Application of redecision therapy in executive coaching workshops: Part 2 - a qualitative exploration of participants’ changes

This is the second paper of three and describes an investigation into the way that executive coaching as a growing field of organisational development can be based on transactional analysis theory and methods. Twelve participants who had attended a coaching workshop based on Goulding & Goulding’s (1979) redecision therapy approach completed a follow-up Change Questionnaire adapted by the first author from material by Elliott et al (2001) and responses were analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke 2006). Participants reported experiencing a wide range of personal growth experiences, positive interpersonal change and growth in their business, managerial and leadership skills as a result of participating in the work-shops. Limitations are described including the possible impact of the transferential artefact of wanting to please the workshop facilitator. The thematic analysis findings suggest that such an approach can provide an effective framework for executive coaching workshops

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of the Grande Ronde lavas, Columbia River Basalts, USA: Implications for duration of flood basalt eruption episodes

Grande Ronde Basalt (GRB) lavas represent the most voluminous eruptive pulse of the Columbia River-Snake River-Yellowstone hotspot volcanism. With an estimated eruptive volume of 150,000 km3, GRB lavas form at least 66% of the total volume of the Columbia River Basalt Group. New 40Ar/39Ar dates for GRB lavas reveal they were emplaced within a maximum period of 0.42 ± 0.18 My. A well-documented stratigraphy indicates at least 110 GRB flow fields (or individual eruptions), and on this basis suggests an average inter-eruption hiatus of less than 4,000 years. Isotopic age-dating cannot resolve time gaps between GRB eruptions, and it is difficult to otherwise form a picture of the durations of eruptions because of non-uniform weathering in the top of flow fields and a general paucity of sediments between GR lavas. Where sediment has formed on top of the GRB, it varies in thickness from zero to 20-30 cm of silty to fine-sandy material, with occasional diatomaceous sediment. Individual GRB eruptions varied considerably in volume but many were greater than 1000 km3 in size. Most probably eruptive events were not equally spaced in time; some eruptions may have followed short periods of volcanic repose (perhaps 102 to 103 of yrs), whilst others could have been considerably longer (many 1000 s to > 104 yrs). Recent improvements in age-dating for other continental flood basalt (CFB) lava sequences have yielded estimates of total eruptive durations of less than 1 My for high-volume pulses of lava production. The GRB appears to be a similar example, where the main pulse occupied a brief period. Even allowing for moderate to long-duration pahoehoe flow field production, the amount of time the system spends in active lava-producing mode is small – less than c. 2.6% (based on eruption durations of approximately 10,000 yrs, as compared to the duration of the entire eruptive pulse of c. 420,000 yrs). A review of available 40Ar/39Ar data for the major voluminous phases of the Columbia River Basalt Group suggests that activity of the Steens Basalt-Imnaha Basalt-GRB may have, at times, been simultaneous, with obvious implications for climatic effects. Resolving intervals between successive eruptions during CFB province construction, and durations of main eruptive pulses, remains vital to determining the environmental impact of these huge eruptions

Application of redecision therapy in executive coaching workshops: Part 1 – the workshop

First in a series of three, this paper describes how the redecision approach (Goulding & Goulding 1979) has been applied over many years within executive coaching workshops internationally. The potential controversy about using a therapeutic approach in a business context is addressed, participant profiles and leadership characteristics are described, the impact of the group environment is considered, and the links between working on ‘problems’ and Berne’s (1961) stages of cure are explained. The stages of working are related to those described by Goulding & Goulding (1979) and supplemented with material from McNeel (1999-2000) and Allen & Allen (2002). This paper describes the interventions that are evaluated qualitatively by Widdowson & Rosseau (2014) and that will be further evaluated quantitatively in the future

Impact of the application of redecision methods in executive coaching workshops on psychological wellbeing : a quantitative evaluation of effectiveness

Previous research has found that participants in redecision marathons experience increased personal growth and improvements in psychological well-being (McNeel, 1982; Noriega-Gayol, 1997; Widdowson & Rosseau, 2014). In this article, the authors conducted a quantitative analysis based on the use of the Ryff Scales of Psychological Wellbeing to determine whether participants (n=49) at an executive coaching redecision marathon would experience an increase in psychological well-being. The findings show statistically significant improvements in psychological well-being overall, and specifically within the sub-scales of autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth and self-acceptance, suggesting that redecision- based workshops are effective for improving subjective psychological well-being

A combined Y/Ho, high field strength element (HFSE) and Nd isotope perspective on basalt weathering, Deccan Traps, India

High-precision high field strength element (HFSE: Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, Th, U, W, Mo), Y/Ho, and Nd isotope chemostratigraphy of two contrasting Deccan Traps weathering profiles - an ancient, deeply weathered laterite, and a younger (Quaternary), more moderately weathered saprolite - are used to reconstruct different aspects of basalt weathering. Precision of the HFSE analyses is demonstrated through a report of the long-term concentrations and ratios determined in United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ) basalt rock standards (BHVO-1, BHVO-2, BIR-1, BCR-2, JB-2).The oxyanion-forming members (U, Mo, W) are the most mobile of the considered HFSE group. Extreme loss of W, far exceeding those of U and Mo during certain stages of basalt alteration, is first reported here. The ability to strongly fractionate Mo and W during weathering may contribute to solving the unresolved mass imbalance between the crustal and marine inventories of W. By contrast, Zr, Hf, Nb, and Ta preserve the ratios of the parent basalt in the profiles due to their limited mobility; these are therefore of great potential value in reconstructing basalt flow stratigraphy and correlating lava flows in weathered flood basalt provinces. Of the HFSE, Th is not a good choice as a conservative element because it is strongly susceptible to addition of aeolian dust; this is evidenced by strong excursions in Th/Nb that are correlatable with alkali element enrichment and less radiogenic 143 Nd/ 144 Nd ratios.The chemical fingerprints of dust were identified in a paleo-flow top of the saprolite profile, suggesting that dust accumulation occurred during periods of quiescence between basaltic eruptions. During protracted exposure and laterite development, the magnitude to which dust overprints the basalt chemistry increases substantially as evident from much less radiogenic Nd isotope ratios and higher Th/Nb ratios in the Bidar profile relative to the protolith basalt. Attempts at quantifying the magnitude of dust accumulation in the laterite based on Th enrichment indicate a mass fraction of greater than 0.5 when the dust is assumed to have the chemistry of average upper continental crust. Although mixing models between the basalt and assumed dust composition cannot unambiguously constrain the dust source, the Nd isotope mixture preserved in the laterite points to a relatively young crustal dust source (e.g., similar to loess in composition) rather than the Precambrian shield rocks in the vicinity of the Deccan Traps. The contrasting topologies of dust-derived Nd and dust-derived Th in the laterite appears to record both physical transport of dust (Th) through permeable laterite horizons as well as transport by chemical dissolution and precipitation (Nd) at an inferred paleo-water table and in deep saprolite zones.Yttrium and Ho fractionate substantially during all observed stages of weathering, with Y/Ho ratios ranging from 26.5 to 21.9 in the moderately weathered saprolite profile and from 30.2 to 14.7 in the laterite profile. The single strongly superchondritic Y/Ho ratio of 30.2 in the laterite is restricted to a sample at depth, and appears to fingerprint the deposition of REE derived from dissolution higher in the profile. Decrease in the Y/Ho ratio relative to the protolith basalt (24.4-24.7) in both profiles inversely correlates with chemical weathering indices, and suggests that Y/Ho ratios have significant potential as a silicate weathering proxy. Consequently, suspended vs. dissolved river loads may record the differing behaviour of these elements during weathering

Diploma in Education? Rethinking the Curriculum.

For well over half a century the traditional end-on diploma year has been under fire from university departments, students, and the teaching profession. How is it possible in one year for students to reach adequate levels of knowledge and understanding in a large number of subjects, epistemologicalIy diverse and frequently outside their undergraduate experience? The answer of course, is that it is not possible to believe otherwise is to labour under gross delusion. A university department of education, acting with the best of intentions, cannot give more than cursory attention to even the most essential elements of a preservice programme within an abbreviated academic year

Listening to the voices of women suffering perinatal psychological distress

This article suggests that transactional analysis can be an effective treatment approach for women suffering from mental health conditions and the emotional and life disturbances that may occur during the perinatal period. It offers a brief introduction to perinatal psychological distress followed by a description of the use of transactional analysis psychotherapy for this condition. The article outlines a new model for a research project that aims to ascertain women’s views on the helpfulness of the treatment and to gain a better understanding of the stigma often associated with perinatal mental health issues. The author argues for the necessity of qualitative research to assess the efficacy of transactional-analysis-based treatment and to increase our knowledge about the change process in transactional analysis psychotherapy with this client population as well as to inform future transactional analysis treatment protocols

Sedimentation record in the Konkan-Kerala Basin: implications for the evolution of the Western Ghats and the Western Indian passive margin

The Konkan and Kerala Basins constitute a major depocentre for sediment from the onshore hinterland of Western India and as such provide a valuable record of the timing and magnitude of Cenozoic denudation along the continental margin. This paper presents an analysis of sedimentation in the Konkan-Kerala Basin, coupledwith a mass balance study, and numerical modelling of flexural responses to onshore denudational unloading and o¡shore sediment loading in order to test competing conceptual models for the development of high-elevation passive margins. The Konkan-Kerala Basin contains an estimated 109,000 km<sup>3</sup>; of Cenozoic clastic sediment, a volume difficult to reconcile with the denudation of a downwarped rift flank onshore, and more consistent with denudation of an elevated rift flank. We infer from modelling of the isostatic response of the lithosphere to sediment loading offshore and denudation onshore that flexure is an important component in the development of the Western Indian Margin.There is evidence for two major pulses in sedimentation: an early phase in the Palaeocene, and a second beginning in the Pliocene. The Palaeocene increase in sedimentation can be interpreted in terms of a denudational response to the rifting between India and the Seychelles, whereas the mechanism responsible for the Pliocene pulse is more enigmatic

Carbon isotope stratigraphy and palynology of an eastern Tethyan Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary section from Sumbar, Turkmenistan

A number of marine sequences across the K/Pg boundary have been identified that offer reasonably continuous records and relatively high sedimentation rates, most notably those near Tethyan continental margins. However, few Eastern Tethys K/Pg localities have been studied compared to the well-known North African and Southern European sites. Here we present a high-resolution stable carbon isotope and palynological record of a 2m thick section across the K/Pg boundary from the eastern Tethys at Sumbar in Turkmenistan (38°28’N, 56°14’E). The stratigraphy and inorganic geochemistry of the section used in this study, SM-4, has been described in detail by [1]