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Coaching: An International Journal of

Theory, Research and Practice
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subscription information:
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Handbook of coaching psychology

a
David B. Peterson
a
PDI Ninth House ,
Published online: 02 Apr 2009.

To cite this article: David B. Peterson (2009) Handbook of coaching psychology,

Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 2:1, 89-91, DOI:
10.1080/17521880902781680

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 Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice
Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2009, 89
91

Book Review

Handbook of coaching psychology, edited by S. Palmer & A. Whybrow, New York:

Routledge, 2007, 488 pp., Paperback, ISBN 978-1-58391-707-7, $44.95, Hard cover,
ISBN 978-1-58391-706-0, $116.95
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The last decade has seen an exponential growth in the number of publications on
coaching and of people becoming coaches, but only in the last few years have I seen
the caliber of thinking, practice and discussion reach a level of maturity and insight
that matches that level of enthusiasm. Palmer and Whybrow’s Handbook is a
milestone in the field of coaching psychology and a major testament to how
significant that transformation is. Its chapters
virtually every one of which offers
useful, interesting, and stimulating ideas
provide a broad survey of the current state
of practice in many areas of coaching. I have no problem giving this impressive book
a very strong recommendation for anyone interested in learning more about
coaching, whether new or experienced, practitioner or academic.
The book is organized into four parts. Part I, perspectives and research in
coaching psychology, in tandem with the editors’ introduction, is a fascinating
overview of the field of coaching psychology practice. Together, these four chapters
summarize key issues and set the stage for continued dialogue. In fact, as much as I
appreciated and learned from their perspectives and insight, I also found much that
I disagreed with or wanted to probe and explore in more detail. To me, that is exactly
the point of such a work
to educate, inform, stimulate, provoke, and engage. I
would love to see these authors
Palmer and Whybrow, Grant, Linley and
Harrington, and Fillery-Travis and Lane
expand their thinking on these topics
in another forum. These chapters should be required reading for those who want to
understand the field of coaching today.
Part II, coaching psychology: approaches, this section is similar in purpose to
Stober and Grant’s (2007) Handbook, in that it attempts to summarize the various
theoretical frameworks that inform coaching. The chapters in this section, on topics
such as behavioral, existential, gestalt, NLP, psychodynamic, motivational inter-
viewing, and other approaches, are a clear, cogent, and informative blend of theory,
techniques, and case studies. Some are more practical than others, but from each I
could easily extract useful ideas to enhance my own coaching.
However, virtually all of them suffer from a common problem affecting the field
of coaching psychology today
starting with a model from another field of practice,
typically therapy and counseling, and adapting it directly to coaching. I would like to
see more questioning of the assumptions behind these models, more evidence that
they work in coaching, and greater adaptation of the techniques to the specific needs
and audiences of coaching.
The book as a whole appears to start with the assumption that coaching
psychology is primarily related to clinical and positive psychology traditions, with
ISSN 1752-1882 print/ISSN 1752-1890 online
# 2009 David Peterson
DOI: 10.1080/17521880902781680
http://www.informaworld.com
 90 Book Review

comparatively little reference to other aspects of psychology
social, personality,

learning, developmental, industrial/organizational, neuropsychology
that seem
equally important to a work of this type. In contrast, some authors (e.g., Law,
Ireland & Hussain, 2007) explicitly state that their approach starts with ‘the general
psychology of learning rather than psychotherapy’. Such a position seems more
directly related to the assumptions and worldview of positive psychology than the
therapeutic traditions that dominate this book. In essence, then, this Handbook
captures the current state of the field very well and distills a diverse range of
important frameworks and theories in useful fashion. But I look forward to the
next generation of thinking, where there is a more integrative and systematic
approach to the psychology of coaching itself. Another recommendation for a future
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edition is to organize the content, whether the sections or each individual chapter,
around the primary tasks of coaching, such as how coaches best establish the
working relationship, define coaching objectives, contract and set goals, cultivate
insight, foster motivation, build capabilities, support transfer and accountability, etc.
Parts III and IV represent a miscellany of other topics such as the coaching
relationship, psychometrics, diversity, and supervision. Once again, the chapters are
informative, stimulating, and practical, but a few again seem to draw their key points
disproportionately from other disciplines without careful scrutiny of why and where
they should apply.
One of the most surprising and perplexing aspects of this book is that it appears
to be written entirely by authors based in or from the UK; even Anthony Grant, the
one person listed as from outside of the UK, was raised in England. This is not a
flaw in itself, but the editors frequently appear to be speaking for the entire field of
coaching psychology with little discussion of what they exclude and why. In the first
several chapters addressing the current state of coaching psychology, there is
virtually no mention of key trends and events in the US, not to mention other
countries with strong coaching traditions. Given that the history of coaching
psychology in the UK is described as closely linked to sports psychology, it would be
quite interesting to see that contrasted with the US history of evolving from several
traditions, including organizational psychology, counseling/clinical traditions, and
management consulting.
Although the editors may have had good reason to exclude them, I also
wondered about the absence of chapters on several topics that I expected to see
addressed here, in addition to those noted above, such as ethics and professional
practice, coaching competencies, emotions, goal-setting, and even applications to
specific audiences, such as executive coaching for leaders, personal and life coaching,
and health coaching.
In conclusion, this is by far the most authoritative, comprehensive, well-written
work on coaching currently available. The authors and editors are to be admired for
such a significant accomplishment. My hope is that you find it as stimulating and
useful as I did.

David B. Peterson
Senior Vice President, PDI Ninth House
david.peterson@personneldecisions.com
 Book Review 91

Notes on contributors

David B. Peterson, PhD., is head of worldwide coaching

services for PDI Ninth House. A pioneer and thought
leader in executive coaching, David has authored many
articles and best-selling books on coaching and leadership
development. Based in San Francisco, he provides coaching
to CEOs and other top executives in Global 100 companies,
as well as consulting to organizations to help them design
state-of-the-art coaching programs. He received his PhD.
from the University of Minnesota specializing in both
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industrial/organizational and counseling psychology. A

Fellow of the Society of Consulting Psychology and the
American Psychological Association, David serves on the
editorial boards of the Consulting Psychology Journal and
Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research
and Practice.

References
Law, H., Ireland, S., & Hussain, Z. (2007). The psychology of coaching, mentoring and learning.
New York: Wiley.
Stober, D.R., & Grant, A.M. (Eds.). (2006). Evidence based coaching handbook. Hoboken:
Wiley.