LIFC 201
Discussion: Case Study Assignment Instructions
Overview
Case study discussions will be written throughout the course to allow the student the opportunity to apply life coaching principles. In these assignments, students will be presented a specific case scenario applicable to the course material. Students will respond to each case using the material covered in class up to that date and include biblical integration where appropriate. Students will apply life coaching strategies and implement research principles within simulated sessions. The following skills will be addressed throughout these discussions: application of assessments and tools, empowering leaders, addressing setbacks, project management, and additional foundational techniques.
Instructions
Students will complete 2 case study discussions. In these discussions, students will be presented a specific case scenario (hypothetical client list below) applicable to the course material. The discussions must be written in paragraph/narrative form. You may write in first person; however, avoid using a casual tone. Students will respond to each case using the material covered in class up to that date and include biblical integration where appropriate.
This course utilizes the Post-First feature in all Discussions. This means you will only be able to read and interact with your classmates’ threads after you have submitted your thread in response to the provided prompt.
Items to include are outlined as follows:
Thread (including the reflection) must be at least 400 words but no more than 800 words.
Reply to at least 2 classmates’ threads.
Each reply must be at least 100 words but no more than 300 words.
Current APA formatting.
Minimum of 1 source needs to be incorporated in each thread and referenced.
Acceptable sources (e.g. scholarly articles published within the last five years)
Each case study thread is due by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Friday of the assigned module: week, and your 2 replies are due by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of the same module: week.
Discussion: Case Study – Graph of Life (Collins, 2009, Appendix A)
Part 1
First, complete the Graph of Life exercise for yourself.
Select 1 client from the list of hypothetical clients (see below). This same client will be used for both Case Studies.
Introduce your client by providing a brief description of his/her background and goals.
Give a brief description of the coaching session. Include how you would introduce and walk your client through the Graph of Life exercise. Provide a clear rationale that is supported by course material for using the Graph of Life. How does it help your client reach his/her goals? What did the client learn from this exercise? How did the client benefit?
This is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your understanding of the Graph of Life exercise as explained in the textbook. Make sure you support your Case Study with in-text citations formatted in current APA format.
Part 2
Provide a brief personal reflection of your experiences with this assignment. What did you learn from completing your own Graph of Life? Was it a useful exercise? What are some action points that you will implement in your life based on your Graph of Life results? What did you learn from writing the Case Study? Could you see yourself using the Graph of Life with future clients? What did you learn from incorporating the Graph of Life with your hypothetical client?
Write about which of the 11 ICF Core Competencies (list located below) is supported and developed through your integration of this particular exercise into your session and into your own life. What skills/concepts are being practiced and developed through integrating this exercise and how are they connected to the Core Competencies?
Discussion: Case Study – Write a Ten-Year Letter (Collins, 2009, Appendix I)
Part 1
First, complete the Ten-Year Letter exercise for yourself.
Provide a brief update on how your client is doing in the coaching process and how he/she is progressing toward his/her stated goals.
Give a brief description of the coaching session. Include how you would introduce and walk your client through the Ten-Year Letter exercise. Provide a clear rationale that is supported by course material for using the Ten-Year Letter exercise. How does it help your client reach his/her goals? What did the client learn from this exercise? How did the client benefit?
This is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your understanding of the Ten-Year Letter exercise as explained in the textbook. Make sure you support your Case Study with in-text citations formatted in current APA format.
Part 2
Provide a brief personal reflection of your experiences with this assignment. What did you learn from completing your own Ten-Year Letter? Was it a useful exercise? What are some action points that you will implement in your life based on your Ten-Year Letter? What did you learn from writing the case study? Could you see yourself using the Ten-Year Letter exercise with future clients? What did you learn from incorporating the Ten-Year Letter exercise with your hypothetical client?
Write about which of the 11 ICF Core Competencies (it may be more than 1) is supported and developed through your integration of this particular exercise into your session and into your own life. What skills/concepts are being practiced and developed through integrating this exercise and how are they connected to the Core Competencies?
Hypothetical Clients
Select 1 of the following 4 hypothetical clients for your case study discussion; you will use this same client in both case study discussions.
NATHAN
Nathan is a 26-year-old male who has sought your coaching services. He is not currently in a serious relationship—even though he would like to be—and has no major responsibilities tying him down to the current location, such as kids or schooling. Two years ago, he completed his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from a large state school near his small hometown. He is currently living back with his parents and working full-time at the local grocery store while searching for a job in his field. However, he is unsure as to what kind of job within his field he would really enjoy doing. Over the last 2 years, he has been trying to “get his life together and get on his feet” so he can move forward, but it just does not seem to be happening. He would like to move out of his parents’ house, meet a nice girl to settle down with, and officially begin his career in business, but he just feels stuck and overwhelmed by the process of figuring out where his life is going. As a result, he is also struggling with trusting God—His plan for Nathan’s life—through all this process. At the end of your initial meeting, Nathan is able to sum it all up by stating his goals for coaching: build a clearer vision for his future and develop a closer relationship with God through the process.
NORA
Nora is a 57-year-old female who has come to you with her wrestling with what she calls her “mid-life crisis.” Just over a year ago, the divorce between herself and her husband of 30 years was finalized. Her husband had left her—stating that once the last of their 4 kids moved out a couple years ago, he realized they had nothing in common, and he was in love with another woman. Over this last year, she has been getting counseling to work through her shock and grief regarding the divorce, but now she has no idea where her life is going. She has a decent job as a beautician but has stopped attending church since the divorce process started a little over 2 years ago. Due to the stress and grief of the divorce, she has also steadily gained around 40–45 pounds in the last 2 years. She tells you she is struggling to find purpose in her life and meaning in what she is doing. Through coaching and with your help, she would like to achieve the following goals: return to her pre-divorce weight (45 lbs. lighter) and establish some purpose, meaning, and direction for her life in this new chapter.
JEN
Jen is a 35-year-old mother of 3 daughters (10, 7, and 5 years old). She and her husband have been happily married for 15 years. For the last 10 years, Jen has been able to stay home with her children, and she has loved it! However, now that her youngest is in school (and raising children is getting more expensive as the children get older), she and her husband have decided that it would be best for their family that she return to working. She acknowledges that this is a good and needed thing, but she is still sad and a little unhappy about the transition. She has no idea where to begin with a job/career search, especially since she only completed her A.A. in General Studies before getting married and since the job market has drastically changed in the last 10 years. She is not sure what she even has to offer an employer, since her skill set over the last decade has revolved around being a mom. She is also struggling with the reality that she will not be able to be there for all of her kids’ activities (class parties, field trips, etc.) once she has regular work hours; this saddens her. She and her family are active in their church, and she knows that God has a plan through all of this season. She believes that through coaching she can accomplish her goal of learning to manage these life changes effectively.
JACK
Jack, a 64-year-old male, has been happily married to his lovely wife for 40 years. Over those 40 years, their family has grown to include 2 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, and 7 wonderful grandchildren. Those years have also included thousands of hours of late nights, business trips, and hard work as he has worked his way up the ladder of a very large and successful law firm in the city. However, as his 65th birthday is approaching at the end of this year, Jack is struggling to accept the reality that he is being forced to retire at the end of the year. Although he and his family have always been active in their church and their faith—he has been an elder at their church for almost a decade—he is realizing that he has placed a lot of his life purpose and drive in his law career. Financially, he is set for retirement, but he is at a complete loss as to what to do with his life in retirement. Ever the planner, Jack has come to you for coaching with the goal of preparing for and adjusting to this big life change and developing a new life mission statement for this next chapter of his life.
International Coaching Federation (ICF) Core Coaching Competencies
A. Setting the Foundation
Meeting Ethical Guidelines and Professional Standards—Understanding of coaching ethics and standards and ability to apply them appropriately in all coaching situations.
Understands and exhibits in own behaviors the ICF Code of Ethics (see Code, Part III of ICF Code of Ethics).
Understands and follows all ICF Ethical Guidelines (see list).
Clearly communicates the distinctions between coaching, consulting, psychotherapy and other support professions.
Refers client to another support professional as needed, knowing when this is needed and the available resources.
Establishing the Coaching Agreement—Ability to understand what is required in the specific coaching interaction and to come to agreement with the prospective and new client about the coaching process and relationship.
Understands and effectively discusses with the client the guidelines and specific parameters of the coaching relationship (e.g., logistics, fees, scheduling, inclusion of others if appropriate).
Reaches agreement about what is appropriate in the relationship and what is not, what is and is not being offered, and about the client’s and coach’s responsibilities.
Determines whether there is an effective match between his/her coaching method and the needs of the prospective client.
B. Co-Creating the Relationship
Establishing Trust and Intimacy with the Client—Ability to create a safe, supportive environment that produces ongoing mutual respect and trust.
Shows genuine concern for the client’s welfare and future.
Continuously demonstrates personal integrity, honesty and sincerity.
Establishes clear agreements and keeps promises.
Demonstrates respect for client’s perceptions, learning style, personal being.
Provides ongoing support for and champions new behaviors and actions, including those involving risk taking and fear of failure.
Asks permission to coach client in sensitive, new areas.
Coaching Presence—Ability to be fully conscious and create spontaneous relationships with the client, employing a style that is open, flexible and confident.
Is present and flexible during the coaching process, dancing in the moment.
Accesses own intuition and trusts one’s inner knowing—”goes with the gut.”
Is open to not knowing and takes risks.
Sees many ways to work with the client and chooses in the moment what is most effective.
Uses humor effectively to create lightness and energy.
Confidently shifts perspectives and experiments with new possibilities for own action.
Demonstrates confidence in working with strong emotions and can self-manage and not be overpowered or enmeshed by client’s emotions.
C. Communicating Effectively
Active Listening—Ability to focus completely on what the client is saying and is not saying, to understand the meaning of what is said in the context of the client’s desires, and to support client self-expression.
Attends to the client and the client’s agenda and not to the coach’s agenda for the client.
Hears the client’s concerns, goals, values and beliefs about what is and is not possible.
Distinguishes between the words, the tone of voice, and the body language.
Summarizes, paraphrases, reiterates, and mirrors back what client has said to ensure clarity and understanding.
Encourages, accepts, explores and reinforces the client’s expression of feelings, perceptions, concerns, beliefs, suggestions, etc.
Integrates and builds on client’s ideas and suggestions.
“Bottom-lines” or understands the essence of the client’s communication and helps the client get there rather than engaging in long, descriptive stories.
Allows the client to vent or “clear” the situation without judgment or attachment in order to move on to next steps.
Powerful Questioning—Ability to ask questions that reveal the information needed for maximum benefit to the coaching relationship and the client.
Asks questions that reflect active listening and an understanding of the client’s perspective.
Asks questions that evoke discovery, insight, commitment or action (e.g., those that challenge the client’s assumptions).
Asks open-ended questions that create greater clarity, possibility or new learning.
Asks questions that move the client toward what they desire, not questions that ask for the client to justify or look backward.
Direct Communication—Ability to communicate effectively during coaching sessions, and to use language that has the greatest positive impact on the client.
Is clear, articulate and direct in sharing and providing feedback.
Reframes and articulates to help the client understand from another perspective what he/she wants or is uncertain about.
Clearly states coaching objectives, meeting agenda, and purpose of techniques or exercises.
Uses language appropriate and respectful to the client (e.g., non-sexist, non-racist, non-technical, non-jargon).
Uses metaphor and analogy to help to illustrate a point or paint a verbal picture.
D. Facilitating Learning and Results
Creating Awareness—Ability to integrate and accurately evaluate multiple sources of information and to make interpretations that help the client to gain awareness and thereby achieve agreed-upon results.
Goes beyond what is said in assessing client’s concerns, not getting hooked by the client’s description.
Invokes inquiry for greater understanding, awareness, and clarity.
Identifies for the client his/her underlying concerns; typical and fixed ways of perceiving himself/herself and the world; differences between the facts and the interpretation; and disparities between thoughts, feelings, and action.
Helps clients to discover for themselves the new thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, emotions, moods, etc. that strengthen their ability to take action and achieve what is important to them.
Communicates broader perspectives to clients and inspires commitment to shift their viewpoints and find new possibilities for action.
Helps clients to see the different, interrelated factors that affect them and their behaviors (e.g., thoughts, emotions, body, and background).
Expresses insights to clients in ways that are useful and meaningful for the client.
Identifies major strengths vs. major areas for learning and growth, and what is most important to address during coaching.
Asks the client to distinguish between trivial and significant issues, situational vs. recurring behaviors, when detecting a separation between what is being stated and what is being done.
Designing Actions—Ability to create with the client opportunities for ongoing learning, during coaching and in work/life situations, and for taking new actions that will most effectively lead to agreed-upon coaching results.
Brainstorms and assists the client to define actions that will enable the client to demonstrate, practice, and deepen new learning.
Helps the client to focus on and systematically explore specific concerns and opportunities that are central to agreed-upon coaching goals.
Engages the client to explore alternative ideas and solutions, to evaluate options, and to make related decisions.
Promotes active experimentation and self-discovery, where the client applies what has been discussed and learned during sessions immediately afterward in his/her work or life setting.
Celebrates client successes and capabilities for future growth.
Challenges client’s assumptions and perspectives to provoke new ideas and find new possibilities for action.
Advocates or brings forward points of view that are aligned with client goals and, without attachment, engages the client to consider them.
Helps the client “Do It Now” during the coaching session, providing immediate support.
Encourages stretches and challenges but also a comfortable pace of learning.
Planning and Goal Setting—Ability to develop and maintain an effective coaching plan with the client.
Consolidates collected information and establishes a coaching plan and development goals with the client that address concerns and major areas for learning and development.
Creates a plan with results that are attainable, measurable, specific, and have target dates.
Makes plan adjustments as warranted by the coaching process and by changes in the situation.
Helps the client identify and access different resources for learning (e.g., books, other professionals).
Identifies and targets early successes that are important to the client.
Managing Progress and Accountability—Ability to hold attention on what is important for the client, and to leave responsibility with the client to take action.
Clearly requests of the client actions that will move the client toward his/her stated goals.
Demonstrates follow-through by asking the client about those actions that the client committed to during the previous session(s).
Acknowledges the client for what they have done, not done, learned or become aware of since the previous coaching session(s).
Effectively prepares, organizes, and reviews with client information obtained during sessions.
Keeps the client on track between sessions by holding attention on the coaching plan and outcomes, agreed-upon courses of action, and topics for future session(s).
Focuses on the coaching plan but is also open to adjusting behaviors and actions based on the coaching process and shifts in direction during sessions.
Is able to move back and forth between the big picture of where the client is heading, setting a context for what is being discussed and where the client wishes to go.
Promotes client’s self-discipline and holds the client accountable for what they say they are going to do, for the results of an intended action, or for a specific plan with related time frames.
Develops the client’s ability to make decisions, address key concerns, and develop himself/herself (to get feedback, to determine priorities and set the pace of learning, to reflect on and learn from experiences).
Positively confronts the client with the fact that he/she did not take agreed-upon actions.
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