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Brain and Change One Dec 2019 Forum
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31 Replies
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“What do you do with your mind can change the structure of your brain“ -Dan Siegel
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My apologies to all. I totally missed that the initial post was due 12/30. For some reason I was thinking this Friday was the initial not the summary. I will be getting a post up ASAP by Thursday/Friday.
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To establish the coaching relationship I asked if they were comfortable with me being their guide/ coach for the allotted amount of time, made it clear that our meeting was confidential and asked them what they would like to work on during that time.
I was asked to bring a stick and axe to the session so nature was a part in that way. ( I did not bring an axe, I brought a hatchet.) This request alone brought some excitement and intrigue to the session for both of us. We did not end up using them, but they were there and may be used in a future session. The client discovered they were not quite to ready to complete the ritual they had envisioned and that they were very much in the high range beta and wanted to be lower range to explore the situation fully. Not so much in this session because we didn’t get outside, but the outside environment would be every metaphorical in change theory and in balancing the systems in the body.
It was a challenge for me to keep bringing them out of the story the very much wanted to tell so I let them tell it to “get if off their chest” and they were then able to focus on the present moment and sensations in the body.
The session flowed well as we were able to bring in different aspects of healing and incorporation that fit well with the clients interests and were relevant to the situation. I made note of things that may be explored in future sessions so we could focus on the current, specific need at this time.
Pendulating seemed to happen quote naturally.
With this intensive I learned that nature is a huge resource for me and that in coaching sessions even if it’s just imagined it is very beneficial.
Listening for the stages of changes and where a client is in their brain/waves is very helpful to know where to go next in guiding a client, as is knowing it can go back and forth and repeat itself and that they may not be in a place of awareness at the moment helps me to know that I’m not running around in circles or don’t know what i’m doing. I am a big fan of pausing and seeing/hearing what comes next.
Overall Nature connected principals work to bring a client into a space where they can be in a state where awareness and change is possible.-
Hello Mel, I so relate to your challenge and the difficulty to get them out of their stories. I experience the same. Yet I wonder… if I had the skills and were able to ask powerful questions to get them out of their stories, is that the best thing to do? Is letting them cycle through their story helping neutralize them? Or does it enable them to stay in high state of energy by letting them relive their frustrating situations. Is there one better than the other?
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I think it depends. I knew my client needed to be able to confide in someone and get it off her chest. Once those wheels stopped spinning she was more open to new possibilities and in a calmer state.
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INITIAL POST: Practice Coaching Session occurred Friday 1/10/19. This was my first session with this client. I had her complete an Intake Form, in advance, which provided me with some background for guiding the conversation. This was a face-to-face session and we were able to walk over to a nearby park and enjoy being in nature for our session, even though it was COLD. On the walk to the park I established the coaching relationship and confidentiality. We also discussed what practices she has or when she feels grounded or centered most. This is a new question I have added to my intake interview since the intensive. Having her answer it in advance allowed me to dig deeper in conversation, for instance, how or when do you feel connected in yoga, music, etc.? We were able to bring the answers she provided into the session. For example, we did some yoga breathing, poses, etc. during the session, led by her!
I am not sure if I felt this more because this was a first time session but I felt I was educating a lot and frankly, talking too much. The information did tie into what we were discussing but I didn’t feel on track with the ceremony of a true n.c. coaching session as I am seeing them being. I am wondering if maybe I should hold an initial meeting with prospective clients where 1.) I can explain what a session would look/feel like, in essence provide that educational piece – also wondering why I feel this is an important step? – and 2.) give them the opportunity to tell their story – again wondering why I feel this is an important step? – without that setting a precedence for a coaching session.
In some ways this session felt more like someone looking for advice, my explaining the answers are within her and how we need to be in that alpha/theta state to discover them, providing her opportunities to experience those states but also providing some of that advice (errr). For example, to ground us upon arrival at the park I asked her if she would like to give the 5-4-3-2-1 tool a try. She was open and I found that by having her name aloud those items I was able to bring her back to those throughout the session. For instance, there was a flock of geese and she mentioned the sight of them as one of her items that brought her joy, as well as the fluffy she would imagine touching (we decided it would probably be better not to touch them). So then as I felt the pull to bring her back to center during her story I mentioned the items she had stated, for instance “let’s take a deep breath and smile at the trees, geese, etc.” She was grateful for learning this tool as she deals with some anxiety and feels it will be something to take with her to use at those times as well. We did discuss how she perceives that chaos in the high Beta state like a tornado and discussed using the awareness to engage her resources and bring her present. We practiced a few of those pendulum swings, as well as, experimenting with following the pull. I do see where guidance did come through these moments and she did seem to ultimately land with a reasonable action and accountability plan. I did not however, feel we followed the ceremony. While we did some experiential movements we did not set intention to a threshold. However, looking back on it now I do note a couple of her ah-ha moments.
Honestly, bringing what we learned in this toolbox was not on my mind specifically. In hindsight, I think it would have been helpful had I been more intentional with it, however, I am pleased to see where I used some of the tools naturally! I am also feeling better about this session having the opportunity to process it more through this lens than I did immediately following it when I was harder on myself for letting the story take over and for talking too much.
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INITIAL POST: My coaching relationship with Karen started in July 2019, she is my first client, we have met three times prior but on an irregular basis because of schedule conflicts. We used to work together but she quit her job about 2 years ago, tired and wanting to have the freedom to do the things she wanted. Her coaching theme has been constant from the beginning of our conversation: she doesn’t feel like she is using her pre-retirement as she had expected, in a productive way. Meanwhile in 2019, she traveled for weeks throughout the USA, has gone on dozens hikes, had a particular attraction for Mt St Helens and is now enrolled to be a guide on the trails there, is volunteering with the Red Cross and got some certification, was selling cheese at an open market generating $400 each time, has many friends and see them regularly, reconnected with old friends, have family and friends visiting her and staying with her at her home for days at a time, she is back into quilting and crafting, she hosted this very creative and successfully gnome party with her closest friends during xmas, has reconnected with her biological family, and I am sure I am forgetting many more. All things she had wanted to do. Yet, she is not satisfied.
One of the first thing she said when we met during our last session (Jan 6, 2020), was that she could read to me her New Year resolution list she wrote 3 years ago, and it would be the same. She came with a lot of personal judgement into the conversation and a lot of stories.
I started the conversation by sharing the Grand Canyon story, and that it is proven and possible to recreate new neural pathways, with attention, care and dedication. It made sense to Karen. I used the simple analogy of the Grand Canyon for several reasons. The first is that I am not yet able to eloquently dive into a scientific explanations. But also, Karen has a tendency to operate from her head and I was trying to prevent taking her to that place. Lastly, the concept is easy enough to understand that way, and I know that contact is quickly broken if Karen doesn’t fully understand, she gets irritated, with herself and others.
At that point I mentioned I had blocked 2 hours for our conversation and asked her how what her timing looked like. She was fine with it.
I am noticing now as I am writing this that I did not specifically asked Karen what she wanted to get out of the conversation. What happened next is that she launched into her stories, and I tried to keep up with her, mirroring along the way using her words or mine, but it would rarely land fully so she would launch again into additional details and explanations and stories, trying so hard from her head to figure out what she could do to get it right.
I noticed that, so I ventured into an exercise and asked her to pretend it was Jan 6, 2021, and that she would pick up the phone to tell me how extraordinary her life has been in the last 12 months, what she did, how she felt, what she heard, smelled, tasted… She was game but could not really come up with much to say. Because I know Karen gets stuck when she does not fully understand the exercise, I role played it and menued a few examples. That was enough to get her to try, but few things came up. I encouraged her to be bold and creative and not be attached.
When that felt like a dead end, I shifted to a more conversational format to attempt to identify the deeper need, and Karen was right back into her stories, and me getting lost in them, feeling uneasy that I did not know how to break the cycle. Once in a while, Karen would have an insight, and proud of herself would go back to the telephone exercise and would resume the call. “I would also say…” We ended up with something like that “ I am not working, I am peaceful with the choices I make, I am healthy, and I eat and treat my body consistently, I make a long lasting difference, I go on new trips, I have freedom, I have clear plans about my future so that I can build my skills to prepare for it, and I can generate some revenue so that I don’t have to be on Medicare at 45 years old.)
At some point, and much earlier in the conversation, I could have attempted to break her cycle of judgement and her story making machine. I could have enumerated for her all the things she had done in the year 2019. In hindsight, I could have used that as a pause, a place to be with and to reflect from, and probe with questions: Do you think adding a new to do would have made the situation better? What is missing? What is the real need? Instead I let her go down the rabbit hole to try to discover what else is missing that could fill that hole inside of her.
As I mentioned, I have known Karen for several years. People looked up to Karen, she was very good at what she did, I remember Karen feeling proud and accomplished at some point in her life, specifically when she came back from the Peace Corp. We had followed her adventures for a couple of years. So during our conversation, I asked to reconnect with past accomplishments that made her feel good. I asked her to describe the feeling and to stay in that feeling for a while as it was very easy for Karen to pop out, and get back into her stories. What came up was not so much about being acknowledged, and recognized “as I thought” ;-), or leaving a legacy (she keeps saying that it is not about her) but that she felt like she made a difference in the long run, and that she felt good, proud.
This got me closer to her vision, but I was still not able to get to the deeper need. Karen came up with a bunch of things she could do to feel better about herself, such as becoming a productive member of society, mentioned her desire her to do more, to be more like those retired people that are engaged in society, helping marginalized people, do something more meaningful, she likes to be different, more hikes with higher goals (more miles, more elevation).
We ended up the call 120 mn later. Though she was complete and thanked me for the insight she had gotten, I personally did not feel like I had been on top of my game, and this feeling does not refuel me.
The next day I reflected back on my call. I could have done things differently. And what was becoming blatantly obvious is that doing more is not going to do it for her. Somehow I had lost sight of what she shared with me on her first session, and reiterated ever since, which is that she wanted to trust the decisions she is making, and not judge herself for what she does or does not do. I knew Karen was leaving the next day on a trip to North Dakota, followed by a couple weeks in California. But I called her that day and shared my insights with her. I acknowledge her deeper need and that I had missed that, and fessed up there were questions I was afraid of voicing out (I did not say it but I started to wonder how her relationship with her partner Brian might be affecting who she is being). I felt good to say it.
I suggested to Karen to add a sit spot practice to her days or go on a wander, but it will not be practical as she will be in Dakota for the next couple of weeks where the temperatures are in the negative. -
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Hey Sheri
I agree it can be hard to stay in the ceremony and also found in my session how some items seem to happen more naturally than others.
I too like the idea of finding out some of the clients’ resources beforehand or right off the bat, and I am reminded to look again at my intake form since I haven’t in a while.
For me personally, I’m not sure I’d want their story in an initial meeting. My thinking behind that is because then it may make me analyze what they are saying in future sessions and take away from me being or helping my client be in the present moment. But knowing some history can be helpful at times too so ?? -
Nadine your comment: “… I am not yet able to eloquently dive into a scientific explanations.” Relative to the Grand Canyon explanation. I very much relate and also agree that it is an easy way to describe it for clients to understand. It is like they can visualize this image of the Grand Canyon and how you could reroute but that it would take work. I love the Grand Canyon reference. I used it during an Intake Interview yesterday while trying to help this prospective client see how we can make changes to our habits or routines but that it may take a lot of work, especially if the pattern has been a long time in process. Yet, a new tributary, a new direction can be intentionally carved out it just takes effort and being in a different state of mind. Then our conversation went into her resources for being present or grounded, finding that different state of mind. We discussed how she is not so much anxious in a doomsday type sense but gets sucked into what she could be missing out on. Still very much in future thought but concerned that if she is here what is she missing out on that could be happening there? Or she is enjoying participating in something, like a class, but she is focused on how much she will miss it when it is over rather just enjoying it in the present moment. It was a good visit and I look forward to getting into some coaching sessions with her. This was a young lady I knew from before but not to this extent and now having had this time to connect and explain what NCC is and how we go about it, plus discussing practice client rates, I feel like I will be more able to focus on the ceremony of an actual coaching session. We will see how it goes. Plus I am so excited that she is local and really embracing what messages nature has for her!
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SUMMARY POST: I just listened to the Brain and Change 1 Toolbox webinar that happened on 1/2/2020. You all had great conversation and really chewed on some of these topics. There really is so much here, as stated in the video, and thankfully, over time while working with, living with, observing more of it will settle in. The refresher helped me sit back and see where I am personally with my own journey, as well as, analyze where my clients are falling on the stages of change chart. One question that came up for me was in regards to this chart. Several of the clients I am working with are contemplating life changes / transitions; college to the real world and entering empty nest hood. It only hit me part way in that the stages of change we were studying were meant for brain change, in the sense of how we react or respond to a situation/trigger (think habits) and not necessarily change in the sense of making a life change (think career). However, when I then considered it could be both in that the life change your client may be contemplating could be based on/due to the need for a brain change it started to hurt my brain. An example; they are not happy with the current Grand Canyon path their life is taking and desire a new path. I realize this is not necessarily the same neurological pathways we are talking about, yet, I relate to this, very much. Coaching has been showing up for me in many ways over the years and I have looked, been swayed but then gone back to the routine, the current canyon. Until EBI. Now I am gradually digging out that new pathway. One of my steps was to start to see myself as, or refer to myself as, a nature connected coach-in-training. That was certainly a brain change that was a step on the path leading to my life change. I am not sure if that is the intention and I certainly don’t bring this up to cause confusion but I was just noting the similarities. There was also discussion around the Termination stage and if it ever really happens. I thought of young children who go through potty training. (Having spent time with each of you, I think it is safe to assume we all did this successfully.) Now, I realize that something could trigger someone or a dis-ease might lead to difficulty in maintaining that skill/pathway BUT I think we would all say that how we react to this bodily function is now more unconsciously and appropriately handled than before we learned that new skill of using the toilet. So I would agree with the discussion in the call that we learn a new pathway and choose it over the old because it is more comfortable or acceptable to us but I would state that I have achieved the termination stage of creating this new path way and I imagine many more than we realize, because it has just become natural for us.
A realization for myself, although not the first time I have had this realization, but rather the first time maybe it will stick. I need to keep this new information in front of me. Reviewing it, processing it and working with it intentionally. Literally chewing on it, is helping me digest it so it becomes a part of me. Hmmm, sounds like those stages of change. I so appreciate the push to write my thoughts and hold discussion with you all in this manner as it does certainly help me to grasp, realize and implement these new understandings. Thanks for your involvement in this process.
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An ah-ha is hitting me… it is ok to work with each client in the manner I feel individually lead to. It’s almost like I have been trying to create this box for coaching and fit everyone in there. These are the steps and this is the order and I want a specific set formula to step through. Then when it doesn’t feel right I wonder how I need to recreate the box for all moving forward. I see how this is focusing on me and not them. Time to rewrite my approach. Be open to how I am directed, with each individual client. If my intuition is telling me they need more time to share or if they are stuck and need to move on, into the action. Guide them as it feels right. Asking permission/invitation along the way. Yes, there are specifics that need to be agreed upon prior to each session but even the “forms” I have may come in a different order to me. Moving forward I trust the manner in which things unfold for my relationships with clients because I do not know all the details, I do not know their needs and answers. I will hold healthy boundaries that protect me in my coaching presence and liabilities that come with but I will allow them to steer the wheel and step on the gas or break as they are so directed to do. Maybe I like the visual of they are holding the map and setting the pace. I lean in to the nudges that come, sharing, inviting and yet, allowing the decisions to be theirs. Trusting my own soul-direction.
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Hi Sheri, hi all,
I am reading your posts and appreciating the “ah-has” about story, formulating or following the ceremony, tracking the stages of changes and being aware and flexible while you dance in the unknown-becoming-known to you and your client. How to stay out of your own way. lol. Or if Derek share this with you: W.A.I.T.= Why Am I Talking? Ha! All good questions and important “ah-has” that we each find our unique way of holding these for our particular clients and our own gifts as coaches/humans. Figuring out how you each want/need to work with your clients. What is going to help you show up in the best way possible? Somewhere in between initial intake forms and education, or blank slates? Yes—“being open to how I am directed with each individual client” and ” asking permission/invitation along the way”.
I am noticing in this discussion forum and others, that the moment of “oh, that didn’t feel so great” when working with a practice client really illuminates where you DO want to go and how you want to show up instead. Practice coaching is the opportunity to try lots of things and allow yourself to fumble a bit. And like Nadine, giving yourself permission to go back and say (in essence), hey that didn’t feel quite right. I learned something. What did you ( practice client) get out of that?
Sheri, your example of being touched by the idea of coaching through the years (contemplation) but taking your time at committing to a program (planning) and doing the program with the label “nature connected coach in training” (action), has me reflecting on the organic process of change and the (right?) timing of it all. Trusting the process… And getting curious about holding the process with someone else (a coach) to grow. This is what we are holding space for with our ideal clients. How to meet them anywhere in the process with the ceremony that can increase their “fire”. It’s quite special. I wonder what your thoughts now as you look back at your journey through the lens of the ‘stages of change’? Was there a moment of intervention that you can remember or identify that galvanized your process? Share if you wish.
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Ivy,
I guess that moment of intervention came when I decided to get serious, dig deep to really, listen to my soul. Maybe I was tired of questioning it/myself? I wanted to know. Something told me that if I went within consistently I would get clear and I certainly did. Committing to the intentional time twice daily for about a 3 week period brought me clarity, confidence – the knowing. Ironically, after acknowledging the step to move forward was the right one and announcing it to everyone – I then had vulnerability hangover! (launched back to contemplation?) but pulled myself back through leaning into the knowing. Because, of course, I had made the announcement, committed to moving forward, I couldn’t turn back now. I overcame that with baby steps to keep going and really even now when the doubts creep up I lean into the knowing I had then, this is my path. Trust it.Lessons I take from my experience, everyone is working on their time through their discovery of their answers. Consistent intentional nature connection/soul direction work is powerfully life changing! I suppose I could be sorry I didn’t take the leap sooner, upset with myself that I “dragged my feet,” but I trust that the timing happens when it is meant to. Something(one) wasn’t ready for some reason or other. I don’t have to know what, why or when. Just trust that now is the time to be here.
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First off, my apologies for being so late with this to everyone in the group! I could come up with all sorts of excuses – me getting hung up on the science of the brain so I didn’t do anything, the holidays were going on when this was due, life got busy, etc. – but none of that matters, I just didn’t do it until now.
Secondly, I did not meet with a practice client specifically on the brain side of things. But I definitely had observations since we did this intensive that are relevant to this area. And any observations I did ask the person(s) if we could discuss these as learning for this program. So I did get permission for anything noted here.
High Stress State – Recently I was in a group discussion and one of the participants started talking about the way she has been living, in a state of high stress where she is constantly in a fight or flight mode. This was all related to her corporate job and belief on what success should be. It brought to light what Michael had talked about with living in a sympathetic system and some of the biggest drivers of this in our worlds are money and success. About 6 months ago, she had enough, quit and walked away from all of this bringing her more into parasympathetic state. It made me think through where she’d been living in a high-range brain wave state but the person I know is now in a more mid-range and low-range brain wave state. We had a chance to talk a bit about her pathways to get where she’s at now. And admittedly she says it is very easy for her to go into that high-stress state again. Hopefully when the time is right, we can turn these conversations into coaching.
Dam vs. Grand Canyon – I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit from my own perspective. Just like everyone, I like the metaphor of the Grand Canyon and building new tributaries and/or changing the course of the river. But what I see in myself is the action of creating the new course and then working it so much I dam it up. Or maybe I don’t let it dig deep enough to become that tributary before rushing off to the next thing. Either way, there is a pattern formed of contemplation, planning, action, stop. Walk away and off to something else. I discussed this with a friend who has the same pattern of behavior as me. And we’re both realizing that each of those actions are things we thought we wanted but not enough to see through even if it seems so at the time. It really made me think of how if she (or me) was my client that this would be a starting point to work with focused attention/visualization techniques to either continue creating the new course or not.
Story and Myth – This one really hangs me up because of the word ‘myth’ but when I get past what it’s called, it really makes sense. I see this constantly with my father who loves to tell stories. But then creates these into myths to make them so much greater than they are and to justify where he is at in his life. Really most of it is around why he’s the last of his peer group, brothers and his wife still living. So, he uses these often times grandiose myths to make sense of it. We’ve had several deep conversations which are similar to coaching sessions to help work through his feelings of fear of moving on and guilt for still being here. I say similar since there is guiding but advice giving does slip in as well.
So after putting these observations down, I really feel the biggest takeaway for me is about the connectivity of it all – “brain makes the mind”, mind being neural activity, mind being consciousness, the higher thinking (cortex) to the emotions (limbic) to the reptilian brain, brain waves to allow and/or block changes and information – tying into how we change (neuroplasticity). Then understanding the neural patterns of our clients to help guide through the purpose of their seeking help.
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INITIAL: I am finding that the intensive around change theory and the neuroscience from the last intensive have created a lot more patience and compassion around my engagement with the client. While I still come back to some self-doubt with less and less regularity when I perceive that the client is stuck in a cycle; I am now aware, through the content of this particular intensive, that the client is TRULY stuck. That the session is NOT stuck, that I am not stuck as a coach. Simply that we have hit upon a rich area in the client’s story/experience, and that what I am perceiving as “stuck” is actually some encoded tendencies of the client’s brain reinforcing a dated protective mechanism. With some continued practice, I look forward to gaining more comfort and skills around supporting future clients in processing THROUGH this cycle and gaining deeper insights into their own journey(s).
I found myself referring back to Katy’s example of the deer in the field foraging, becoming alert, and finally shaking off the excess energy when safety is determined to exist. I am currently aware of a good deal of clunkiness in recreating/retracing the analogy for clients (and for myself) in presenting this as a potential introduction to the high road and low road cycles that occur within our minds as we either engage in automatic pilot or attempt, through intention and awareness, to forge new pathways, new patterns of behavior, and new experience.
I continue to experience all of my practice sessions and other sessions with groups after these intensives, as if another layer of clarity has been provided. I think back to learning the parts of the microscope in high school science class and how we went from ones with only one objective lense (had to look it up!) to those with THREE lenses; and one class even had one electronic microscope!! The picture continues to come in to focus, and it is providing more access points to explore with the client throughout a session. Maybe “clarity” is not the right word, as that might imply a degree of comprehension that I do not yet have; however, I am not trying so hard to learn the nuts and bolts/behind the curtain elements of these lenses so much as how they might inform what I am already doing.
Again, I come back to the patience that the change theory and neuroscientific principles have developed in my own self-awareness and compassion. I am super stoked to watch how this can be conveyed to my clients during sessions; AND how to invite clients to perhaps try on such a lens of self-awareness and self-appreciation. It’s powerful, self-hug type stuff. -
Mel: “It was a challenge for me to keep bringing them out of the story the very much wanted to tell so I let them tell it to “get if off their chest” and they were then able to focus on the present moment and sensations in the body.”
What came up for me while reading this portion of your post was that I internally feel something similar quite regularly–or rather I have MORE so prior to this last intensive. Have you found that the introduction to our own stages of change and the over view of the highroad vs low-road circuitry of the brain have helped inform that frustration? Maybe not lessened it popping up so much as reframed the awareness that you have of it as it comes up? I am finding my process around what I hear you saying her to be: “get outta this cycle!” > “should I jump in here and reframe/re-ground?” > to (now) “this is where the client needs to be, and I will integrate the skills I have so far to help highlight opportunities for them to recognize potential patterns and hold space for them to seek a way through this part of their cycle/story/journey”
I mean, it’s definitely far more clunky in the moment; that is to say that there is a lot more patience and compassion around it for me anyways. Great insights! -
Hey Kim: Always appreciate your honesty and how you show up! Appreciate the sharing of your experience with your father and your seeing his use of myth to “make sense of it”. So eager to jump down the rabbit hole around that need, that want to categorize and explain out…to provide that ‘why’ so one can move on/through/past an event. I have spent a good many times staring at the last slide on the Brain and Change 1 powerpoint section: “When a ritualistic process happens in a mind that has not made sense of intense energy through story making or myth-making the end result could be dissociation rather then euphoric expanded connection. However, the function is the same. That’s how powerful it is.”
The movement from rigid story making into more fluid meaning making working towards myth-making: a process, as I currently (barely) understand it, as naming it > creating a belief around it > finding resolution around it. It really brings out how honorable and sacred we are as coaches; how honorable and sacred our shared time with clients (or friends or family) must be held. What a privilege! -
SUMMARY: I am thoroughly enjoying the process of catching up (SLOWLY) with you all and reengaging in this material and the reflections that all of you have shared. What is coming up for me in this process has been how valuable the application of the material in these intensives are not only informing the work with clients; it is also informing my own self-reflection/evaluations/self-talk. And in a way that is tending super caring and self-friendly soil! I also see it in so many of the posts and reflections that you all are sharing with the class.
I realize that I am approaching most of the materials as we are presented them from a code-decode-recode kind of process. That is to say, I rely most consistently on a lens that has informed my mental/physical/spiritual growth through the modalities of recovery in which I engage. So I am filtering this material, at first and second pass, through that lens (almost more of a sieve!) and then making sense of it on the other side. I think this reaction is one that may serve or hope to serve a way of protecting me from feeling overwhelmed with all this juicy material given to us, in the intensives at least, in such a short period of time. That said, the materials we have covered and shared on in this module: the charts of stages of change, brain circuitry, story-making vs myth-making; the have all informed my OWN process with ME – both as an individual AND as a coach. And in that, I am more comfortable sharing and holding space with others (clients, friends, family, whatever). I hope that makes sense…it is a tricky thing to type as I am typing/editing/re-typing it. Seems like it requires drastic hand and arm motions and dramatic facial expressions and gestures to really drive it home?!?!
I think the takeaway is one that was presented to me from the outset with this program: that this is a transformational process for me as an individual; and that, from there, I might support and guide a client to grow along his or her or their own journey.