Coaching supervision aims at helping seasoned and junior executive coaches improve their coaching practice through a co-reflective process at several levels (external, introspective, relational and systemic - according to the categorisation proposed by Peter Hawkins and Robin Shohet in their book "Supervision in the Helping Professions").

This type of supervision enriches the supervised coach's learning cycle by encouraging them to multiply their viewpoints and further flex/deepen their ways of working with their clients.

External co-reflection focuses on all the elements observed by the coach while interacting with their client (and by the supervisor during their interactions with the supervised coach):

• what the coach heard from their client
• the sequence in which the client built and structured their talk
• what the coach observed on the way the client communicated both verbally and non verbally
• how the client dealt with the contractual frame (eg. repeated postponements of appointments or late arrivals, tendency to exceed the allotted time, etc.).

Introspective co-reflection highlights all what is going on inside the coach during their interactions with their client (and inside the supervisor in the engagement with the supervised coach):

• thoughts that cross the coach's mind
• emotions that emerge in them during the coaching process
• their ways of behaving towards the client
• and every subtle internal change that can easily go unnoticed if the coach is fully absorbed with listening and observing their client.

Relational co-reflection is on the interactions between the coach and their client (and on the relationship between the supervisor and the supervised coach):

• how has the relationship taken place?
• is the relationship going on smoothly or rather chaotically?
• which transference mechanisms are at play in the relationship?
• how is the relationship developing throughout the sessions?
• what might reflect this relationship with regard to the ways the client interacts in their work environment?

Systemic co-reflection primarily focuses on the various contexts in which the coach and the client are involved (and the various contexts of the supervisor and the supervised coach):

• family, social, economic and cultural contexts
• professional and organisational context in which the coaching takes place
• professional, organisational and associative context in which the coach is involved
• the various stakeholders concerned.

Supervision programmes consist of 10 one-hour sessions that take place on a monthly basis covering a period of one year.

The supervision is organised on a 1-1 basis, is independent of any coaching school and abides by the ethics code of ICF and EMCC.

See also:

For further information:

Marc De Wilde
Executive Coaching & Corporate Counsel
Avenue des Croix du Feu 25
B-1410 Waterloo - Belgium
Tel/Fax: +32 (0)2 332.32.11
Mobile: +32 (0)473 94.21.47
E-mail : marc.dewilde@mdwservices.com