This book offers a new perspective on the subconscious and non-verbal processes through which people learn and communicate with each other in groups. Describing these processes in the context of modern organisational life, it provides practical advice about how to do group and team coaching.
Introducing key concepts from psychology, group analysis and systems theory, Group and Team Coaching gives practical guidance on core areas of group coaching: team coaching, group supervision, action learning sets and other learning groups.
Casting new light on the ‘secret life’ of groups and teams, it discusses:
- the invisible processes of group dynamics
- pitfalls of group coaching and how to avoid them
- how to design coaching interventions
- common dilemmas
- ethics and supervision
With many vignettes and case studies, Group and Team Coaching is essential reading for coaches who work with groups and teams.
Table of Contents:
Preface. Foreword. PART I. Introduction: What is Group Coaching? PART II. Learning, Holding and Exchange. Looking Deeper: The Secret Life of Groups. Eight Group Factors Influencing Learning and Change. PART III. Understanding Organizations, Groups and Teams: Systems Thinking. PART IV. Team Coaching. Learning Group Coaching. Supervision Groups. PART V. Strategies for Tackling Problem Behaviour. Groups that Do Not Work: Understanding and Tackling Dysfunctional Patterns in Group Behaviour. Managing Beginnings, Middles and Endings: Boundaries of The Group. Afterword. PART VI. Suggested Further Reading. Continuous Professional Development in the Unconscious Dynamics of Groups and Organizations. Frequently Asked Questions.
About the Author :
Christine Thornton is a group analyst and coach who has consulted to individuals, teams and organizations for over 20 years. She holds an MSc in Psychology and is a Member of the Institute of Group Analysis and the British Association for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Supervision.
Review :
"The Coaching profession needs a book like this to appreciate where group and team coaching has evolved from (like many forms of coaching, from many disciplines) and to put a ‘stake in the ground’ at this stage of our evolutionary growth." - Katherine Tulpa, From the Foreword
"This book is one of the first to cover this important area of coaching. The author, Christine Thornton, is an experienced coach practitioner with over 20 year's experience of working with groups." - Emma Wallace, The Coaching Psychologist (BPS), Volume 6, Issue 2, December 2010
"I found Group and Team Coaching: Tbe Essential Guide refreshing in its honesty and willingness to confront the often unconscious "dark side" of group and organizational experience that so frequently interferes with task achievement... a recommended and refreshing work especially for social workers who manage teams, divisions, and organizations." - Francis Bartolomeo, Social Work witb Groups, Vol 36, 2013
