Creating the Conditions for Reflethical Practice: Exploring the potential for creativity and arts-based approaches to support the development and evolution of ethical awareness in coaching practice

Using creativity and arts-based approaches in coaching is both emergent and experimental, with a limited body of research to support the safe development and implementation of this novel way of working as a coach or supervisor. This paper aims to challenge the creation and sharing of creative and arts-based coaching approaches without an accompanying and integrated discussion on ethical practice. Exploring the current landscape of ethical support for coaches reveals that it is complex and fragmented, and the individual coach has to use an idiosyncratic approach to ethical decision- making. In response, consideration of the role that creativity and arts-based approaches might play in supporting the evolution of our collective ethical awareness, particularly when working with experimental ideas, is offered, followed by the proposal of a new term, reflethical practice, and a corresponding model for its application.