Coaching individuals in crisis can be challenging, rewarding, and stressful. A crisis is a situation that overwhelms a person's coping resources and threatens their well-being or goals. As a coach, you can help your clients navigate through the crisis and find positive ways to cope and grow. Here are some tips on how to coach individuals in crisis.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It is essential for building rapport and trust with your clients, especially when they are in crisis. Empathy does not mean agreeing with everything they say or do, but rather acknowledging their emotions and perspectives. You can show empathy by listening actively, reflecting back what you hear, validating their feelings, and expressing support and care.
To me, empathy is the cornerstone of coaching individuals in crisis. It creates a safe space for open dialogue. I use clear communication and active listening to pinpoint the individual's needs. While I generally have a structured approach, I remain flexible to adapt to immediate concerns. I also provide resources for crisis management and ensure follow-up sessions for ongoing support. Overall, empathy enables me to navigate the complexities of coaching in crisis situations effectively.
I do believe that empathy is extremely important in all coaching relationships. However, when it comes to crisis coaching, and when working with a client who feels lost and vulnerable, their need for feeling safe is highlighted. That could mean showing in up as someone who creates a sense of calm and direction for them. I believe there is such thing as being too empathetic, which could lead amplification of their fears of the worst to come. So when I coach someone in crisis, I validate their feelings, help them to assess their situation, weed out any possible catastrophizing thoughts, paint the desirable outcome and begin the discern what are the best steps to move toward that resolution. I also emphasize the importance of "greater good."
Crisis situations are often unpredictable and dynamic. They may require you to adapt your coaching style, approach, and goals to suit the changing needs and circumstances of your clients. You may need to be more directive, supportive, or collaborative depending on the situation. You may also need to adjust the frequency, duration, and mode of your coaching sessions. Be flexible and open to feedback from your clients and other stakeholders.
Crisis situations can be complex and multifaceted. They may involve multiple issues, challenges, and risks. As a coach, you cannot solve all the problems or eliminate all the stressors for your clients. You can, however, help them identify and prioritize their most pressing needs and goals, and work with them to develop realistic and actionable plans. You can also help them recognize and leverage their strengths, resources, and support networks.
Coaching individuals in crisis can take a toll on your own mental and emotional health. You may experience compassion fatigue, burnout, or secondary trauma as a result of being exposed to your clients' distress and suffering. To prevent or cope with these effects, you need to be mindful of your own well-being and boundaries. You can practice self-care by engaging in activities that nourish your body, mind, and spirit, such as exercise, meditation, hobbies, or socializing. You can also seek supervision, peer support, or professional help if needed.
Coaching individuals in crisis requires you to uphold high standards of ethical conduct and professionalism. You need to respect your clients' autonomy, confidentiality, and dignity, and avoid any conflicts of interest or dual relationships. You also need to be aware of your scope of practice and limitations as a coach, and refer your clients to other professionals or services if they need specialized or urgent help. You can consult the relevant codes of ethics, standards, and guidelines for coaching practice to ensure you act in the best interest of your clients.
Hope is the belief that things can get better and that one can influence positive outcomes. It is a powerful motivator and protector against despair and hopelessness. As a coach, you can foster hope in your clients by helping them envision a desired future, identify possible pathways to achieve it, and take concrete steps to move forward. You can also help them celebrate their progress, achievements, and resilience, and remind them of their potential and purpose.
In my opinion its the movement from empathy to compassion that needs to happen with someone in crisis: From Dr Daniel Siegels book, “The Developing Mind 3rd edition”: Empathy can be defined as “The capacity to make a map of another mental state that includes… emotional resonance, perspective taking, empathic understanding, empathic joy, and empathic concern.” Compassion is “The capacity to sense suffering, to imagine what might be done to reduce that suffering, and to take effective action toward that purpose… towards one’s inner experience as well as towards others” So in summary: “Connect to redirect”.
As with any other psychological process, the crisis is usually an individual's perception and emotional state that involves anxiety, depression, and fear. Therefore, you must operate in a very narrow window of trust, focus, and weak resilience. Instead of talking about stress, the focus should be on those elements. I don't think empathy is the correct approach, but it can be used to establish a connection. The nature of emotions suggests that they spill from one to another - it goes in both directions. When implementing empathy, be very prudent. Be kind and seek balance - from very general to specific. Work on the reframing of the story they are telling themself. Create circumstances that represent a safe environment and start from there
Have the client visualize a desired state. The mind can’t determine what is real versus imagined. That’s why they say thoughts are powerful.