My favourite way to coach is to work with the metaphors and narratives we carry with us and through which we experience our lives. It feels creative, working with the more abstract side of our thinking.
I don’t seek to smash stories down and rebuild new ones in their place. I prefer to shine a light on the hidden stories we are telling ourselves and find ways to dance with them rather than attempt to surgically remove them.
I learnt “Clean Language” on my initial coaching training. The “clean” refers to taking the coachee’s metaphors whole and not contaminating it with the coach’s thinking.
For example, if a coachee says something like “I hate writing, it feel’s like walking through mud”. An “unclean” response could be something like “so you feel bogged down with writing”. The coach has interpreted what the coachee said. A “clean” response would be “And is there anything else about like walking through mud”. Using the exact phrase the coachee used and getting them to examine closely their metaphor is the key to this approach.
The coach then continues to get the coachee to examine, in close detail, their metaphor and often this is enough to shift unhelpful thinking. Either new patterns will appear naturally as the old patterns of thinking are exposed to the light or, as in my experience as a coachee, examining a metaphor can bring to light the postive aspects of a pattern of thinking. I was stuck in an unhelpful pattern of seeing myself as inexperienced and only qualified for entry level jobs. Clean language coaching helped me realise that I had plenty of valuable jewels in my vault that could be swapped for money.
If this sounds like something you would be interested in, I’m looking for 5 people to trial a clean language coaching package at the introductory price of £100 for 3 sessions. If you’ve always wanted to try coaching but have been too scared to invest, this is you opportunity as once fully developed, this package will never be this cheap again. Hop on over to my facebook page if this is something that you’re interested in.