Coaching Practiced

18 Rational Coaching: A cognitive behavioural approach¹

Stephen Palmer

Abstract

Rational Coaching is based on the Rational Emotive Behavioural Approach developed by Albert Ellis. It is suitable for personal/life, performance, executive and health coaching This paper covers the basic theory and practice of Rational Coaching and includes the ABCDEF coaching framework for assessment and intervention.

Keywords

Albert Ellis, Rational Coaching, Rational Emotive Behavioural Approach, ABCDEF model, inference chaining, B-C connection, bibliotherapy.

Original publication details: Palmer, S. (2009, June). Rational Coaching: A cognitive behavioural approach. The Coaching Psychologist, 5(1), 12–19. Reproduced with permission of The British Psychological Society.

Rational coaching Is a shortened title for the full name: Rational Emotive Behavioural Coaching (REBC). Rational Coaching has been developed over the past two decades (see Neenan & Palmer, 2001a, b) and was influenced by a combination of Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT) (Ellis, 1962, 1994), Rational Effectiveness Training (Ellis & Blum, 1967; DiMattia & Mennen, 1990) and other adaptations of REBT to the workplace (e.g. Ellis, 1972; Dryden & Gordon, 1993; Palmer & Burton, 1996; Palmer, 1995a, b; Richman, 1993). In the UK Cognitive Behavioural Coaching which has developed is based on an integration of the Rational Emotive Behavioural and the Cognitive Behavioural approaches, strategies and techniques (see Palmer & Szymanska, ...