Reflexive questions in a coaching psychology context

Asking the right questions at the right time is an essential tool of coaching psychology so as to generate self-awareness in the coachee as well as a sense of responsibility and the will to make a change. In this article, building on principles and methods originally developed in the family therapy arena, the authors show how reflexive questions can be used in coaching psychology. The target group for this article is, therefore, coaching psychologists and executive coaches in general who want to enhance their skills in asking effective questions. By applying Tomms taxonomy of questions (Tomm 1967,1988) to Dilts model of change (Dilts 1996), the authors bring together theories from systemic therapy with a change management framework based on neurolinguistic programming. The deliberate and perhaps provocative combination of two different approaches from the therapy field might be especially useful for coaches who are involved in change processes in organizations.'