Coaching for Depression

Coaching for Depression
When I train managers as coaches I always warn them to
respect the power of coaching questions and to recognize
the possibility that what starts as an innocuous, business
related conversation, may lead to the unveiling of a deeper
issue. Coaching managers would be advised to develop at
least a little insight into the signs of abnormal
psychology. Consider for example, depression: Depression
is a widespread disorder which about 10% of men and 20% of
women can expect to suffer at least once on their lives.

There are many signs and symptoms which even the untrained
could recognize as indicators of depression:

Emotional Signs:

Guilt, misery, despair

Cognitive Signs:

Self-blame, Negative self-talk, Dejection

Motivational Signs:

Loss of energy, sex drive or appetite

Physical Signs:

Headache, Dizziness, Fatigue

There are several psychological theories concerning the
causes of depression:

Psychoanalytical:

Freud (1917) interpreted depression as a reaction to loss.
He suggested that depressed people are more excessively
dependent upon other people for approval and positive
self-esteem and that when this is absent depression results.

Behavioural:

These theories suggest that depression results from a lack
of reinforcement, i.e. the sympathy and attention of
friends and family. Unfortunately this creates a vicious
circle in that depressive behaviour often serves to further
alienate family and friends.

Cognitive:

Beck (1967) concluded that it was how people viewed
themselves and the world that may influence tendencies
towards depression. He suggests that depressed people work
with false logic and that treatment therefore needs to
concentrate on their thought processes.

Physiological:

In the western world much energy and research has gone into
establishing biochemical causes and cures for depression as
our high usage of drugs such as Prozac and tranquillizers
illustrates.

Depression has been termed the common cold of psychology.
It would seem a lasting cure may be just as elusive.
Doesn't it make you fed up?

What then of the coaching manager who uncovers these signs
when coaching around workload management or time keeping?
Best advice would seem to be to keep to good coaching
principles. Ask questions designed to raise awareness,
generate responsibility and build trust then listen
carefully and attentively to the responses. This is highly
unlikely to make things worse and may actually do quite a
lot of good.

After that, it's a question of referring the coachee to the
relevant professional. For this reason I recommend that all
coaching managers familiarize themselves with their
organization's welfare procedure.

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Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years'
experience. He works with a host of clients in North East
England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and
Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their
true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides
a simple yet elegant key to this lock. For a bumper load of
coaching tips and tricks - including FREE resources - visit
http://www.mattsomers.com