Intervention Styles

A very useful model for coaches and mentors to be aware of is the Heron model of six categories of intervention. It highlights the different interventions in any facilitating or enabling process.

This model can help you as a coach or mentor to understand the different interventions available to you. It can also help you to use a wider range of interventions in your coaching and mentoring work.

The six categories of intervention that Heron identified are:

Authoritative interventions

Confronting. This is about being challenging and providing direct feedback e.g. I notice when you discuss your workload you always sound stressed.

Informing. This is about giving information or knowledge e.g. There is some very good information that will help you in this book.

Prescribing. This is about advising, offering an opinion and seeking to directly influence e.g. You need to speak to your business partner about the problems you are having with your suppliers.

Facilitative interventions

Catalytic. This is about encouraging self directed problem solving and enabling learning through self discovery e.g. What would make you feel more confident when making a presentation?

Supportive. This is about supporting through approval, confirmation and validation e.g. It sounds like you are finding this problem very difficult to resolve.

Cathartic. This is about encouraging emotions and releasing tensions e.g. What do you really feel about the situation that you are in?

It may be useful to look at your own favoured styles of intervention. As coach or mentor you will probably mostly work in the area of facilitative interventions - catalytic, supportive and cathartic. However at times it may be appropriate to use the more authoritative interventions.

You may avoid certain intervention styles because you are not comfortable working with them. These may be areas for learning. You may want to practice working in other styles to expand your repertoire.

The intervention styles can also be used by you to reflect back on your individual coaching or mentoring sessions with your clients. Did you use the most appropriate intervention styles at the right times during the sessions?

Understanding intervention styles is another area that will help enhance your learning as a coach or mentor. It will also help you to improve the service that you offer to your clients.

If you would like supervision for your coaching or mentoring please refer to the Makin It Happen – Supervision & Support for Coaches & Mentors website at http://coachmentorsupervision.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at mailto:Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the October 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen – Supervision & Support for Coaches & Mentors newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.