Socratic coaching

What it is

A Socratic conversation is a sequence of questions. Each answer becomes the material for the next question, so the coach follows your reasoning rather than introducing a new direction. The aim is clarity: your beliefs, goals and decisions are examined as ideas you can check, not as facts to defend.

In cognitive therapy this is called guided discovery, and it is linked to collaborative empiricism, in which client and therapist treat a belief as a hypothesis to test (Kazantzis et al., 2014). Neenan (2009) writes about using the same questioning in coaching.

Where it comes from

The name comes from Socrates, whose questioning is the model for the method. In psychotherapy, Socratic questioning and guided discovery are described as a thoughtful integration of ancient philosophy and contemporary psychotherapy, with a particular reliance on cognitive therapy (Overholser & Beale, 2023).

Christine Padesky is named here as an originator of guided discovery. In a 2014 panel discussion whose authors include Padesky, the questions were whether the purpose of guided discovery is to impart information, to correct, or to dispute a person's thoughts (Kazantzis et al., 2014).

The principles underneath

Ask rather than tell

The approach assumes that conclusions you reach yourself are more usable than conclusions handed to you, so questions lead the way.

Treat beliefs as hypotheses

A belief is tested against evidence and consequences, the way a scientist would treat a claim. This is the collaborative empiricism behind the method.

Follow the answers

Each question builds on what you just said, so the conversation goes where your reasoning leads.

Define the terms

Words such as failure, always or should are examined for what they mean to you, since a vague word can hold a whole conclusion.

How a session runs

1. Name the thought, question or decision you want to examine.
2. The coach asks what you mean by the key words, and what you have seen that supports the view.
3. Ask what would follow if the view were true, and what would be different if it were not.
4. Look at the answers together: where your reasoning holds, and where it has gaps.
5. Agree one question to test, or one small step, and review it at the next session.

When it tends to fit

• You have a decision you keep circling, and advice from others leaves you no clearer.
• A belief about yourself or your work feels certain, and you want to check what it rests on.
• You want to work a problem through yourself, with someone asking the questions.

Where it stops

Questioning can feel like cross-examination to someone who is already ashamed or distressed. A coach using this method should slow down and notice how the conversation feels, and someone in acute distress needs support first.

Questions work on reasoning. They do not reach feelings or patterns that sit below argument. Persistent low mood, trauma or compulsive behaviour are better worked with a qualified clinician.