A Coaching Model created by Franklin Cook
(Grief Coaching and Recovery Coaching, UNITED STATES)
Personal Grief Coaching is a model for Life Coaching[1] developed by Franklin Cook, a survivor of traumatic loss with 14 years of experience as a peer helper for grief support.[2] Franklin offers one-on-one helping sessions by telephone to people who have experienced the tragic death of a loved one. He works with all kinds of bereaved people but specializes in helping those who have experienced a traumatic death (a death caused by a person, misfortune, catastrophe, or acute affliction, such as suicide, homicide, accidental injury, medical emergency, or natural disaster). The sessions he facilitates are not “counseling” or “treatment,” and he is not a mental health clinician. The Personal Grief Coaching approach to helping traumatically bereaved people is described below, and source documents are cited that further explain the principles on which it is founded:
[1] An excellent definition of Life Coaching states, “a life coach’s primary role is to help clients … discover for themselves, through relationship with the coach, what lies uniquely within them-selves” (see bit.ly/coachdefined).
[2] A brief biography for Franklin is available at bit.ly/fcookbio.
[3] Jordan, J.R. (2011). Principles of grief counseling with adult survivors. In J.R. Jordan & J.L. McIntosh (Eds.), Grief after suicide: Understanding the consequences and caring for the survivors (pp. 179–223). New York: Routledge, p. 203.
[4] Adapted from: Ibid., pp. 195–201.
[5] Personal Grief Coaching is a client-centered or person-centered service (an idea first developed in: Rogers, C. (1961). On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin).
[6] Mead, S., Hilton, D., & Curtis, L. (2001). Peer support: A theoretical perspective. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 25(2): 134-141. Retrieved from www.mhrecovery.org/var/library/file/18-peersupport.pdf (see p. 6); PubMed entry at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11769979
[7] Experiential knowledge, trust, and confidentiality are among the “key ingredients” of peer sup-port identified in: Money, N., Moore, M., Brown, D., Kasper, K., Roeder, J., Bartone, P., & Bates, M. (2011). Best practices identified for peer support programs: White paper. Arlington, VA: Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.
[8] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Connectedness as a strategic direction for the prevention of suicidal behavior. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/connectednesscdc
[9] Campbell, J., & Leaver, J. (2003). Emerging new practices in organized peer support. Alexan-dria, VA: National Technical Assistance Center for State Mental Health Planning (NTAC) and National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), p. 14.
[10] This formulation of listening, respecting, suspending, and voicing is adapted from: Isaacs, W. (1999). Dialogue and the art of thinking together. New York, NY: Doubleday.
[11] Rogers, C. (1961). On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, p. 283. [Rogers popularized the term unconditional positive regard to describe this point of view toward a client.]
[12] Neimeyer, R.A. (2006). Lessons of loss: A guide to coping. Memphis, TN: Center for the Study of Loss and Transition, p. 92.
[13] Adapted from: Attig, T. (1996). How we grieve: Relearning the world. New York: Oxford University Press.
[14] Rynearson, E.K. (2001). Retelling violent death. New York: Routledge, p. 10.