10 Disciplines That Shaped Modern Coaching and Inspired My Practice (With Real Examples)

Coaching didn't appear out of nowhere.

It was built over decades by researchers and practitioners who studied how humans actually change, not how we wish they would change.

When I started coaching, I used techniques without fully understanding why they worked. Or why sometimes they didn't. I'd ask powerful questions because that's what coaches do. I'd create action plans because that's what the models said.

But I was missing the depth underneath.

As I deepened my practice and earned my MCC (Master Certified Coach) credential, I realised that transformational coaching isn't about doing more. It's about seeing more clearly what's happening beneath the surface and choosing the right intervention in the moment.

That precision comes from understanding the disciplines that built this profession.

Not theory for theory's sake. But foundations I can recognise, feel, and use in real sessions with real humans who are stuck, scared, or standing at the edge of who they've been.

Here are 10 disciplines that shaped modern coaching and inspired how I work today:

A note before we begin: This is my perspective and is not meant to be comprehensive. There are other disciplines that have influenced coaching: philosophy, organizational development, linguistics, leadership theory, and more. You don't need to master all of these to be an effective coach. The point isn't to become an expert in everything. It's to understand some of the foundations beneath your practice so you can choose your interventions with intention, not just habit.

1. Humanistic Psychology: People Have Their Own Answers

What it brought to coaching:

Carl Rogers introduced a radical idea: the client is not broken. Change happens not when we give brilliant advice, but when someone feels fully seen, fully accepted, and trusted to find their own way.

Abraham Maslow's work on self-actualization suggested that humans naturally move toward growth when conditions allow it.

This became the foundation of coaching presence. Not the expert with answers, but the witness who creates space.

How it shows up in my sessions:

A senior executive once said to me: "Just tell me what to do. You've seen this before."

I could have given advice. I had opinions. But I've learned that's rarely where transformation lives.

Instead, I said: "I trust that you know more about your situation than I ever could. What happens if you trust that too?"

Long silence. Then: "I think I need to leave this role. I've known for months."

The answer was already there. My job wasn't to provide it. It was to create the safety for her to say it out loud.

What I'm really doing: Creating conditions for the client's own wisdom to emerge.

2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Thoughts Aren't Facts

What it brought to coaching:

Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis showed us that our thoughts create our emotions, and our emotions drive our behavior. This gave coaching one of its most practical frameworks: we can separate facts from interpretation. We can examine beliefs instead of accepting them as truth.

The ABC model (Activating event, Belief, Consequence) became foundational to countless coaching conversations.

How it shows up in my sessions:

A founder told me: "I'm a terrible CEO. I lost that client. I'm letting everyone down."

I asked: "What actually happened?"

"We didn't win a deal we were competing for."

"And what story are you telling yourself about that?"

"That I'm failing. That I don't know what I'm doing."

We looked at the facts:

• Lost one deal out of twelve this quarter

• Revenue up significantly year over year

• Strong team retention

• High client satisfaction scores

The catastrophic story began to loosen. Not because I dismissed his feelings, but because we separated fact from interpretation.

What I'm really doing: Helping clients become observers of their own thinking, not prisoners of it.

3. Positive Psychology: What's Strong Matters Too

What it brought to coaching:

Martin Seligman's research on human flourishing shifted psychology from only studying problems to also studying strengths. As he wrote: 

His PERMA model (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement) gave coaches a roadmap for sustainable success, not just problem-solving.

How it shows up in my sessions:

A VP told me: "Everything is chaos. My team is overwhelmed. Nothing is working."

I asked: "What's not chaos?"

She paused. "What do you mean?"

"In all of this, what's actually working?"

Longer pause. "Our Friday check-ins. Those are solid."

"What makes them different?"

She began mapping it out. Clear agenda. Psychological safety. Tight timeframe. Quick decision-making.

That became a template we could apply elsewhere. We didn't only fix problems. We also identified and expanded what was already working.

What I'm really doing: Redirecting attention to what's generating energy, not just what's draining it.

4. Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Language Shapes Experience

What it brought to coaching:

Here's the truth: NLP is controversial in academic circles. Critics say it lacks scientific rigor. But historically? It massively influenced early coaching practice.

Richard Bandler and John Grinder gave coaches practical tools: reframing, anchoring, the meta-model for questioning, presuppositions, language patterns that shift perspective.

Whether you love it or dismiss it, NLP shaped how many coaches listen to language and use it to create change.

How it shows up in my sessions:

A leader kept saying: "I have to fire someone on my team."

I noticed the language. "You have to?"

"Well, I need to."

"What would happen if you didn't?"

Long pause. "The team would continue to suffer. I want to address this."

That shift from "have to" (victim) to "want to" (choice) changed his entire emotional state. He wasn't being forced. He was choosing. That's agency.

I also use reframing constantly. "This keeps failing" becomes "You're learning what doesn't work." Different frame, different possibility.

What I'm really doing: Paying attention to the language clients use and helping them choose language that opens possibility rather than closes it.

5. Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: The Future Matters More Than the Past

What it brought to coaching:

Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg asked a revolutionary question: 

This directly shaped coaching's future-focused, goal-oriented approach. The "miracle question" became a staple of coaching conversations.

How it shows up in my sessions:

A CEO was stuck analyzing why his leadership team wasn't collaborating. We'd spent 20 minutes on root causes.

I shifted: "Imagine six months from now, this is working beautifully. What's different?"

He lit up. "People are sharing information freely. Decisions happen faster. There's trust."

"What would be the very first sign that this shift is happening?"

"Someone would share a problem before it became a crisis."

"When was the last time that happened, even once?"

"Actually, last week. Sarah came to me early about a client issue."

"What made that possible?"

We built from there. Not fixing all the problems. Building from one small moment that worked.

What I'm really doing: Orienting clients toward their preferred future and finding evidence it's already emerging, even in small ways.

6. Adult Development Theory: Sometimes Growth Requires Becoming Someone Different

What it brought to coaching:

Robert Kegan and other developmental psychologists showed that adults don't just learn new skills. We sometimes evolve through stages of how we make meaning. This helped explain why insight doesn't always immediately lead to action. Sometimes the person is navigating an identity transition.

Kegan's stages (socialized mind, self-authoring mind, self-transforming mind) helped coaches understand that some changes require a fundamental shift in how someone sees themselves and the world.

How it shows up in my sessions:

A senior leader kept saying: "I know I need to delegate more. I've read the books. I've been to the training. But I can't seem to let go."

This didn't seem like a time management or trust issue.

I asked: "Who are you when you're the person with all the answers?"

Long silence.

"I'm... valuable. Needed. Safe."

"And who might you become if you weren't always the expert?"

"I don't know."

The real work wasn't delegation techniques. It was exploring the identity transition from expert to leader. From "I am what I know" to "I am what I enable in others."

That kind of shift takes time. It's developmental, not behavioral.

What I'm really doing: Recognizing when coaching needs to address identity, not just behavior.

7. Systems Thinking: Context Matters

What it brought to coaching:

Systems thinkers like Gregory Bateson and Peter Senge helped us see individuals within their context: teams, organizations, cultures, unwritten rules. Sometimes the challenge isn't primarily about the person. It's about the system they're navigating.

This was crucial for coaching to move beyond individual psychology into organizational effectiveness.

As Senge said:

How it shows up in my sessions:

A talented director believed she lacked executive presence. "I speak up in meetings and no one seems to listen."

We mapped her organizational system. Who had formal power? Informal influence? Where did decisions actually get made?

It became clear that key decisions were often made in conversations before the official meetings. Conversations she wasn't part of yet.

The work shifted from "fix your presence" to "navigate this system more strategically." She started building relationships with key stakeholders and creating informal channels for input.

Over time, she gained access to those earlier conversations.

What I'm really doing: Helping clients see their organizational context more clearly, then navigate it more effectively.

8. Emotional Intelligence: Emotions Are Data

What it brought to coaching:

Daniel Goleman's work validated that self-awareness, emotional regulation, empathy, and relational skills significantly impact effectiveness. For coaches:

His research showed that EQ often predicts success better than IQ, especially in leadership roles.

How it shows up in my sessions:

A director came to coaching after losing his temper during a high-stakes project.

"I need to control my anger better."

I asked: "What were you feeling right before the anger showed up?"

"I was... angry."

"What about before that? Underneath?"

Long pause. "Terrified. Terrified we'd fail and everyone would see I wasn't qualified for this role."

The anger was protecting him from the vulnerability of that fear. Once we could name and work with the underlying emotion, the outbursts became less frequent.

What I'm really doing: Helping clients recognize that the emotion on the surface often isn't the one that needs attention.

9. Neuroscience: Your Brain Prefers What's Familiar

What it brought to coaching:

Neuroscience gave us biological proof: the adult brain is plastic. It changes through experience and repetition. But it also explained resistance. The brain's job is to keep you alive, not to make you happy. It prefers what's familiar because familiar = safe. Even when familiar is slowly killing your joy, your relationships, your potential.

As neuroscientist Rick Hanson says: "The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones."

Understanding neuroplasticity, the role of the amygdala in threat responses, and how new neural pathways form gave coaching a scientific foundation.

How it shows up in my sessions:

A COO said to me: "I always overreact in leadership meetings. I get defensive. I can't seem to change it."

I offered a reframe: "It's likely what your nervous system learned to do to protect you. And it's been very effective at that job."

Her shoulders dropped.

We worked on creating small pauses. Three seconds between stimulus and response. A breath. A moment to choose.

Over time, the reaction pattern shifted. Not because she forced it, but because we worked with her nervous system's natural ability to form new patterns through repetition.

What I'm really doing: Working with the brain's natural plasticity, not against its protective instincts.

10. Somatic Approach: The Body Holds Information

What it brought to coaching:

Somatic practitioners like Eugene Gendlin showed us that cognition and emotion are embodied. The body isn't just a vehicle for the brain. It's part of our intelligence system. Physical sensations often carry meaning.

Gendlin's "felt sense" concept taught coaches to slow down and help clients pay attention to what their bodies are telling them.

How it shows up in my sessions:

A CEO was considering a significant business deal. On paper, everything made sense. But he kept delaying.

In our session, I asked: "When you think about moving forward, what do you notice in your body?"

"My chest gets tight. My stomach feels uncomfortable."

"What might that be telling you?"

He sat with it. "Something feels off. I'm not sure I trust their leadership team."

He investigated further and discovered concerns that weren't visible in the initial data. The deal ultimately didn't move forward, which proved to be the right call.

His body knew before his conscious mind did.

What I'm really doing: Teaching clients to include bodily sensations as valid information in their decision-making.

Why These Coaching Disciplines Matters (And Why I'm Still Learning) 

Modern coaching isn't one thing. It's not a model you learn in a weekend certification.

It's an integration of insights from multiple fields, combined with practice and presence.

These disciplines aren't just theories to study. They're perspectives I practice and integrate. With real humans navigating real challenges as they grow into who they're becoming.

That's what makes coaching powerful.

This is also the philosophy behind our ICF-accredited coaching certifications.

They’re designed for coaches and leaders who want to understand why coaching works. not just what to do, so they can show up with clarity, depth, and precision in real conversations.

If that resonates, you’re welcome to explore our certification pathways.

And that's what makes it a profession worth dedicating yourself to.

For coaches: Which discipline resonates most with your practice? Which one are you curious to explore more deeply?

For leaders: Which lens might offer a fresh perspective on a current challenge?

I'd genuinely love to know what lands for you.

Geraldine GAUTHIER MCC Founder of GoMasterCoach Helping leaders, entrepreneurs, and coaches master coaching skills with ICF-accredited training.