‘Teachable’ and ‘reachable moments’ in violence prevention and reduction: Does coaching psychology have something to offer criminal justice and forensic psychology services?

‘Teachable’ and ‘Reachable’ moments interventions have been developed across a number of Violence Reduction Partnerships and Police forces. However, limited evidence currently exists about the effectiveness of this delivery. In addition, the precise delivery of a teachable and/ or reachable moment - what the conversation and interaction looks like - is also not detailed or captured in the existing literature and leaves questions about the format and approach. This paper makes a case for the input of coaching psychology to provide an underpinning for the approach adopted by teachable and/or reachable moments. The paper argues that a coaching psychology approach could build on the already established mechanisms within the intervention delivery by providing additional tools to understand the clients, and formats for shaping the interactions within these interventions.