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Systemic Coach Practical Examination (About 60 minutes)

Certificates of attendance and other qualifications without experience have little meaning. To test your skills, your examiner will role play a client. After 30 minutes or so, the examiner will ask you about the steps you took, your purpose, your expectations and your results. We do not expect you to resolve issues - we expect you to demonstrate building trust, diagnosing a systemic complaint, handling some objections, offering potential solutions and discussing possible consequences.

Communication Skill Test (About 30 minutes)

There is no PASS mark for this test, as without appropriate communication skills you are unlikely to pass the oral examination. This allows us to assess your communication skills and to offer you useful feedback.

1. How would you apply active listening?
2. How would you build trust with clients you do not like?
3. How would you build trust with two partners who are in conflict?
4. How would you talk to people who have different values to yours?
5. How would you explain your feelings without worsening a conflict?

Many people have poor communication skills, especially if they are stressed. Briefly describe how might you respond to people who:

1. verbally attack you
2. appear to be intoxicated
3. endlessly complain to you
4. interrupt when you are talking
5. do not respect your experience
6. insult other helping professionals
7. criticize you for not fulfilling their fantasies
8. endlessly blame other people for their problems
9. endlessly whine and act like resourceless children
10. flatter you (e.g. You are the greatest therapist in the world)

If you feel unduly irritated by or attracted to someone, or if a person seems inappropriately irritated with or attracted to you, transference may be taking place. A common transference is "You remind me of someone from my past!". List five more common transferences and outline how you can effectively dissolve transferences during everyday conversation.

If you feel confused by a client's communications, congruence may be lacking. One common incongruence is a person saying "Yes' while shaking their head from side to side indicating "No". List five more common non-verbal indications of incongruence and briefly describe how you can effectively respond to incongruence during everyday conversation.

Systemic Coach Oral Examination (About 60-90 minutes)

The oral examination has 32 questions, and each question has three possible marks, with an extra 4 marks for question 1. An overall score of 80 or more is a PASS, which is required for registration as a Systemic Coach and for us to refer potential clients to you.

1. You ask a client a goal question and the client answers. How would you respond to:
   
   • a. I don't know!
   • b. I want less stress
   • c. I need more money!
   • d. I want enlightenment!
   • e. I want to be rich and free!
   • f.  I want to everybody to love me!
   • g. I want my partner to stop smoking!
   • h. I want you to tell me what I should want!
      
2. Briefly describe three types of relationship entanglements and their consequences.
    
3. How might you notice that a person perceives a partner as a child? As a parent?
    
4. Briefly describe how you would help men clarify their relationships with their mothers.
    
5. A female client says that she feels huge guilt since she ended her relationship with an emotionally immature man. How might you coach her?
    
6. A client ask whether (s)he can stop taking prescription anti-depressants as (s)he no
   longer feels depressed. How would you respond? What would you expect?
    
7. Briefly describe how to dissolve yes-but objections
    
8. Briefly describe how to dissolve self-criticism
    
9. Give examples of mini-metaphors as pre-frames for coaching complex conflict
    
10. How can you continue goalwork with a client who appears to go into trance?
     
11. What might you do if a client spontaneously experiences an ecstatic state?
     
12. How might you help someone stabilize the experience of integrity (Soul)?
     
13. What is the difference in the consequences of trauma and abuse?
     
14. How might you find the first event of an emotional gestalt sequence?
     
15. A woman was raped last week and is still in shock. What might you offer her?
     
16. A woman was raped ten years ago and suffers daily about it. What might you offer her?
     
17. How might you recognize a taboo relationship bond?
     
18. Briefly describe three ways to change a taboo relationship bond
     
19. A woman complains of a 'black hole' in her heart. How might you coach her?
     
20. A man says that sometimes an angry demon possesses him. How might you coach him?
     
21. How might you recognize and coach a person with chronic sadness?
     
22. How might you discern between identity conflict and victim identification?
     
23. How might you coach a person who describes chronic anxiety?
     
24. How might you find the basic identity of a person with complex conflict?
     
25. How might you recognize mentor damage by an incompetent therapist?
     
26. How might you avoid causing mentor damage yourself?
     
27. How might you dissolve a complex relationship fixation (obsession / compulsion)?
     
28. How might you coach an adult who wants to leave a cult?
     
29. How might you coach a couple in crisis to build a vision of happiness together?
     
30. How might you recognize and resolve a core transference loop?
     
31. What would you do if a client couple insult each other in your presence?
     
32. A couple have been married six years. One partner had a romantic affair. They both say that they want to stay together yet both express strong emotions. What can you offer them?