Hannah
Forum Replies Created
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Cecile,
Totally feel you on reading and feeling people’s emotions was a curse. And as you said once one is able to harness and get to understand a gift, then we are able to utilize it, and wow what a skill and tool to use with clients!
Great observation about your client! It’s cool how these new awarenesses become so obvious when in space with another. Its like they highlight themselves for the coach to notice and bring to the clients awareness.
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Gestalt Initial Post:
Like most of my posts, I base them off of my current work. Although it is not one-on-one or a “session”, I often see the module topics show themselves within work, so I am able to integrate and utilize the teachings then.
I can see myself using Gestalt within my work in coaching. My senses are fine tuned to picking up body language and nuances of the body from being trained in massage, so Gestalt adds another layer and getting curious with the client about what is going on in the moment can provide so much insight!
Being in Gestalt mode as coach feels like an amplified and re-humanizing experience which I personally love being in, would love to be in it all the time really.
My challenge with Gestalt as a coach is since it does feel like an amplified experience, I tend to feel a bit anxious since my own perception of reality is heightened. So being able to hold my own experience or space within a session is something I will have to work on. Also the idea of confluence came up a lot during the Gestalt intensive, it made me recognize that I do this often not only in coaching/mentoring but also in massage and energy work. I had a massage today and since I was reviewing Gestalt this was on my mind. I noticed that I was able to hold my healer part and own ground for at least half of the session. Then I noticed that I started “slipping” out of it, and I tend to do this often. So curious what this may be about. It is like the part gets tired, and then confluence starts to happen, I am not able to hold my ground as efficiently. Super interesting. I don’t beat myself up over anything, I just observe and see what shifts can happen, or if I had a contact disturbance within our time together resulting in not being able to find my ground.
What flowed is noticing words/actions or energy within the session and from there asking questions, to see where it could go. Following the river of observation>question>client reflecting> an opportunity for an awhh-haa moment> yayy! and perhaps a corrective experience.
Gestalt feels like a presence and co-creative approach to therapy, which I feel like is a huge part of nature-connected coaching. With presence, openness and the ability to be apart of one’s process makes for a beautiful organic session for the client and for myself personally as coach.
I have noticed that trust and openness in this work is essential, as it makes for a more authentic and healing experience. This can also take time for a client to really feel ready to open up, so allowing grace and ease with where they are at. A lot of Gestalt at least to me is shinning the light of consciousness to the client to help them recognize their own beauty and make their own awareness’s. One whom embodies and becomes apart of Gestalt I personally feel is able to tap into the clients needs on all levels and retrain what it is like to be in relationship.
Like Derek said “I am your ally” and “ By being you, this help’s another recognize and loosen up within themselves.” Loved Derek as a teacher, and the whole Gestalt module it has been very helpful not only within my work life but also life in general.
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Oh my goodness this is amazing Lindsay!
Thank you for sharing your session in depth! Amazing. Such a good representation of bringing nature, the way of being and how to approach daily life tasks in a more conscious way. This particularly resonates because I personally want to create a business basically out of nature, which I feel many of us inspire to do similar. So finding ways to make thing business also nature, keeping it inspiring and fun along with intentionality seems to be crucial.
I am also seeing the benefit of doing some of these tasks in session right then and there, as a way to dive deeper into the why and anchor the being into the action.
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Summary Post:
I have loved being apart of this module. As I get to know each co-student more, their gifts and ways of serving in the world make so much sense with whom they all are at a deeper level. One’s dharma fully shines here!
My take aways are there are so many avenues you can take coaching, and it can always change. There is not just one path to go down. For me there are specific pulls into certain areas of focus, but not a narrow solid way to go down. Which feels comforting and freeing to allow myself to have a medium-narrowed path instead of a pencil thin path.
Thank you everyone for sharing whom you feel called to work with, it is a true pleasure and honor to read!
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Summary Post:
The takeaway from this module is how potent the threshold experience is. This is a space where the client and coach enter and experience almost becomes more contained, a sense of pressure, transformation, emerging to become a butterfly, crossing a bridge.
The threshold is truly a beautiful experience. And for myself as coach, an experience that I live for. “Threshold is conscious experimentation in becoming this new version of yourself.” A client has a glimpse a feeling about what they are becoming.
The threshold makes NCC special and memorable for a client.
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Summary Post:
Reflecting on the entire experience of this module has brought me to the recognition that it is through nature that one and we heal. There is not one without the other.
The more we can sink in with the rhythms, the ways of our surrounding the more we become not only in our highest health mentally, physically and emotionally but our highest self.
Bringing in nature into coaching offers a holistic approach to working with someone and their goals.
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Summary Post:
Yup it has taken me like 4 months to complete this summary post. While reading Cece’s summary post it hit me like a ton of bricks, with the statement of “I’ve been waiting to do this summary until I was done reading all the book chapters/pdfs…this is the perfectionist in me… and I realize now that nothing is perfect and it needs to stop right here right now… Just like Nature, I am perfectly imperfect and I need to embrace it.”
Yesss, the perfectionist wanted to do this whole program so swiftly, gracefully without hiccups. Because that’s how the perfectionist likes to operate. Wanting all the little ducks all aligned in a row. I have had soooo many hiccups, road blocks, re-arrangements, moves during the last few months that in my mind were “set backs” for being behind in this program.
I now ask myself “what is being behind?” “ Is nature ever behind?”
I am not “caught up in the program”, and I am just where I need to be. Learning what I need to learn and experiencing what needing experiencing.
My main take aways from this module are how to even more fully surrender to what is happening around me, into the moments. How to flow with the moment, and make descions from this flow. How to let the magic of nature enter into the steady stream of life and to bring this reminder of magic in sessions with clients. To help others remember how amazing this experience can be!.
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When you think about coaching and/or guiding others, who comes to mind?
– Who initially comes to mind are young adults going through an initiation of going through the transition of becoming an adult.
I see both male and females, whom are looking for an improved lifestyle. One more connected with who they are at a core level and how to recreate life from the inside out. I also see myself working with family dynamics/group dynamics.
What is the population that most excites you, and why? How do you imagine working with them?
– The population that excites me the most are those who are seeking for something deeper. People that have been through a lot, perhaps even working people whom have been in war/poverty and wanting/willing to grow from this experience. Aftercare as of recently has been on my mind, whether its aftercare working with treatment centers, or after a traumatic experience. There is also a thought of working as a coach within corporate businesses with the employees and the team as a whole. Or even being hired to work one-on-one living nearby a client for a couple of months as a coach, to help “get them back on their feet”.
I imagine working with them through nutrition, ceremony, adulting, exploring and cultivating a grounded platform for living a healthy purposeful happy life lead from a place of soul.
<strong style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>What would be the common categories of goals that you foresee them working towards?
– Some common categories of goals that I foresee are: creating meal plans, based on ones individual body type, financial planning/budgets, self-regulation tools, creating individual yoga practices, skills with how to cook, make your own products, become your own healer.
This uses what I have learned so far/what I am qualified in, incorporated in what I would like to offer.
How would you like to collaborate with nature to support their awareness and success?
– I would like to take people outside, remember there reconnection and how important what a gem that is.
Using the plant world to work with what clients are going through in their life cycle.
Introducing nature-connected practices.
Search the web and share with us a few examples of individuals or organizations who work with similar populations.
-One other thought I had is working with child/young adult refugees getting their bearings in their new environment.
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Where does Ecopsychology and Coaching come together? How does this blend add foundation to your interests as a Nature-Connected Coach. How might it fall short? And what skills are needed?
– As noted in “The Humanistic Psychologist” Ecotherapy coaching is applied Ecopsychology. What a rich question. What I gathered from Ecopsychology is how Nature affects and effects ones state of mind and inner world. The two go together. How environmental crisis may create an inner crisis for people. How the collective we of society treat nature is a reflection of how we treat ourselves. By becoming connected to nature we become connected with our souls, becoming open hearted and have a natural pull to care for the world around us.
“To forget this, is damaging to our personal mental health”..
Quote from Where Psyche Meets Gaia
Ecopsychology still concerns itself with the foundations of nature and behavior, but does not limit itself to family. It expands to connection to our bond with nature.
How coaching and Ecopsychology come together is by using this understanding of the relationship with nature, and making steps/changes/goals through this understanding.
It may fall short, because as coaches we do not dive into depth with the psyche, we are not trained in group/family dynamics and do not have the tools/training as a psychologist may have.
The skills needed are an understanding of the dynamics/flow between a person and nature is. In-tunement with the senses, observance.
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John!
Thank you so much for this reflection and sharing your notes, I feel that you put your energy and effort into it. The key parts that stuck out to me within your post are: “Gestalt therapy focuses more on process (what is happening) than content (what is being discussed). ” (Oof what a relief!, I feel like this at least personally drops the whole I have to know exactly what I am doing, and into I AM HUMAN mode).
Relationship is the foundation of healing, so it’s important for me to bring my entire self into the coaching process; but at the same time both the client and coach must maintain their separateness. In that light, how do I bring creativity to my relationship with the client?
– Beautiful! The being human will bring the organic-ness to the relationship. Two lights meeting to hang out, and creating something unique and special.
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Aloha Joy! So neat that you stated your intention to the client at the start of session. I feel like that is very Gestalt-like and reminds me of when Derik mentioned ” As coaches we want to include ourselves in our experience our client. Because you are in the room, apart of your clients experience in the here and now.” I can see this helping the client realize that coaches are also working on themselves, and in process of Gestalt. Go you for activating your active listening and not thinking about “what to say next”. It can be a tricky thing to do 🙂
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Thank you Sara!
I hear confidence, conciseness and a firm knowing in who you want to be as a coach. It seems like you are paving your way to your ideal client.
I also at times feel you in working with women, I personally go back and forth with whether or not to stick with one gender or work with all.
I also resonate with working with 18-22 age group (for me personally maybe a wider age 16-25). A change-maker mindset and calling to dharma or purpose.
Co-housing! Awesome! I have found in my personal experience that at times co-housing almost need a coach or someone on the external to help guide communication and flow. That would be an interesting way to provide coaching.
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Wow Sara,
This post has really blown me away.
I feel the heart and passion behind your words, even through the internet.
I can personally relate to wanting to learn from the “First People”, and to cultivate a deeper understanding of cultural appropriation. How to use this wisdom in a thoughtful authentic way. It feels like a big topic.
There is so much to say from your post, that I also will stop here.
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Lindsay,
Thank you for writing this post.
Upon reading, what stuck out most for me is the part on Indicators of awareness… Using baseline, deep listening skills, metaphor and speed of nature to be able to guide a client. This is so potent! I personally feel like this is what is at the heart of NCC.
As for the section about how it may fall short, you mentioned finding clients whom are open to a progressive way of looking at psychology/coaching. Reflecting on this, I personally feel like those clients are out there and it is the magic of nature connection that leads clients to the right coach and what they personally are needing.
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John, I am in awe of your post.
While trying to write my own post (which I am not completely happy with) I found myself more caught in emotion, and having a troublesome time putting words to what I thought about this initial question.
With reading your post, I gained confidence in my own personal thoughts about this question. You have put words to my thoughts and emotions!
It seems like you put much contemplation and time into this post, so thank you.