Mentoring. A Quality Assurance Tool for Dentists Part 5: The Roots of the Modern Approach to Mentoring and Coaching

Abstract

Mentoring and coaching, as they are currently practised, are relatively new techniques for working with people. The roots of the current approach can be traced back to the psychotherapist Carl Rogers, who developed a new ‘person-centred approach’ to counselling and quickly realised that this approach was also appropriate for many types of relationship, from education to family life. Rogers’ thinking was deeply influenced by dialogues with his friend, the existentialist philosopher Martin Buber.

Developments in psychology building upon this new person-centred approach include transactional analysis (TA) and neurolingusitic programming (NLP). More recently, solutions-focused approaches have been used and a related approach to leadership in the business environment—strengths-based leadership—has been developed.

In recent years, developments in neuroscience have greatly increased understanding not only of how the brain is ‘wired up’ but also of how it is specifically wired to function as a social organ. The increased understanding in these areas can be considered in the context of emotional and social intelligence.

These concepts and knowledge have been drawn together into a more structured discipline with the development of the approach known as positive psychology, the focus of which is on the strengths and virtues that contribute to good performance and authentic happiness.