ABSTRACT
The cognitive behavioural approach to coaching is explained to the coachee – a problem-solving partnership focused on producing an optimal outcome for the coachee. Of fundamental importance is the coachee taking responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and behaviours rather than blaming others for the way they think, feel and act. Not taking psychological responsibility is one of the major reasons cognitive behavioural coaching (CBC) is ineffective for some coachees. Any comments, reservations or criticisms about this approach are sought from the coachee. The coach needs to keep in step with the coachee's degree of readiness to change and address their concerns in order to nudge them towards the starting line. If coaches want to increase their interpersonal adaptiveness, then they need to tolerate the discomfort of acting in seemingly unnatural ways. The coach carries the main responsibility for initiating and maintaining the metacommunication process.
