Coaching Coaches: A Fusion of CBT, REBT, Choice Theory & Logotherapy
Posted on August 24, 2025 by Michael Zone, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Learn to improve your coaching practice and business by applying principles from CBT, REBT, Choice Theory, and Logotherapy for a holistic approach.
Coaching other coaches to improve their practice and business requires a sophisticated and multi-faceted approach. By integrating principles from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Rational-Emotive-Behavior Therapy (REBT), Choice Theory, and Logotherapy, a master coach can provide a framework that not only enhances their clients’ skills but also fortifies their business and personal resilience. This synergy addresses the three core pillars of a successful coaching career: mindset, method, and motivation.
Mindset: The CBT-REBT Foundation
At the heart of a great coach’s practice is a robust and resilient mindset. However, coaches, like all professionals, can fall prey to self-limiting beliefs and irrational thinking. This is where CBT and REBT provide a powerful toolkit.
CBT focuses on the interconnection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. When a coach-client struggles with their business, they may be caught in a cycle of negative thoughts (e.g., “I’m not good enough to attract high-paying clients”), which lead to negative emotions (anxiety, frustration) and unhelpful behaviors (procrastination, avoiding networking). The coaching process, informed by CBT, helps the client identify these patterns. The coach guides them in challenging their automatic negative thoughts, replacing them with more balanced and realistic ones. This cognitive restructuring is essential for building confidence and taking purposeful action.
REBT, a specific form of CBT developed by Albert Ellis, adds a layer of depth by targeting irrational beliefs. Ellis identified common irrationalities such as the need for approval, the demand for perfection, and the belief that the world “should” be fair. A coach-client might believe, “I must be successful at every attempt to land a client,” leading to significant self-criticism after a rejection. An REBT-informed coach helps them recognize this rigid “must” and replace it with a flexible “prefer,” allowing them to view rejection as a learning opportunity rather than a personal failure. This shift from demanding to preferring is a cornerstone of emotional resilience, vital for the ups and downs of an entrepreneurial journey.
Method: Applying Choice Theory for Client and Business Development
For coaches, improving their method is not just about learning new techniques; it’s about understanding and meeting the fundamental needs of their clients and their business. Choice Theory, a framework developed by Dr. William Glasser, posits that all human behavior is an attempt to satisfy five basic genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun.
A coach-client who is struggling to grow their business may be unknowingly neglecting one of these needs. Perhaps they feel a lack of freedom due to a rigid business plan, or a deficit of love and belonging because they are working in isolation. By applying Choice Theory, a coach-of-coaches can help their client analyze their own behaviors and business strategies through the lens of these five needs. For example, they might ask, “How does your current marketing strategy satisfy your need for fun?” or “How can you build a community of peers to satisfy your need for love and belonging?”
Furthermore, Choice Theory can be directly applied to the coach’s work with their own clients. The coach-of-coaches can teach their client to identify which of the five needs their client is trying to meet through their stated problem. This insight enables the coach to tailor their approach more effectively, moving beyond surface-level issues to address the core human drive. This mastery of identifying and addressing fundamental needs elevates a coaching practice from transactional to transformative.
Motivation: Logotherapy and the Search for Meaning
Even with a strong mindset and an effective method, a coach’s practice can falter without a deep well of motivation. Logotherapy, founded by Viktor Frankl, provides the ultimate answer to this challenge. It is based on the premise that the primary motivational force in humans is the search for meaning and purpose.
For a coach-client feeling burnout or disillusionment, the conversation can shift from “How do I get more clients?” to “Why am I doing this work in the first place?” Logotherapy helps them reconnect with their unique “why.” This purpose can be found in three ways:
Creating a work or doing a deed: A coach finds meaning in the act of helping others transform their lives.
Experiencing something or encountering someone: A coach finds meaning in the deep, empathetic connection with a client.
The attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering: A coach can find meaning even in professional setbacks and rejections by choosing their response and learning from the experience.
A coach-of-coaches can guide their client through these explorations. By helping them articulate their core values and connect their daily actions—from drafting a proposal to delivering a powerful session—to their higher purpose, Logotherapy provides a powerful and lasting source of motivation. It reframes the challenges of building a business from burdensome tasks into meaningful steps on a purposeful path.
By fusing these three powerful modalities, coaches can help other coaches build practices that are not only successful in a business sense but are also personally fulfilling and resilient. This approach goes beyond surface-level techniques, addressing the fundamental psychology of what it means to be a successful and satisfied professional.
