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Coaching approaches

Psychodynamic coaching

Psychodynamic coaching works on the patterns that shape work and life, including some you do not fully see, and uses the conversation and the relationship with the coach as material. It grows from psychoanalytic and psychodynamic thinking, and it is usually described as distinct from psychotherapy. Manfred Kets de Vries and Halina Brunning are among those associated with it. No randomised trial or peer-reviewed outcome study of psychodynamic coaching itself turned up in the sources checked for this page.

What it is

A psychodynamic coaching conversation looks at what sits behind a problem at work or in life: ways of feeling and relating that were formed earlier, and that can repeat without being noticed. The coach listens for these patterns in what you describe, and also in how you and the coach relate during the session.

The approach is generally described as different from psychotherapy. The focus stays on your working life and your goals, and unconscious material is brought in as far as it bears on them (Beck, 2018). Organisational versions also look at the group and the system a person works in (Brunning, 2006).

Where it comes from

The approach grows from psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy and was adapted for coaching. Manfred Kets de Vries applied a clinical approach to leaders and organisations in The Leader on the Couch (2006). Halina Brunning edited Executive Coaching: Systems-Psychodynamic Perspective (2006), which applies a systems-psychodynamic view to executive coaching.

The principles underneath

Patterns repeat

Ways of relating formed earlier can show up again in current work, and noticing them is the first step.

The unconscious matters

Some drivers of behaviour are not open to direct thought, so the coach works with what shows up indirectly.

The relationship is material

What happens between coach and client is treated as information about how you relate to authority, colleagues and others.

Systems as well as the individual

A person's role and the group or organisation around them are treated as part of the picture, not as background.

How a session runs

  1. Start with the work issue you bring, in your own words.
  2. The coach asks about recurring themes: where this issue has shown up before, and with whom.
  3. Attention turns to how you are with the coach in the session, and what that might echo from elsewhere.
  4. Together you look at what the pattern protects, what it costs, and what a different response might look like.
  5. You leave with one thing to notice at work, and the next session starts with what you observed.

When it tends to fit

  • A work problem keeps recurring with different people, and each time the explanation changes but the outcome does not.
  • You notice a reaction to a manager, a team or a feedback conversation that seems larger than the event.
  • You have tried practical strategies, and the same pattern returns.

What the research shows

Evidence: Practitioner tradition — little or no outcome research

No randomised trial or peer-reviewed outcome study of psychodynamic coaching itself turned up in the sources checked for this page. Psychodynamic coaching is described in books and book chapters (Beck, 2018; Brunning, 2006). A 2018 chapter is titled as a comparative study of psychodynamic and non-psychodynamic approaches to executive coaching (Roberts & Jarrett, 2018); this page cites that title only, because its findings were not available to check. The nearest peer-reviewed research is on executive coaching outcomes in general (Athanasopoulou & Dopson, 2018). A meta-analysis of psychologically informed coaching (Wang et al., 2022) names cognitive-behavioural and positive-psychology frameworks, not psychodynamic ones.

Where the evidence is thin: The writing on psychodynamic coaching is mostly descriptive and comes from practitioners and the tradition itself. Studies of coaching in general do not isolate the psychodynamic form, so the evidence for this approach is indirect.

Sources

  1. Beck, U. C. (2018). Psychodynamic Coaching.
  2. Roberts, V. Z., & Jarrett, M. (2018). What is the difference and what makes the difference? A comparative study of psychodynamic and non-psychodynamic approaches to executive coaching. In Executive Coaching.
  3. Brunning, H. (Ed.). (2006). Executive Coaching: Systems-Psychodynamic Perspective. Karnac.
  4. Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2006). The Leader on the Couch: A Clinical Approach to Changing People and Organizations. Jossey-Bass.
  5. Athanasopoulou, A., & Dopson, S. (2018). A systematic review of executive coaching outcomes: Is it the journey or the destination that matters the most? The Leadership Quarterly.
  6. Wang, Q., Lai, Y., Xu, X., & McDowall, A. (2022). The effectiveness of workplace coaching: a meta-analysis of contemporary psychologically informed coaching approaches. Journal of Work-Applied Management.

Where it stops

Psychodynamic coaching looks at what drives a pattern, which can bring up feelings from earlier life. If you are dealing with trauma, a serious mental health condition, or a relationship in danger, a qualified psychotherapist or clinician is the right first step, not a coaching conversation.

Some people find that looking for hidden meanings feels like being analysed. A coach working this way should check how the conversation is landing, and be willing to return to the practical problem.

Practices for this approach

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