COACHING WITHOUT A COACH: A LACANIAN CASE STUDY

Abstract

This article researches the function of the coach in coaching. Taking our cue from Lacan’s insistence that therapy is better off without the role of the ‘master discourse’ of a therapist, we explore the idea of ‘coaching without a coach’. The investigation is a product of a case study of MM Group coaching wherein coachees coach themselves without a ‘coach’, though with a ‘moderator’ charged with blocking behaviors like scape-goating. Lacan was noteworthy for what he saw as the counter-productive functions of control and subordination imposed by therapists in ‘ego-psychology’. From a Lacanian perspective (especially as interpreted by Zizek), ‘coaching without a coach’ is a natural corollary. Lacan conceptualizes psychological identity with his I-S-R model (Imaginary-Symbolic-Real); the prevailing coaching literature employs the triad Coachee-Coach-Organization; and we offer a synthesis of We-CoacheeSymbolic. Having explored ‘coaching without a coach’, in our conclusions and discussion section we will pose questions about the ethics and desirability of the model.