What are the most effective coaching models and frameworks for managing stress and improving well-being?

I'm certainly a fan of acronyms. Certainly the 'guide' helps, though it's the coach's ability to tune in that is essential. Goal definition and alignment is imperative. I personally like to stretch Reality a bit because of my experience; anything is possible. Options can be BHAGs or baby steps. We think of the Will as personal. In working with people, there is a greater Will that is present in the activity. Many models can become prescriptive with semi-standard questions and methodologies. It's my experience that outer control is a myth, the only thing we can control is our perception and response. It's navigation after that. The positive vision is why I named my company Be The Dream.

I found the GROW module more affective for executive and business coaching. People who are highly stressed they might not even know where to start and they might not see clearly they current reality. The first step is to really connect with the client on their emotional state and help them to navigate through the difficult time they are experiencing. The model I would recommend to use when your client is highly stressed and depressed is to use ACT model ( Acceptance Commitment Therapy) once the client opens to take actions and start achieving his small goals, they you can start useing Grow module to keep him/her accountable.

I started using the GROW model about 5 years ago and have found it excellent working with teams and clients in getting centered with their goals. One way I like to modify the approach is to replace the W for “Will” with “Way Forward.” I found this helps the person think of an actionable step they can take in achieving their goal. In the Way Forward, I find it useful to ask for “one small step” they can take. This removes pressure and makes execution achievable. Set a timeline for follow-up within a reasonable timeframe of their choice. At the next meeting, follow the GROW model again to build healthy thought habits and discover the next step of a Way Forward to move further along a goal post.

Implementation of the FUEL Model has been most beneficial within my Coaching practice. Many of my clients are un aware of the outcome when they onboard. Allowing the client to identify their needs and desires, while feeling comfortable to achieve set goals, sets the client up for clear success. I love to allow the client to build momentum around goals, so their emotions are the FUELing source that catapults them to greatness.

As a holistic coach, I use consciousness structures to pinpoint stress origins in the body, mind, soul, or spirit. This approach considers external and internal stressors, like beliefs and emotions, forming a comprehensive assessment to unearth stress roots. My aim isn't merely stress relief but also preventing its recurrence.

I have personally found that a daily gratitude practice significantly reduces stress. If you are focused on finding all the little things that you are grateful for, the “stressors” don’t get as much space in your mind and therefore cause less stress.

I like how positive psychology overlaps with coaching. Basic concepts that the client- is OK, and that the process is aimed at development and implementation - this is what creates special moments of personal breakthroughs. PERMA is an approach not only in coaching but also in life. Looking through the prism that Martin Seligman gave us, we can improve our lives, work, and achievements. Day after day drawing energy for more.

The PERMA model, grounded in positive psychology, offers a holistic framework for well-being through Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. Backed by research, it provides tools like gratitude and strengths to enhance life. However, it oversimplifies complex well-being, may overlook cultural differences, and excessive focus on positivity might sideline negative emotions. Success requires time, guidance, and skilled practitioners, making its application context-dependent. The latter is a often a bridge of inner and outer complexities.

The one thing that I see as most effective in create change - positive lasting change - involves emotions. Being aware and tuned in to your emotions, knowing that you have the ability to choose how you want to feel and can move through difficult feelings with practice. All feeling are necessary through our human experience. The key question is where do you want to live most of the time? What is your foundation? When we build a foundation from positivity, gratitude, happiness, then we tap into our inner power to create a life we desire.

I agree with Patricia; it is impossible to be negative or stressed when you are feeling grateful. Getting out in nature while practicing gratitude can skyrocket alignment within.

Change management is something leaders face on a daily basis. By combining this method with the Change Curve, you can usually identify where the person sits on the scale between shock and integration. Combined, these tools are impactful, so that you can meet the client or team member at their emotional needs while guiding them to solution-oriented thinking.

The CLEAR model offers a structured approach to managing change and uncertainty, guiding clients through Contract, Listen, Explore, Action, and Review steps. Rooted in solution-focused coaching principles, it leverages clients' strengths and collaboration. While it promotes proactive coping and resilience development, its simplicity might not address complex issues. Effective for change-related stress, its applicability to other stressors could be limited, and its success depends on individual contexts and coach proficiency. It emphasizes action, but potential drawbacks include surface-level solutions and client dependence on the coach's guidance. It's imperative to get the client to dig deep for their own answers. You're just the guide.

The CLEAR approach is the one that should be applied to most interpersonal problem solving interactions - whether they are therapeutic or supportive. It’s structured in a way that ensures that we can readily observe our progress.

The OSCAR model's structured approach to performance improvement through Outcome, Situation, Choices, Actions, and Review stages offers clarity and a skills-oriented focus. While effective in clarifying goals, fostering responsibility, and acknowledging achievements, its simplicity could overlook intricate issues. Rooted in performance coaching, it may not fully address psychological aspects of stress. Success hinges on coach-client dynamics, and its emphasis on outcomes might sideline personal growth and nuanced processes, limiting its applicability to performance-related stress rather than emotional stressors.

One challenge leaders can face is through positive intention of helping teams reach their goals, they unintentionally tell client or team members what to do. Often having been in that position themselves before, they lean on experience. The risk of that approach is two-fold: The client or team member doesn’t learn for themselves and/or if performance isn’t achieved, the leader is blamed. The OSCAR model avoids both of these outcomes as it draws out critical thinking and puts the ownership on the client or team members own decisions. I often introduce this model to new managers struggling with their teams coming to them with too many and often repeated questions.

The STEPPPA model's eight-step approach—Subject, Target, Emotion, Perception, Plan, Pace, Adapt—offers a comprehensive framework for lasting change. Rooted in cognitive behavioral coaching, it explores the thoughts-feelings-actions nexus. By guiding clients through issue identification, goal setting, emotion management, belief challenge, planning, pacing, and adaptability, it provides a methodical transformation process. Effective for stress, it tackles root causes, boosts emotional intelligence, shifts perspectives, and encourages flexibility. Yet, its depth might overwhelm, and its cognitive focus might miss nuanced emotional aspects. Success depends on rapport and client readiness, but its thoroughness might extend coaching.

This model is helpful for leaders when their client or team member approaches them in panic, overwhelm or another high emotional state. These states of mind are often due to a flood of thoughts that the person can’t organize in their mind. By working through this model in these stressful moments, the person can begin to retrain their thinking pattern. For some, the new habit will be quicker than others. If you notice a client or employee has developed a pattern with this type of response, work with them on a 12 week goal to commit to habit change. Once a week, ensure you use the model in moments of high stress and be amazed together at the transformation.

The STEPPPA model delves into the interplay among thoughts, emotions, and actions, providing a holistic approach that underscores the importance of emotional balance. The quality of life is characterized by this emotional equilibrium. Integrating this model to your approach is essential for fostering life balance in clients. I use this in tandem with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to challenge negative inner critic and instill emotional intelligence.

Another model I like to use is the Critical Analysis for Reflective Thinking. It is where you first let the client DESCRIBE what happened, then move to exploring FEELINGS from the event on what they thought and felt, then move forward to EVALUATION to understand what was good and/or bad about the experience, then ANALYSIS to see what sense can you make of the situation and then CONCLUSION to learn what else could have been done. Finally, as always, end with ACTION to plan how they would like to react if the situation were to repeat itself.

The model I use frequently with my clients especially those that have a career in business is the Cost/Benefit and Reframe model. The first step is the identify what is the story you are telling yourself about the situation that is causing stress. Then you outline the benefits of that story and the cost of that story. Most of the time, the costs outweigh the benefits. In fact, I am not sure a client has ever uncovered a story giving them stress that the costs outweigh the benefits. Once the cost/benefit analysis is done, you ask yourself the question, Am I willing to create a different story? And the new story (the reframe) is born. The last step is to identify action items to keep the reframed story in view rather than old story.

Stress is when you download what you are aware of, into sensations, stuckness and senstitivity in your body. This is a very unhealthy practice. Stress is when you are aware of a problem, but believe that the correct response is to then experience it as yours, by tightening your muscles, locking them in position and creating disease inside your self. Literally nobody may be telling you this. I'm not saying you create the problem. I am saying you create the stress around the problem. You create the stress in your body. Nobody else can. Nobody else has that power. No model can get you out of it. Only you can, by making different choices. By asking the right questions. By caring more about the incredible being that you are.

I have not used these models. I guess you could say I use the PEACAP model: Positive Emotions, Exploration, Accomplishment, Achievement, Choices, Action, and Perspective. Wayne Dyer said, "Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at will change." Perspective is everything. Our perspective is highly influenced by our core limiting beliefs, which affect the choices we make and the actions we take. We must explore the thoughts and emotions and connect the mind and the body. The body follows the mind; thought comes before the emotion. We uncover the buried limiting beliefs, challenge them, and keep going. After the initial journey, we move on to what they want to achieve and accomplish; intentions and goals.

Several models I use include 1) Reverse Story: how they think, feel, the actions they have taken and the results they are receiving (i.e. stress) and then reverse this process beginning with the result the client wants, the actions, feelings and thoughts needed to support the desired results. 2) iPEC coaching model. Support a person to recognize the seven ways they could think about a situation and which thought relieves their stress. 3) Regenerating Images in Memory. R.I.M. uses the imagination to discover where the body is holding the stress (interoception), connect to the trigger in their subconscious, regenerate a new perspective of the trigger image and release the stress held in the body.