IX Coach

Coaching approaches

PRACTICE coaching model

PRACTICE is a seven-step model that Stephen Palmer introduced in 2007 as a convenient acronym for an established approach used in coaching, counselling, psychotherapy and stress management. In a coaching session it helps a client assess the issue, understand the concerns behind it, develop possible solutions and put strategies into action. No outcome study of PRACTICE itself turned up in the sources checked, so the evidence is adjacent and the grade is P. The full seven steps are not named here.

What it is

PRACTICE sets out a sequence for working on a problem. The issue is assessed and the concerns behind it are understood before solutions are developed, and strategies are then put into action. Palmer's abstract describes it as a model for several fields rather than for one.

The 2007 abstract describes PRACTICE as an established seven-step model and names four activities. It does not name the other steps, and the full paper was not readable, so this page describes only the four activities the abstract names.

Where it comes from

Palmer's 2007 paper in The Coaching Psychologist introduces PRACTICE as a convenient acronym for an established seven-step model. The model had already been used in coaching, counselling, psychotherapy and stress management before the paper named it.

Palmer and Szymanska later wrote a chapter on cognitive behavioural coaching in the Handbook of Coaching Psychology (2018). It is cited as context for Palmer's coaching writing. Only its metadata was read, so it is not a source for the model's steps.

The principles underneath

Assess before solving

The abstract lists assessing issues or problems first, before any solution is chosen.

Understand the concerns

The concerns behind the problem are understood as a step in their own right, before solutions are considered.

Several possible solutions

The model asks for a range of possible solutions, not a single answer.

Strategies that get carried out

The abstract's list ends with implementing strategies, so the model is meant to lead to action.

One model across settings

The model is described across coaching, counselling, psychotherapy and stress management, so the same sequence can be used in more than one setting.

How a session runs

  1. The coach and client name the issue or problem the client wants to work on.
  2. The coach helps the client understand the concerns behind it.
  3. Together they develop a range of possible solutions, rather than settling on the first one.
  4. The client chooses strategies and puts them into practice, and the next session starts from how that went.

When it tends to fit

  • A problem keeps coming back, and you have not yet put it into words that you can work on.
  • You can see several ways forward and need to compare them before you act.
  • You want a structure that runs from understanding a problem to trying something different.

What the research shows

Evidence: Practitioner tradition — little or no outcome research

No peer-reviewed outcome study of PRACTICE by name turned up in the sources checked on 2026-10-15, so no trial of the model is reported here. The nearest research is on coaching of the kind the model belongs to. A meta-analysis of psychologically informed workplace coaching pooled studies of cognitive behavioural and positive psychology frameworks (Wang et al., 2021). A randomised controlled study of executive coaching examined goal attainment, resilience and workplace well-being (Grant et al., 2009). Neither tests PRACTICE.

Where the evidence is thin: Palmer's paper describes the model; it is not a test of it. The adjacent studies test other coaching programmes, and no source checked measures the effects of PRACTICE on clients.

Sources

  1. Palmer, S. (2007). PRACTICE: A model suitable for coaching, counselling, psychotherapy and stress management. The Coaching Psychologist.
  2. Palmer, S., & Szymanska, K. (2018). Cognitive behavioural coaching. In Handbook of Coaching Psychology.
  3. Wang, Q., Lai, Y.-L., Xu, X., & McDowall, A. (2021). The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta-analysis of contemporary psychologically informed coaching approaches. Journal of Work-Applied Management.
  4. Grant, A. M., Curtayne, L., & Burton, G. (2009). Executive coaching enhances goal attainment, resilience and workplace well-being: A randomised controlled study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(5), 396–407.

Where it stops

The model is described across four fields. A model that covers coaching, counselling, psychotherapy and stress management does not show how well it works in any one of them.

Working through issues step by step can feel slow to someone who wants to act now, or who first needs to be heard about how hard things are.

For trauma, a relationship in danger, or depression that does not lift, a qualified professional is a better fit than a coaching model.

Practices for this approach

Practice this with IX Coach

Try this practice