The ICF Credentialing Exam (PCC/MCC Candidates) Explained: Part 2 | The Academies

On to question number 3.

All right, a client comes to a session appearing stressed. When the coach asks what the client wants to talk about, the client frantically lists a major event they are planning at work, a large family gathering they are organizing, and caring for their aging parents. What should the coach do?

All right, so This is not an unusual scenario for coaching.

No, and I can say as a coach, my first response would be, wow, that's a lot happening, and this client is bringing some emotions that are clearly going to impact things.

Absolutely. So options for best: ask the client if they need to take a moment before starting the coaching sessions since they seem seem stressed. The second is ask the client to share more about their aging parents. The third is acknowledge that the client has shared 3 significant challenges that they're facing and ask the client which one they would like to explore first. And the fourth option, ask the client to begin with the major event they are planning at work since they mentioned it first. And so as I evaluate those 4 options, I'm thinking about what gives the client the most choice in this scenario, right? Because if I choose that they should start with the major event that they're planning because that's where they started, that's me choosing as the coach. So we don't want to be doing that. The second one is similar where I'm, I'm choosing the topic for the client that way. If I were to say, share more about your aging parents. So I don't think those are great options for the best. Um, the first one seems somewhat empathetic. Ask the client if they need to take a moment before starting the session since they seem stressed.

It's a little directive and assumptive though, because there's two things happening. There's you seem stressed. Without a, like, it seems like you might be stressed. What would you say you're feeling right now? Or some sort of checking in. And then there's also this sort of directiveness of, do you need to take a moment? Maybe that's not what they need. Yeah, right.

It is, again, it's choosing for the client and it has that subtle judgment, if not sort of overt judgment around, you seem stressed. Without connecting with them around what they're feeling. So that makes it pretty easy to go to the third one. Acknowledge client's 3 significant challenges, where they'd like to, to explore first. My one hesitancy when I saw this question though was like, where they would like to explore first made it sound like they might choose to explore all of them. I, I would probably, that's what threw me off just a little bit in definitely saying, yes, I want this one because I was feeling like, well, what if they were to say, ask the client which one, ask the client which is the most important, or if there's a theme in all of those or something like that. So I got in the way of that question a little bit by thinking through it just a little bit, maybe overthinking it. But I would go with the third answer for best.

Yeah, and I think that's a great point too, Susan. Like, these are not necessarily the best action possible. Like, I would also probably choose something other than what would you like to explore first, but it's not the worst, and it does allow the client to choose. It acknowledges the client It's present, it's supportive, and it's partnering. I feel much more unclear here with what's the worst. And what's really interesting to me is all 4 of these have the word ask in them, which makes it more confusing because at least the coach is asking. So that's great. Asking to share more about their aging parents. Seems pretty innocuous, like, not the best but not the worst out of these. But I'm pretty torn between 1 and 4. My gut in this moment would be the "begin with the major event they're planning since they mentioned it first." It's just very directive and non-partnering. But I think one's also a great option. What would you go with, Susan?

Can you tell?

It's—

I don't, I don't have a super clear—

Are we ready for the answers, or do you want to—

No, I'll commit to what I think might be the worst. I think ask the client to begin with a major event they're planning since they mentioned it first. Feels much too directive. So that I would choose that for worst.

All right. Well, let's see.

What's best?

Best here is 3 and worst here is 4. All right. I'm relieved. I've not looked at these answers recently and I was very unsure there. So if you got something different, have a different perspective again, feel free to share and remember grace for yourself if you're preparing for this exam. We're not sure, you may not be sure, that's normal. Part of what I do like about the situational judgment test type is we will be in sessions being faced with what do I do here? And so being able to have sort of a frame of reference to be able to quickly check in with and respond is valuable and a skill to build that this exam style does support.

Okay, on to question number 4.

Oh, this is a long one.

Can't even get it all on the screen there. Okay. Do you want to read that one?

Sure. A university biomedical researcher is working with a coach to improve their interactions with colleagues. The client is a very analytical thinker and can easily explain detailed data points and complex graphs, but seems reluctant to share anything personal with the coach. In previous sessions, the coach encouraged the client to describe how they felt at social events, but the client seems highly uncomfortable, answering only with short one-word responses. When the client arrives to their session today, the client silently hands the coach a journal. The client has written several detailed entries over the last week about their experience attending a university luncheon, a faculty party, and a staff development workshop since their last session. While the client says little to the coach in the moment, their entries show deep reflections about the anxiety the client experienced at these events and their desire to overcome social anxiety. What should the coach do? And I'm just going to note, when there's this long of a scenario, there's probably not going to be time to reread the whole thing multiple times. So I might finish reading the scenario and then quickly think like, okay, um, this is about sharing emotions. The client was highly uncomfortable. The client did some work around it. They have social anxiety. What should the coach do? Just to be able to like recap it for myself. Um, rather than trying to remember the whole thing or read it again. Yeah.

And with that recap, that just puts me in a place of feeling compassion and lack of judgment for whatever might be going on.

And so I think it's important to just notice what you're feeling around all of that, because I also had a flag go up around social anxiety, just remembering like, I'm not a therapist. I don't have expertise in managing social anxiety, and I want to keep that in mind with this scenario.

Okay, so I will go ahead and share the, the best options and put that on the screen there. Acknowledge the reflection work the client has done and ask the client if they feel comfortable exploring some of the emotions they described in their journal. Second, ask the client if they would summarize the entries they detailed in their journal for the coach. Third, ask the client to identify some steps they can take to overcome the anxieties they wrote about. And fourth, ask the client what new awareness they developed about themself through the journaling process. So if I'm looking for best answers, I'm immediately thinking potentially number 1 or 4. So acknowledge the reflection work the client has done. Coaches acknowledge, we don't praise, we acknowledge. And then there's a query if they feel comfortable exploring some of the emotions they described in their journal. So that, that has some possibility for me. And then the fourth one, ask the client what new awareness they developed about themselves through the journaling process. I think that has potential, but I like the acknowledge piece first because this is a big thing that they've done, and just recognizing that with that acknowledgement is going to be important. Um, so I, I like that one over the fourth one, um, a little bit. The fourth one feels just subtly, um, What, what the word I'm looking for there, but it's subtly off because the client obviously has had some challenge to, to make movement on this and their awareness is probably in the journal already. Asking them now to, to reinforce all of that when it's, they've just given that to you. I don't know, that just throws me off a tiny bit.

So yeah, there's just so much in here as well about like the client's super uncomfortable with it, usually reluctant to share, usually answers shortly, silently handed the journal. Like it feels super important for trust and safety in this space to have that check-in and allow the client to say no if they're not comfortable exploring. So I, I would go with 1 there too. Um, in terms of worst, so looking at 2 or 3, I am going to go with identify next steps to overcome the anxieties because for one, there's an assumption around, well, okay, it may not be an assumption. They seem to have expressed that they want to overcome social anxiety. So it may not be an assumption, but I'm not sure if it's an assumption or not from what's included in the scenario. And immediately jumping to next steps, there's not partnership there, there's not acknowledgement, there's not exploration happening first. So it just feels preemptive.

And it feels like the journal itself was a huge step in— yeah, coming in.

Yeah, I'm reminded of like seeing the whole person of the client in maintains presence.

Yeah, you know, I, I also do not like ask the client if they would summarize the entries they detailed because that feels like asking them to, to take something that was very difficult for them to do, something that I am— that's an assumption, it was very difficult, but you know, you would assume that is the assumption. So that feels like directive in some way. I know it's, it's an invitation, but I, I also don't like that.

Yeah, it's not the worst, I'd say. It feels kind of similar to number 4. And that's another interesting thing with these questions is sometimes they're very similar. And so sort of parsing out where the differences are is pretty important.

Yeah, so I just flashed back on when I was taking the exam, and I did notice that that happened several times, that there were a number of questions 2 were kind of similarly not great, and then a 3rd one that was also not great. And so I ended up going with the one that wasn't similar for not great, for the worst. I scored fairly well, so I'm—

can't guarantee it will work, but it might be a good strategy.

My strategy worked.

And if you're not sure, like, at least it creates best strategy and differentiator to test out. Okay. Yeah, because a lot of this is how do we make decisions in the moment, right? All right, so, all right, so best was number 1 and worst was number 3. Okay, as always, feel free to continue the conversation in the comments.

Question number 5: OK, I think I've had you read more than your fair share, so I will read. A coach recently began working with a client to help them plan for retirement. The client is a well-respected teacher who has taught for 30 years at a local elementary school. The client consistently arrives highly prepared and organized for coaching sessions, routinely reporting progress between sessions and identifying specific topics to focus on during coaching conversations. The client shares they are looking forward to retirement, but they discuss their retirement plans in a very matter-of-fact way. During the current session, the client shares that they have 2 weeks left before the retirement begins. They would like to focus on a few remaining plans that they need to make. Suddenly, the client begins to cry and says, I've spent half my life at this school. I adore my students and my colleagues are my best friends. Makes me emotional just reading it. Can't imagine what my life is going to be like when I no longer walk through the front doors of the school each morning. What should the coach do?

All right, so we've got pause for a moment, then ask the client to identify the remaining plans they would like to focus on today. 2, ask the client if they are sure they want to retire. 3, acknowledge that retirement is a significant life transition and that emotional responses are normal. 4, pause, then acknowledge the emotional impacts the transition seems to be having on the client and ask if they would like to spend some time with those feelings. So I have very strong gut responses with this one. My first reading, that first one, it's like, oh no, that sounds terrible. There was no acknowledgement of the emotions. At least there was pausing, but there was no acknowledgement. And that seems really challenging given like the client doesn't usually respond this way. Um, and then my reaction on the fourth one was that that is definitely the best one because it's an acknowledgment of the emotions coming up and checking in, allowing the client to choose what they want to do with them. So responding to the whole person in the moment, and then also recognizing nonverbal cues and emotions that are coming up. So this is feeling very much like something that focuses a lot on maintains presence to me, right?

And maintains presence means really focusing on, on the client, being able to respond to the entirety of the client, their who as well as what they're working with.

2 is kind of just weird. Um, also not great. 3 is okay. Like, at least there's acknowledgement and normalizing, but it feels less coaching and more like just supporting rather than having that partnership that I would like to see.

So for worst, I would agree first off that the fourth one is the best course of action. So then you have the first, second, and third. The second one feels like something that a friend might say. Are you sure you want to retire? So that is just not coach-oriented.

They've also shared they're looking forward to retirement. Yeah. So there's a disconnect there.

Right. The first one, as you already said, Jessica, identify— do, OK, pause, and then let's get on to action. Right? Completely dismisses the who of the client. So that's aiming towards worst. Um, ask the client if they want to retire doesn't feel great at all. Um, acknowledge that the retirement is a significant life transition and emotional responses are normal— that feels dismissive, like, this is normal. That's my tone of voice. It's probably not how the client might or the coach might have said it.

But, um, I'll also say that's the sort of thing that I would expect more from my therapist as someone who is holding space for my emotions. And that's like a big part of the thing, and they are working to normalize for me my human experience. So it doesn't necessarily seem like a bad response. It could be very helpful, but it doesn't feel partnering.

Right. The partnering is missing. Yeah. So that's how I'm going to then decide which one is the worst. Because if the partnering is missing out of that one, the partner is somewhat there in the first one. What are the remaining plans for today? So I'm going to say that the second one is the worst. Ask the client if they're sure they want to retire. That's a yes/no question. We rarely would ask yes/no questions in coaching. They're usually more open-ended, not closed-ended. And it feels like it's much more the coach's focus in a curiosity that is just a little bit off-center.

So I'm standing by number 1. It just, it doesn't sit right with me.

Okay. Because it's action-oriented. Yeah.

Yeah. It's so action-oriented. It doesn't address it. And like my response to it in my body was like, whoa, I would feel so dismissed and unseen. So going with my gut here. Um, best action is number 4, and according to the ICF, worst action is number 1. But again, like, there's— this is not an easy exam, and, uh, there's lots of feedback around that. So do your best and choose an answer best you can. And then keep going.