217: Exploring the Use of Self with Gestalt Coaching
Nov 18, 2024
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John Leary-Joyce, a seasoned Gestalt coach and therapist with 45 years of experience, joins coach Dina Sabry Fivaz for a deep dive into the transformative power of 'self' in coaching. They discuss how a coach's internal reactions and personal experiences can significantly enhance client awareness. The conversation highlights the importance of authenticity and self-disclosure, advocating for a coaching relationship built on transparency and connection. Listeners will discover how awareness and relational dynamics foster deeper growth and healing.
The 'Use of Self' in Gestalt coaching emphasizes the importance of the coach's presence and self-disclosure to enhance client awareness and growth.
Building authentic connections through vulnerability and personal sharing fosters a supportive environment, crucial for effective learning and transformative coaching outcomes.
Deep dives
Exploring the Use of Self in Coaching
The concept of 'use of self' in coaching suggests that coaches bring their own experiences, insights, and feelings into the coaching relationship to enhance client awareness and growth. This involves coaches being explicit about their internal processes and how these influence the coaching dynamic. By sharing their observations and thoughts, coaches can foster a deeper connection with clients, creating an environment ripe for exploration and dialogue. It emphasizes the idea that every interaction is an opportunity for mutual discovery, encouraging coaches to be both present and vulnerable in their practice.
The Importance of Connection in Gestalt Coaching
Gestalt coaching emphasizes the quality of the relationship between the coach and client, which is critical for effective learning and change. Research indicates that the strength of this connection is the most significant factor in therapeutic outcomes, suggesting that coaches should prioritize relational dynamics. By actively engaging in dialogue and being present with clients, coaches can create an enriching environment where deeper understanding and insights emerge. This focus on connection allows both coach and client to delve into their experiences, leading to transformative moments that facilitate growth.
The Role of Self-Disclosure in Enhancing Awareness
Self-disclosure by the coach can be a powerful tool for enhancing awareness and building rapport with the client. By sharing personal reactions or feelings related to the client's experiences, coaches invite clients to reflect and engage more deeply in the conversation. This openness fosters honesty and authenticity, allowing clients to feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings as well. Creating a space for such dialogue enables both parties to resonate with each other's experiences, enriching the coaching relationship and facilitating deeper insights.
Embracing Risk in Coaching Practice
Coaches are encouraged to embrace risk-taking as a necessary component of effective coaching. Taking risks involves sharing personal perspectives and feelings without fear of being right or wrong, which can lead to deeper engagement and dialogue with clients. The concept of risk is mirrored in a poem that expresses how living authentically involves the possibility of vulnerability and discomfort, yet these experiences are critical for personal growth. By practicing courage and authenticity in their interactions, coaches can free themselves and their clients from complacency, paving the way for transformative learning experiences.
John Leary-Joyce, Gestalt Coach, therapist and trainer, joins our host, coach Dina Sabry Fivaz, for the first episode in our ‘Coaching Beyond Tools’ series. Together they explore the Use of Self as an instrument of change – using your internal responses for the benefit of the client. With 45 years of experience in Gestalt coaching and therapy, John emphasizes the crucial role of the coach's presence, self-disclosure, and relational dynamics in strengthening the coaching relationship.
This passionate, insightful discussion reveals, with examples, how coaches can leverage their own experiences and insights to promote client awareness and growth. The episode highlights the importance of authenticity, connection, and the courage to share personal perspectives in the coaching relationship. John also explains how to integrate goals within a Gestalt coaching framework and the role of awareness and insight in coaching.
You will learn:
· How you as coach can use your internal reactions to benefit the coachee
· The power of sharing the statement behind your question
· The impact of self-disclosure on client awareness and growth
“Your very presence influences the coaching…And the whole notion of use of self is bringing that and being explicit about what's happening to you internally as the coach and making that clear and explicit and transparent.”
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