1st International Congress of Coaching Psychology: Sweden

‘1st International Congress of Coaching Psychology’ - an update by Liv Hök, Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Organisational Analyst and executive committee member of Coachande Psykologer (Coaching Psychologists, Sweden) and Jonas Mosskin, Psychologist and Journalist.

The Coaching Psychologists network in Sweden had on 16 September 2011 in collaboration with the Swedish Psychological Association the honour of hosting the first conference of ‘Coaching Psychology’ as part of the ‘1st International Congress of Coaching Psychology.’ Hundreds of attendees filled Polhems Hall of the City Conference Centre, Stockholm on a beautifully sunny early autumn day. Coaching Psychologists’ P.O. Eriksson and the Swedish Psychological Association’s Lars Ahlin launched the days’ events by stressing the importance of taking an offensive stance for psychology’s place in world.

Stephen Palmer PhD, Honorary Professor of Psychology, City University London and Director of the Coaching Psychology Unit and Co-Convenor of the International Steering Committee for international congresses of psychology coaching events gave his presentation, ‘The Developing Field of Coaching Psychology in Europe and Internationally’. He proceeded to describe how coaching psychology has developed over the past ten years to the point of being an ever more acceptable subject of study at universities the world over. Palmer's vision of a world congress for coaching psychology is being realized through many small congresses all around the world. This Swedish conference served as further confirmation of this coaching psychologist community taking shape. Palmer stressed the importance of psychologists contributing understanding and expertise regarding science and theory.

Jens-Boris Larsen, Copenhagen-based psychologist and Chair of the Society of Evidence-based Practice in Denmark, introduced hope as a factor in a coach’s work with a client. Our environment is very complex, and it requires that we see a client in his/her context.

Magnus Larsson PhD, Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Organization Copenhagen Business School, then expanded upon this complexity in his presentation titled ‘Playing Outside the Playbook: Advanced Strategies to Accentuate Hope in Simple and Complex Coaching Conversations’. Dr. Larsson spoke of a system’s psychodynamic perspective where no client is isolated but always part of a system or an organization. This theme strongly resonated with the audience. He gave a brief introduction to role analysis based upon psychoanalysis and system theory. A coach’s primary task according to Larsson is to examine one’s ‘inner picture’ of an organisation. As a coach, one works with the clients ‘organization-in-the-mind’ and how one relates to this inner picture. The desired outcome is higher organizational competence and know-how; clarity and self-awareness; and increased ability to structurally reflect on one’s own behaviour in role.

After a lunch break, Julie Allan, psychologist, organizational consultant and coach, introduced us to her subject ‘Important but Uncertain Matters: Towards Coaching for Wisdom’. Julie is currently researching corporate wisdom, and her presentation was about identifying the different qualities of ‘wisdom’ which she in turn considers the most sought after skills for top managers and executives. According to Allan, wisdom is ‘expertise in the important but uncertain matters of life’. It is through our experiences and reflection upon them that our ability to make wise decisions emerges. By integrating thoughts, feelings, motivations and relationships, the client can achieve greater insight. A lack of reflection prevents people from having such experiencesand we all recognized this from our own experiences of working within both coaching and therapy.

Reinhard Stelter, Professor of Sport and Coaching Psychology at the University of Copenhagen spoke about ‘Narrative Coaching Towards Human and Social Meaning-making and Collaborative Practice’. The dialogue between coach and client is central according to Stelter. He also spoke fondly about coaching in groups where clients can share experiences amongst themselves and an opportunity exists for a peer-to-peer coaching process to take place. In Stelter’s view, coaching is a reflective practice, and in his work with clients he focus on values, meaning-making and transforming implicit knowledge to active experiences. Narrative is a way of organizing episodes, actions and accounts of actions leading the client to find personal meaning.

Paul O. Olson specializes in support and leadership for international and strategic change and problem solving. Olson described different leadership models and how they relate to coaching. He stated that the key focus is sometimes on individual productivity, but it is always about balancing and leveraging resources in typically complex systems and projects.

In the concluding panel discussion regarding challenges facing coaching psychology, Palmer expressed hope that interest from the academic community will lead to new advances. Larson pointed out that it is important not to lose the connection between coaching and organizational theory. He saw a danger in coaching just becoming part of leadership research. Allan was concerned that the ICF (International Coaching Federation) is more concerned with certifying coaches who have business experience consequently overlooking the value of a coach being a psychologist. Olson argued that psychologists must relinquish therapy. Palmer responded to this by stressing that coaching is not therapy. Larson referred to the organization psychoanalyst David Armstrong, who calls on the coaching psychologist to always remain open to examining the coaching process, whether it is about a client or an entire organization. Larsson underscored once again the importance of context and meaning. Finally, Reinhard Stelter made the argument that psychologists need to learn how to sell themselves. This final conclusion brought us back full circle to Lars Ahlin’s introductory words about psychology being more aggressive in its self-promotion. In short, we need to become coaching psychology entrepreneurs.

This congress gave a good overview of coaching psychology today. It ran on a tight schedule, so tight that we would have preferred to have had a little less one-way communication and more room for reflection and discussion. We would have also liked a better balance between male and female speakers. The overall message received is that there still exists confusion over what coaching psychology is as well as what theories and frameworks are adequate. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it indicates a wide variety of possible approaches to choose from. We would have liked more discussion on individual coaching, purpose, meaning and value. What do we psychologists want to accomplish in the role of coach and why? There is much focus on methods and theoretical frameworks today, but less on the importance of common approaches and objectives. This, we fear, can lead to unnecessary divisions. We believe it is important to consider that coaching psychology finds itself in an organizational and business context, and this defines its framework and mission.

Overall, the 1st Swedish Congress of Coaching Psychology was a success and also served as proof of a growing network of coaching psychologists in Sweden. We both got the impression that it will continue to be a vibrantly growing area for psychologists in the years to come.

Liv Hök & Jonas Mosskin