Editorial

Kasia Szymanska

Welcome to the very first edition of The Coaching Psychologist! Our aim is to promote the uniqueness of coaching psychology, to encourage its growth within the UK and to forge links with our international coaching psychology colleagues.

We cannot do this without the support of our members, so to reiterate Stephen Palmer’s Chair’s letter, we need articles and news items on all aspects of coaching psychology. Articles of a 1000 words and news items can be e-mailed directly to me at [email protected] as can letters to the Editor. We would also like to include book reviews, and members interested in reviewing books should contact me and I will e-mail or send you guidelines outlining the process. Don’t forget, all reviewers get to keep the book they reviewed!

In addition, Jennifer Liston-Smith has kindly agreed to be the Special Group’s Conference and Events Correspondent and to compile a conference diary for The Coaching Psychologist. So if you know of any events that would be of interest to coaching psychologists please e-mail Jennifer directly at [email protected]. We are keen to hear your views about coaching psychology and comments about The Coaching Psychologist, so please write in.

Now to the contents of this edition. In the first paper Stephen Palmer and Alison Whybrow, the co-proposers of the Special Group in Coaching Psychology, present the original Special Group proposal which was submitted to the BPS and which outlines the reasons why the Society needed a Special Group. The second article, by Alex Linley and Susan Harrington, highlights the links between positive psychology and coaching psychology. The third, by Kristina Gyllensten and Stephen Palmer, focuses on the ubiquitous issue of stress and the part that coaching psychologists can play in its reduction. Then committee member Ho Law discusses the role of ethics in coaching psychology. In the final article John Groom, our first international contributor, outlines the strategies used to improve our listening skills.

In the next part of The Coaching Psychologist, Alanna O’Broin and Alison Whybrow report on their vital roles as Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer, and Douglas Young outlines his role as our Scottish Regional Representative. Then Siobhan O’Riordan presents a detailed outline of the Special Group’s Events Programme and information about our Netiquette guidelines before going on to list, with Alanna O’Broin, some of the most frequently asked questions about Coaching Psychology. We include the Special Group’s draft strategic plan to highlight the key areas we are focusing on. In the final paper Jennifer Liston-Smith reports on a workshop run by Bruce Grimley.

Don’t forgot our 2nd National Coaching Psychology Conference is taking place at City University on 19-20 December. I hope to see you all there.

Happy reading!