A Congruent Call to Action: Therapeutic Coaching in a BANI world

Working with social and political change in the coaching space

VUCA (Bennis & Nanus, 1985) has been around a while. It purports that environments can be; Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. Whilst this is often used in coaching to look at leadership and culture it holds far more value when considered in a wider context.

If we step away from our practice and into the landscape of the world, we can see that we exist in a VUCA landscape at the moment and maybe it has always been so. For some, it can feel as though there is the potential for anything to happen at any time. If absolutism is an indicator of an uncontained process then I do see an increasing number of people who feel uncontained. If we then consider what I believe to be a more therapeutic perspective of VUCA we might consider that we exist in a BANI (Cascio, 2020) environment; Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible.

When I consider many of my clients, they express thoughts and feelings that are consistent with the concept of BANI Phrases such as ‘it feels like anything could happen’, ‘the world is on a knife-edge’ and an increase in existentialism as people wonder if there will be a world fit to live in by the end of this century.

As clients move between coaching and therapy in the work, I have noted the shift towards a BANI process. In session, it can feel unboundaried and therefore hard to hold, even harder to contain. This level of fragility and fearfulness adds to the complexity of the work and, in my opinion, requires a major change in how we work with clients to support them to navigate the challenges life poses and, more so, connect with the joy that is still present in the world around us.

The world of the helping professions has become more complex as we experience the increasingly BANI nature of society. In my own practice, more clients are presenting with anxiety, fearfulness, uncertainty and low level trauma. By this latter term I mean the trauma which is caused by multiple instances of fear which occur over a long period of time. Facing poverty for many years for example can elicit a trauma response. Similarly bullying, racism, micro-aggressions, even continual neglect can cause symptoms that are not dissimilar to trauma responses. The constant media barrage of negativity and a focus on the ‘bad’ that surrounds us has the impact of secondary trauma which is felt so deeply and yet often unseen by the recipient.

What does this mean for those of us who choose to help? We have many tools at our disposal but there is no panacea. Despite the promises of quick fixes and cure-alls I have yet to find any one approach which works for everyone. No surprise given we are all unique human beings with unique experiences and a view of the world which no one else can truly fully understand.

Even the increasingly popular approach of positive psychology helps to focus on what the client can control but may do nothing to allay their fears of macro and international events they cannot control. Enabling a client to offer themselves reassurance that the reality feels dangerous but that the threat to them is not imminent, means we don’t avoid the bigger picture and stay connected with reality but it does not offer an explicit opportunity to act: it feels passive.

There is no doubt that the developments in new technologies and from research will continue and can be supportive. The current conversations about the use of technology in the helping professions pose challenges and opportunities for practitioners and clients alike. I welcome this exploration and hope that many of these developments will be useful for practitioners and clients. Research must be through however or we risk adopting any practice with no evidence for its efficacy.

I’m mindful of the current debate on the use of AI in therapeutic practice. It’s getting heated for sure but the debate itself is a positive interaction. I can see the benefits of AI to produce materials, enhance understanding, simplify complex theory or models. I can also see its limitations which are most apparent in discovering what isn’t being said, what isn’t being explored, what’s hidden in the interaction.

I have used AI to support my practice but still have concerns about the bias that is present in the information. AI apps trawl a less than representative world wide web to produce content for a wide audience and minority voices may get lost in the search.

What I hope is that the debate will continue. We learn through curiosity, dialogue and understanding. The same characteristics help to support understanding of each other and brings society together. It is when we take unmovable positions, with immutable statements and closed ears that our divisions widen. Human beings are all a blend of different characteristics, likes and dislikes and I make no apologies for being idealistic about our capacity to accept each other for our uniqueness and difference.

More people are in need of psychological help than ever before and we have seen the potential for reaching more people via the use of technology. Whether this is with benevolent intent or with self-interest is the subject of much debate. It does require practitioners to take care with their practice and how they hold and work with their client’s process.

When I created “The Blended Approach”, I wanted practitioners to be in control of their integrated practice. For each to develop a unique blend which was congruent, safe, ethical and designed to meet the needs of the clients. I didn’t anticipate that society would continue to become so chaotic and fear inducing. Naïve or hopeful, I still believe that balance will be restored as human beings continue to strive for peace and calm amongst the turmoil.

For those of us who work as Coach Therapists, I can think of no better way to meet the growing needs of human beings to be psychologically healthy and happy, than for those in the helping professions to create a mindful blend of practice. Practice based on sound evidence based principles, a clear philosophy, standards and ethics, values, competence, care, understanding, empathy, trust.

Our practice offers so much when we are at one with our work. Consistency and acceptance as an antidote to chaos and criticism. Understanding instead of judgement and criticism. Congruence as a place of truth and stability. These are our sources of internal navigation when the winds and waves try to move us in unhelpful directions yet require no complicated models, tools or techniques, just a deep desire to be yourself in the presence of another human being.

That’s my congruent call to action.