


The decisions we make, good or bad, are often a function of our beliefs. After this it might be possible to explore what those impacts actually are. A starting point may be to simply help the individual understand that their beliefs do have an impact. The third stage of the ABCDE coaching model involves the coach helping the individual understand the impacts that their believes have on them. Questions that a coach might use at this stage include: What was your line of thought after the event? What were you saying to yourself (self-talk)? How did you feel? Why did you feel that way? What did you think would happen next? What was running through your mind? To some extent this part of the coaching process is about helping the individual recognize the lens through which they are seeing the world and the situations they find themselves in. The second stage of the ABCDE coaching model is to help the individual being coached to understand their underlying belief structures and systems that come in to play when the triggering event or situation takes place.

Interviews are a common activating event or trigger. Questions that a coach might use at this stage include: What is the event or situation that causes you distress? What is it that triggers you? Why did you start to feel that way? What was the starting point of your negative thinking pattern? Who was involved? We can think of this stage as a search for the triggers of negativity. The first stage of the ABCDE coaching model is all about the coach helping the individual to identify specific events or situations that cause the individual to experience negative thought patterns.
