Haha yes it is just like the ridiculus spell in Harry Potter. I always thought it was a nice idea, to counter horrors through positivity metaphorically.

Not to blow my own horn but someone else’s, but Pete is excellent at the Provocative Approach to Coaching, and I agree with every point he makes in his comment.

Actually Pete, I have to confess…I wrote this post partly to provoke you to write more about your unique methods of provoking ;P Looking forward to your thoughts!

The paramount RAPPORT, the use of HUMOUR, being very FLEXIBLE, giving CLOSURE and rounding up LEARNING.

Farelly and Brandsma (if I remember the authors’ names correctly)is an interesting read for me because of the stance that I sometimes take in coaching.

I’ll like to add that provocative doesn’t necessary means to anger or ridicule. Just like a challenge doesn’t have to be in-your-face, provocative approach requires the practitioner to get the subject to level limitations out by hopping into another frame of behaviour to “realistically defend” himself. In realising that the shift has expanded perspective due to a Threshold Blowout or Forced Realignment or Paradoxical Cushioning or Treating Nonsense with Nonsense (need to give more examples?), the knock-on effect will be that the subject will more often than not find his limiting belief or behaviour pervasive in other areas of his life and start to shift in more than one aspect of it.

It’s important that when you work with someone with this approach, remember to focus on the behaviour and not resort to name-calling especially if you are not trained to give a person the closure she needs.

More on the Provocative Approach to Coaching soon.

The thought that came afterwards was, “hey, this is like the ridiculus! spell in Harry Potter IV”