When she goes back
What a Coaching Scenario is
Not quiz style. This is judgement practice — you're put inside a real situation from human-services work and asked what you would actually do. It draws on the knowledge you use on the job, not the kind you can look up.
Every choice changes what happens next, and every choice gets a coaching beat straight after it: what drew you toward that option, and how it played out. What's held back is the verdict on your path, so you stay with what you'd genuinely do rather than working out what you're supposed to say.
- 4 decisions
- Each one shaped by the one before it. No two paths through are the same.
- Coaching as you go
- A beat after every decision, naming the pull behind your choice and where it led.
- A full debrief
- Your whole path replayed at the end, with the reasoning behind each decision you made.
- Evidence you can keep
- A completed scenario is recorded in your PracticeLab and appears in your downloadable ProofKit.
Scenarios are made to be talked about. Most people finish one still turning it over, which makes them a ready-made prompt for supervision, a team meeting or a conversation with a colleague — everyone walks the same situation, and comparing where you each landed is often where the real learning happens.
This one ends with
Next time someone tells you something you didn't want to hear, notice what you feel before you decide what to say.
The situation
You work at a women's refuge. Amaia stayed with you for eleven weeks earlier this year — a period that involved a lot of work: safety planning, legal appointments, connecting with housing services, rebuilding confidence. She left the refuge two months ago into her own place. The team was quietly hopeful.
This morning, Amaia has come back to the refuge to see you. She's dressed neatly, quieter than you remember. She sits down across from you, looks at her hands, and then says it: she's moved back in with her partner. She tells you it's been gradual — a conversation here, a dinner there — and that she made the decision herself. Then she looks up at you and says, "I knew you'd all be disappointed."
In that sentence there's a lot. She's already imagined your reaction. She's here anyway. That means something.
You feel the weight of the eleven weeks. You think of the other workers who invested in her case. You feel the sting of it — something that sits uncomfortably close to disappointment, or frustration, or something you're not quite ready to name. And then you notice Amaia is watching your face.
What you're practising
Before you start, notice
Real-world decisions in scenarios like this are shaped as much by feeling as by reasoning. People often notice one of these pulls — naming what you feel before you decide is half the skill.
- Disappointment — and the urge to let her see it, even just a little
- Frustration that months of work feel undone
- The rescue instinct — the pull to talk her out of it, right now
- Guilt about your own reaction, and the temptation to perform neutrality rather than practise it
Policies this draws on
- Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act (applicable jurisdiction)
- Your organisation's client rights policy
- Trauma-informed care framework
- Code of Ethics — Australian Community Workers Association / Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers
- Your own organisation's policies take precedence — check them where they apply.
Heads up — coaching scenarios work differently. You'll make a sequence of decisions as the situation unfolds, and after each one you'll get a coaching beat: what drew you toward that choice, and how it played out. The one thing held back is the verdict on the path you took — that lands in the debrief at the end, with your whole walk replayed alongside it.
New to Good Practice Hub? Coaching Scenarios come with PracticeLab Pro, or browse the practice library to see what else is there.
More Coaching Scenarios
See the whole library
Coaching ScenarioI didn't say no
You are a youth worker at a drop-in centre. Paulina, a 17-year-old who has been coming to the centre for a few months. This morning you can tell she's worried, but you're not sure of what, until she asks "Is it still something if you didn't say no?"
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Coaching ScenarioShe made me do it
Marcus arrives at your community support service mid-morning. He's been referred after a police callout to his home two nights ago following an argument with his partner, Lea. The incident report notes that Lea sustained a bruised forearm. Marcus is calm and cooperative as you introduce yourself. He says he's glad someone is finally willing to listen, explaining further "I only reacted that way because she pushed my buttons".
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Coaching ScenarioThe little comment you can not ignore
You work at a women's refuge. Part of your role is supporting residents and their children through what is often an unsettled, frightening time. Today you're sitting with Samantha, aged six, in the activity corner while her mother Pia attends a key worker session in another room. Samantha is colouring a picture of a house when she says quite matter-of-factly: "Daddy grabbed Mummy by the neck last night."
Client Services · ~12 minutes