"Giving me my life back": Using coaching to mitigate the impact of anti-social behaviour.

 

 Case study written by:

Anne Jones, Project Manager of Alliance Support Coaching

John Gray, Faculty, Academy of Executive Coaching

Engaging a coach may not immediately occur to someone whose life is being ruined by anti-social behaviour, but this comment from a client of Alliance Support Coaching (ASC) in Surrey illustrates the positive impact coaching can have.

"I wanted to thank you again for giving me my life back. As they say, the proof is in the pudding .... which came earlier this evening. As I walked into Tesco, both my neighbour and his girlfriend walked out. I had a wry smile and walked tall. My heart didn't beat faster and I was not rattled at all! Job well done - thank YOU."

Bryony, a confident businesswoman, found herself shaking and nauseous at the thought of bumping into her neighbour after he accused her of keying his car and physically assaulted her.

But following her second coaching session she sent her coach the text message above.

Bryony is one of over seventy clients who received coaching from ASC last year. The vast majority reported improvements in feeling:

• - listened to;
• - supported to cope;
• - confident to deal with the situation;
• - able to get on with their lives; and
• - knowing what services could help.

The project is an initiative of the Alliance of Surrey Mediation Services who provide community mediation in Surrey and wanted to develop a service for clients where mediation was not possible. 

It is funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey (OPCC) and receives referrals from partners supporting victims of ASB in Surrey.

So successful has been its first year that the Alliance Support Coaching has now boosted the number of coaches available to the project. ASC invited the Academy of Executive Coaching, which has trained over 11,000 people across 75 different countries during the past 20 years, to provide a coaching skills programme for a group of volunteer mediators, drawn from members of the Alliance of Surrey Mediation Services.

AoEC faculty member John Gray, who developed the training for ASC, also has a background in mediation and supervision.  He reflected:

“The course offered training in coaching skills, and using coaching skills in conflict situations, to a group of people already experienced in facilitating development and change (mediators). Indeed, a key aspect of the course was to look squarely at the overlaps and differences between coaching and the aligned but different roles of mediating, mentoring and consultancy. Mediators learned how to apply and extend their existing skillset within a coaching approach.”

Resources allowed for a four-day programme, plus individual and group tutorials. As with all AoEC programmes, best practice was offered with the intent of supporting the participants to shape their unique approach to coaching.

The course concluded with an observation process, so that ASC could review the participants’ progress against the project’s criteria.

One participant commented:

“The coaching course was extremely well planned and executed. Working as part of a group was extremely valuable and I feel ready and supported to take the next steps.”

ASC and the AoEC are now in discussion to offer a second training course later in 2018. The first group trained are continuing to practise and observe colleagues with a view to taking on clients for the project imminently.

Click the logo above for more information on the project.

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