07/08/2023
What to expect from coaching?
Entering a coaching relationship can be intimidating. Partly because of the vulnerability in which we place ourselves. Partly because without trust, coaching does not go far. And because it’s unclear what can be gained through coaching at the outset.
Indeed, coaching is a client-led process. That’s unlike many activities in life: your doctor tells you what pills to take, what interventions are required. Your consultant tells you what to do to solve a particular issue.
But with coaching as I practice it, the person you pay who does not solve your problem for you, does not come with a checklist, a preset formula, or a pep talk about trying harder. This would be all too superficial. Instead, the coach holds a mirror. A mirror for your whole being.
Though this mirror is imperfect, it reflects you as you are, right now. Looking into the mirror opens a liminal space for realizations, a chance for a fresh look at yourself. A time for uncovering what’s significant here and now, in actuality or in potential. A container where it’s safe to be vulnerable, embrace shadows and superpowers alike, feel emotions that we’ve danced around, and see what’s beyond. A field where possibilities emerge.
At the core of coaching, transformational magic happens. The kind of magic that illuminates the invisible corridors we tread our entire lives, corridors of beliefs, unconscious or unspoken assumptions, corridors of relationships, moods and experiences that repeat themselves.
Imagine that, during our conversation, unexpectedly, you catch a glimmer reflecting on some invisible wall that distorts the plain sight. The invisible corridor loses its fully transparent quality. The life that you may have thought to live freely does not feel so free after all. With some further exploration, leveraging the wisdom of the body, of your emotions, you sense that these walls can be broken. Or maybe, seeing is shattering!
Of course, many factors affect the process. It’s an art. The coach’s role is to cultivate and protect this pristine context, with room for silence, precise observations and communication of what’s noticed, to ask few and timely questions rooted in a deep understanding of the psyche and the field of potentialities. “Simply”.
Let’s get started?
