EGAN’S SKILLED HELPER MODEL
Use this when you want to empower someone to manage their own problems.
Gerard Egan’s Skilled Helper model is a three-stage coaching model in which the objective is to achieve lasting change and empower people to manage their own problems more effectively. The model can be depicted as:
The three stages can be summarised as:
Exploration: The purpose here is to build a non-threatening relationship with the other person and help them to explore their current situation by identifying and clarifying problems and opportunities and assessing their ability to deal with these.
Challenge: The purpose here is to help support the other person in developing a more in-depth and objective understanding of their situation by encouraging them to question what their real needs and wants are and what other possibilities they could consider.
Action: The purpose here is to help the other person to turn good intentions into actual results by helping them to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic objectives with a timescale for achieving them.
Egan argues that the Skilled Helper approach encourages people to become active interpreters of the world by giving meaning to actions, events and situations. He also stresses the importance of people facing up to, and overcoming, challenges and problems and seeking out new opportunities.
HOW TO USE IT
- Find out what is happening to the other person in their words and then to reflect it back to them without prejudice or making judgements.
- Make sure that you keep your own views to yourself and focus on the issues that are important to them.
- Summarise the key points to emerge from the discussion. Make sure that you have agreement on these.
- If you have been successful in establishing rapport with the other person any reluctance or resistance that may have been present in the exploration stage will have been overcome. Don’t be afraid of revisiting stage one if you are still encountering resistance.
- Take each issue one at a time and encourage them to think about whether there are other ways of looking at the issue. Encourage them to explore various options and strategies, as well as helping them to understanding and overcome the barriers they may be facing.
- If they are now receptive to making changes, it’s time to turn good intentions into action so get them to come up with as many strategies as they can. Help them to focus on those actions that are viable in terms of the existing situation, their needs and aspirations and the resources they have. Don’t leave this stage without agreeing to a follow-up meeting to establish what progress the other person has made.
Now think about two issues where you had to help someone to handle change. Choose one that had a positive result and one that had a negative result. Now answer the two questions below.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- What did I do that had an impact on whether the result was good or bad?
- Could I have handled it differently?