
which has been found effective in increasing coaching abilities and rational
attitudes, and decreasing irrational attitudes, of executive managers according to
self-report and external-report data. Using the same program, there are also

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promising results on emotional stability and distress that accompany

procrastination in middle school students (Wu et al., 2014). Turner & Barker
(2015), using REBT coaching bibliography among other sources, found
significant reductions in total irrational beliefs, other-depreciation, need for
achievement, demand for fairness, and perceived psychological and performance
benefits of a REBT program on the irrational beliefs of Blue-Chip professionals;
Jalali et al. (2014) also showed the effectiveness of REBT group coaching in the
well-being of people with late blindness.
Furthermore, the proceedings of the 1st International Congress on
Cognitive Behavior Coaching (Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2014, June) set the stage
for research and applications in Cognitive Behavioral Coaching (including REBC)
in the future. Indicatively, there are upcoming research efforts in differentiating
between REBC and REBT, REBC parenting coaching, REBC for work-life
balance, REBC and well-being, REBC assessment and applications in diverse
groups, evidence-based trainings and applications in REBC, health REBC, REBC
and stress/performance, executive REBC, REBC and neuropsychology/
biofeedback, life REBC, REBC and positive psychology and in innovative
technology and REBC.
Future REBC research should be based on the fundamental framework for
Rational-Emotive Behavioral basic and applied research in diverse fields as it was
proposed by David, Szentagotai, Kallai and Macavei (2005). Future REBC
studies should extend the scope of REBC basic research by investigating, a) the
nature of (ir)rational beliefs at the computational level (“hot” or “cold”
cognitions), the algorithmic/representational level (concepts, propositional
statements or schemas) and the implementational level (brain activity when
beliefs are activated), b) the assessment of beliefs in the coaching field
(development of specific measures, measures based on data other than self-
reports), c) the relationships between beliefs and other cognitions (e.g. are
expectations, attributions, inferences etc. functionally autonomous or a change on
beliefs is accompanied by a change in the aforementioned cognitions?), emotions
(especially healthy and positive emotions in REBC which endorses a sanogenetic,
instead of a pathogenetic, binary model of human functioning), physiological
indicators (e.g. a clearer differentiation between emotional and physiological
arousal is needed) and behaviors (e.g. does physiological arousal
mediate/moderate the relationship between beliefs and behavior?), d) the efficacy
of REBC through randomized coaching trials in controlled settings and the
effectiveness of REBC in real coaching settings, e) theory-of-change mechanisms
in REBC (e.g. designs examining the association of changes in beliefs with
changes in other outcome measures) and, most importantly, f) the role of rational
beliefs as a sanogenetic mechanism in the promotion of health, well-being and
longevity (e.g. through cross-sectional and longitudinal studies under different
circumstances, studies in simulated, analogue and natural situations etc.).

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Importance of Rational-Emotive Behavior Theory in the coaching

field. The proceedings of the 1st International Congress on Cognitive Behavior
Coaching officially set REBT as one of the leading CBT approaches in Cognitive
Behavior Coaching stressing the importance of the core cognitive elements
(namely, belief status; rational/irrational beliefs) that can enhance coaching
effectiveness and maintain client change in any type of coaching approach in
diverse coaching settings. Coaches who are trained in Rational-Emotive Behavior
Coaching (REBC) can help their coachees endorse and/or enhance rational beliefs
about events through a step-by-step process presented below; coachees who hold
flexible and non-extreme beliefs about life events deal much better with an array
of issues including troublesome emotions, problem solving issues, procrastination,
time management, persistence towards goal achievement, criticism, assertiveness
skills, resilience and wellness skills, risks and decision-making skills than people
who hold rigid and extreme beliefs about these same issues. Ultimately, in REBC,
coachees can be helped to develop a long-term rational philosophy that is being
empirically, logically and pragmatically tested for life.
Process. What follows below is a review of the 12 steps followed by a
REBC coach in a typical REBC coaching process based on the ABCD(EF) model
of REBT. A stands for coaching issue, B for (ir)rational beliefs, C for
physiological, cognitive, emotional and behavioral consequences, D for
disputation (questioning) process, E for effective new beliefs and F for functional
new physiological levels, thoughts, emotions and behaviors. In the beginning, the
coach elicits the coachee’s explicit agreement to target his/her (emotional or
behavioral) issue for change. The coach builds an appropriate bond with the
coachee, shares his/her view of the coaching process and helps the coachee to
agree on personal goals and mutual roles by establishing a coaching plan. In case
of possible failure to help the coachee, the coach takes either a counseling role for
more intensive help (when the coach is also trained as a counselor) or refers the
coachee to another coach or counselor until the latter is ready to resume coaching
work. The process below is typically followed during an REBC coaching setting
when the coachee has emotional issues that serve as specific obstacles to pursuing
his/her personal objectives and goals.

Step 1: The coach asks for a specific example of an issue (called Α). The
coach helps the coachee to define and agree working upon the issue.
Initially, the coach asks for an issue and then asks for a specific example
of this issue: “Can you give me a concrete example of this issue?”.
At the same time, the coach determines whether or not the coachee has an
emotional problem. If yes, the coach investigates if the coachee is stuck or if (s)he
is still able to pursue personal goals. The coach intervenes only if the coachee is
emotionally blocked and can’t move on in pursuing his/her personal coaching
objectives.

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The coach should only deal with the coachee’s emotional issues when
they serve as specific obstacles to pursuing his/her coaching objectives and if
(s)he has become stuck in an unhealthy way. If the coachee has many such
problems, the coach is advised to refer him/her initially to a psychotherapist or
counselor until (s)he can later engage in life coaching in a more productive way.
Step 2: The coach helps the coachee agree on a goal with respect to the issue
as defined.
The coach asks for a Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant
and Time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.; Doran, 1981) goal based on the coachee’s language.
The coach links this goal with the objective(s), formulated during Step 1, and the
obstacles that (s)he has to deal with. The coach helps the coachee see this
connection by providing examples that are explicitly connected with the
coachee’s expected well-being in the future and in the coachee’s own words.
Step 3: The coach helps the coachee identify the consequences (called C) of
the Α: (a) Physiological, (b) Cognitive, (c) Emotional and (d) Behavioural.
C stands for the unhealthy physiological responses, dysfunctional
thinking patterns, unhealthy emotions and dysfunctional behaviors with which the
coachee responds to in the situation. The coach checks if the coachee has one or
more problematic physiological responses (e.g. stress, arousal etc.), dysfunctional
thoughts (e.g. overestimations, generalizations, magnifications) problematic
emotions (in REBT they are called unhealthy negative emotions; anxiety,
depression, anger, guilt, shame, hurt, unhealthy jealousy, unhealthy envy) and
dysfunctional behaviors (e.g. withdrawal, avoidance, attack) that may block the
coaching process.
Initially, the coach identifies the C component of the ABC model starting
from the emotion by asking “How did you feel when…[refer to the issue]”. Next,
the coach helps the coachee to identify a specific emotion (see emotions above).
The coachee will be able to better specify their emotions when the coach
identifies the specific behaviors and thoughts that accompany every emotion (see
Dryden, 2011a for specific behavioral and thought consequences per emotion).
Thus, behavioral and cognitive C’s will also help the coachee to differentiate
between unhealthy and healthy emotions. Further, if the stated emotion is an
inference, but not an emotion, (e.g. “I felt rejected”), the coach will ask “And
what did you feel about being rejected?” assuming, temporarily, that this
inference is true. For a better emotion specification, the coach may ask the coachee
to imagine the situation and/or use hypothesis-driven or theory-driven questions.
Then, the coach helps the coachee “see” the effect of all C’s on coaching
objectives as defined by him/her and mutually agreed before. The coach helps the
coachee see that unhealthy C’s don’t help him/her to achieve his/her objectives.
More specifically, the coach helps the coachee to understand that changing his/her
emotional C increases the chances of effecting change in A, if it can be changed.

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If A cannot be changed, the coach clarifies to the coachee that (s)he can still
achieve better emotional health because (s)he will feel healthy negative emotions
and will operate with productive behaviors and thoughts for an unchangeable
situation. The coach will teach him/her that (s)he can influence, but not totally
change, another person and that this is done when (s)he is not emotionally
blocked.
Step 4: The coach identifies the most important aspect of the Α (called
“critical A”).
The coach identifies the most important theme of the A component of the
ABC model called critical A. The critical “A” is the most important aspect of the
issue that the coachee brings into the coaching session. The coach asks, “What
were you most (e.g. angry) about when . . . . [state the issue]?”.
The coach encourages the coachee to assume temporarily that A is true
even though it may be distorted. The coach’s goal is to help the coachee to
identify and question more accurately the iB’s (see Step 7 below) about the ‘A’
that led to her emotions at C. At a later step the coach can check for the validity of
A. If the coachee insists on that (s)he has to question the A and the coach’s efforts
to convince him/her on the importance of B’s on C’s fail, then the coach has to
question A and then try again to question his/her B’s at a later step.
Step 5. Agree on a goal with respect to the problem as identified and help the
client to make the link between the issue-as-defined goal and the issue-as-
identified goal.
The coach helps the coachee to set a goal with respect to the formulated
issue as it is being assessed through the ABC framework. After identifying the
issue and the most important aspect of it, the coach help the coachee identify with
healthy negative consequences in terms of physiology (appropriate levels of stress
and arousal), functional thinking patterns (e.g. realistic estimations and
perspective-taking thinking), healthy negative emotions (concern, sadness,
annoyance, remorse, disappointment, sorrow, healthy jealousy, healthy envy; see
Dryden, 2012) and productive behaviors (e.g. engagement, assertiveness,
expression of feelings). The coach helps the coachee to link the goals as identified
with the goals as defined by the coachee during Step 2.
Step 6: The coach identifies any meta-problems.
Before moving to the identification of B, the coach searches for possible
meta-emotional issues by asking “How do you feel about…e.g. feeling anger?”.
In case of, for example, anger about anger, the coach should agree on which issue
to work on first. The coach may not need to work on the meta-emotional issue if
coachee chooses to pick the original issue first and (s)he addresses it effectively
with the coach’s help. On the other hand, the coach is advised to address the
meta-emotional issue first if the coachee chooses to do so and/or when it
interferes with coachee’s focusing on his/her original issue.

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Step 7: The coach identifies the Β (identifies the irrational beliefs and teach
the rational beliefs of this specific issue).
The coach helps the coachee to identify iB’s, teach rB’s and make
appropriate connections with C’s. iB’s include, 1) Rigid beliefs [This must (or
must not) happen], 2) Awfulizing Beliefs [It would be terrible if this happens (or
doesn’t happen)], 3) Discomfort Intolerance Beliefs [I couldn’t bear it if this
happens (or doesn’t happen)] and 4) Depreciation Beliefs [If this happens (or
doesn’t happen), I’m no good, you’re no good, life is no good]. rB’s include 1)
Flexible beliefs [I would like this to happen (or not happen), but it doesn’t have to
be the way I want it to be], 2) Non-Awfulizing Beliefs [It would be bad, but not
terrible if this happens (or doesn’t happen)], 3) Discomfort Tolerance Beliefs [It
would be difficult to bear if happens (or doesn’t happen), but I could bear it and it
would be worth it to me to do so] and 4) Acceptance Beliefs [If this happens (or
doesn’t happen), it doesn’t prove I’m no good, you’re no good, life is no good.
Rather – I, you, and life are a complex mixture of good, bad, and neutral].
Through open-ended and/or theory-driven questions the coach helps coachee to
identify all types of iB’s related to issue, teach all related types of rB’s and make
the appropriate connections with C’s.

Step 8: The coach teaches the B-C connection; (s)he connects the iB’s and the
unhealthy C’s; (s)he connects the rB’s and the healthy C’s.
As a result, the coach helps the coachee see that B’s, and not A’s, mainly
effect physiology, emotions, behaviors and thinking at C. The coach can ask the
coachee whether C is determined by A or B.; or, apply the “100 person
technique” (“would 100 people of your age and gender all experience the same
unhealthy emotion toward the same adversity?”. If “NO”, then “what would
determine their different emotions for the same situation?”. If “YES”, then “is
that same emotion exactly the same in terms of quantity and quality for all 100
people?”) (Dryden, 2011a). The coach can also use theory-driven questions for
empowering the “B-C” connection.
At the same time, the coach elicits the coachee‘s commitment to pursue
his/her goals by helping him/her see that changing his/her iB’s is the best way of
doing this, by dealing with his/her doubts, reservations and objections and by
dealing with his/her wish to change A.

Step 9: Question/Dispute (D) the iB’s and elicit/teach the rB’s for this specific
issue by using pragmatic, logical and empirical questioning. Prepare the
coachee to deepen her/his conviction in the rB’s and check the validity of A.
The coach helps the coachee to learn how to question both iB’s and rB’s.
The goal is to see that the former are rigid, false, illogical and unproductive while
the latter are flexible, true, logical and productive. The coach helps the coachee to
question a rigid belief and a flexible belief first and the one other iB and rB (s)he
sees as the most appropriate derivative from the rigid and flexible belief. Basic

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questioning process involves three types of questions, 1) pragmatic, 2) empirical,

and 3) logical questions.
The coach uses the pragmatic question first because it is more powerful in
the beginning of the process (DiGiuseppe, Doyle, Dryden, & Backx, 2013):
“Which of the following beliefs leads to largely good results, which leads to
largely poor results, and why?” Then the coach uses the empirical question:
“Which of the following beliefs is true, which is false, and why?” Finally, the
coach uses the logical one: “Which of the following beliefs is logical, which is
illogical, and why?”.
The coach helps the coachee to see that when (s)he endorses rB’s, instead
of iB’s, (s)he a) unblocks his/her goals (pragmatic argument), b) believes that the
identified issue (the A) is a matter of preference and not a matter of absolute need
(Flexible beliefs), is bad but not tragic (Non-awfulizing beliefs), is difficult but
bearable (Discomfort tolerance beliefs), and that behavior does not account for the
whole value of the self, others and life (Acceptance beliefs) (empirical argument)
and, c) that flexible beliefs, non-awfulizing beliefs, discomfort tolerance beliefs
and acceptance beliefs are not followed by rigid beliefs, awfulizing beliefs,
discomfort intolerance beliefs and depreciation beliefs respectively (logical
argument).
Coaches can use further techniques (e.g. rational-emotive imagery,
shame-attacking exercises, stimulus control) in helping the coachee to strengthen
his/her conviction in and act on his/her rB’s, and weaken his/her conviction in
his/her iB’s.

Step 10: Negotiate a homework assignment.

Then, the coach negotiates homework assignments (the coach is advised
to use an acceptable term with respect to “homework” according to the coachee’s
vocabulary) in collaboration with the coachee. The coach ensures that the
negotiated homework assignment follows logically from the session, that the
coachee clearly understands it, that it is challenging but not overwhelming and
that (s)he can (and thinks (s)he can) do it. Also, the coach helps the coachee to
specify when, where and how often s/he will carry out the assignment, suggests
and carries out a brief in-session rehearsal if possible and problem solves
potential obstacles.

Step 11: Check the homework assignment in the next session and facilitate
the working through process.
The coach checks whether the homework was done appropriately,
reviews what the coachee learned from it, capitalizes on his/her success with the
assignment t, searches for possible iB’s in case of homework “failure” and
renegotiates the same or a different homework facilitating the working through
progress (e.g. tailoring cognitive, emotive and/or behavioral homework on
coachee’s personality style).

14 Demetris Katsikis, Chrysoula Kostogiannis, Windy Dryden

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Step 12: The coach encourages the coachee to become her/his own coachee;
(s)he helps her/him to establish effective new beliefs (Ε) and healthy new
consequences (F).
The coach helps the coachee gain more practice and independence by
applying different REBT techniques in different environments for more
generalization of results. This will help the coachee establish and maintain
effective new rational beliefs accompanied by healthy consequences at the
physiological, cognitive, emotive and behavioral level.
Also, now that the coachee has, hopefully, endorsed more rB’s, the coach
goes back to the A (issue) and asks coachee whether what (s)he listed under A
was the most realistic way of viewing the situation, given all the evidence. The
goal is to reconsider the inference, to consider alternative perceptions of reality, to
evaluate all possibilities, and to choose the most realistic one.
The 12 steps described above constitute a rough guide for coaches who
follow coaching guidelines under the prism of REBC theory. They are useful
when coachees are emotionally blocked and desire to address these blocks and
move on with their coaching objectives. Yet, keep in mind that the REBT
sanogenetic model promotes the idea that people are innately predisposed to think
rationally as well as irrationally and that in this case coaches can help coachees
get the most of their already established rational beliefs that are loosely endorsed
or are out of their awareness.

Conclusion: Evidence-based coaching and long-term healthy consequences of

REBC

The umbrella of Cognitive Behavioral Coaching (and one of its subfields,

REBC) has already yielded much basic and applied research on a diversity of
topics like organizational development, couple and sex problems, systems,
neuroscience and biofeedback, physical health, assessment and evaluation, career
development, evidence-based coaching practice, team performance, education,
positive psychology, stress management, sports and innovative technology. More
rigorous research is needed for the expansion of cost-effectiveness and efficacy of
the REBC process model in diverse populations and coaching settings; also, for
fostering the cognitive component (belief status in REBT terms) in other coaching
approaches for higher-maintenance results.
Furthermore, more initiatives for the promotion of REBC knowledge
through trainings, seminars and workshops are under development. For example,
the Primary and Advanced Training Programs in Rational-Emotive Behavioral
Coaching run by the authors at the Hellenic Institute for Rational-Emotive and
Cognitive Behavior Therapy is an example of such a development by applying the
ethical, scientific and professional standards of the International Association of
Cognitive Behavioral Coaching, the International Coach Federation and the
European Mentoring and Coaching Council.

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The coaching field is an upcoming and much promising applied arena in a

wide variety of domains for the great majority of the general population. Rational-
Emotive Behavior Theory, with its evidence-based practical armamentarium and
its emphasis on philosophical change, can assist many people get the most out of
their coaching objectives with long-term benefits in terms of satisfaction, wellness
and well-being.

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18 Demetris Katsikis, Chrysoula Kostogiannis, Windy Dryden

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