The Handbook of Knowledge-Based Coaching: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

FITTING THE WORLD TO OUR SCRIPT: DISCOUNTING

Discounting is a useful TA concept that elegantly codifies the many ways in which we can deny reality and resist change. Discounting represents distorted perception, and it happens outside conscious awareness. The ferocity with which we cling to a discount is directly related to the intensity of the perceived threat. Discounting may occur at four levels: discounting the existence of a problem, discounting the significance of the problem, discounting the solvability of the problem, and discounting one’s ability to change.

One of the reasons we stay fixed in a problem is that there is some payoff for doing so. When we feel stuck, however miserable we are about it, there is always some benefit. The prison ...