Inner Noticing

We are delighted to share technique number 48 from the book “101 Coaching Supervision Techniques, Approaches, Enquiries and Experiments” which was edited by Michelle Lucas.?This week’s technique is Inner Noticing by Julie Allan and Alison Whybrow and it is from the A gestalt approach to coaching supervision chapter.

When is this used?

This approach is used to expand the parameters of enquiry, bringing to awareness information that the body is offering. It can be adapted for many supervision questions, such as: “Why am I so challenged by this client?” or, “What will make for a good client contract in this particular situation?”. Perhaps most obviously suited to the initial phase of the gestalt cycle, it can serve throughout.

What is the experiment?

The?approach pays attention to sensation, physiology and (optionally) emotions.?It includes the ‘felt sense’ that is central to Gendlin’s Focusing (1978).?

First, ensure that the supervisee is sitting or standing comfortably, using your preferred approach for becoming centred. From this starting point, the process, to be lightly facilitated, is along these lines:

Step 1: Inviting.

• Bring to mind the situation you want to give attention to. Let your mind’s eye wander around it, see it from different places. Perhaps you hear conversational snippets.
• As you are doing this, become curious about what you experience and notice.
• Notice any sensations in your body, with curiosity and enquiry. Some people find themselves associating with scents or tastes. This may take some time, and it may also be that things are a bit foggy; that is also information.
• What draws your attention? Do you find yourself using any emotional labels?
• In a relaxed way, notice all these elements and sit with them. What seems clear? What seems less so?

Step 2: Receiving.

• Imagine there are two or three important messages for you in that inner world gathering. These things will be useful to have noticed in relation to the situation you are exploring. Allow yourself to sense what these are. Some may seem very clear, others less so.
• If it helps you to say out loud what is coming forward for you, do so. Explore rather than judge. If there isn’t a word for it then you can make an expression with your face, or a sound.?You can even ask out loud, “Is this/are these what it will help to have noticed?” or “Is there anything else?”

Step 3: Acknowledging.

• When you feel settled that your attention has been drawn to the foremost aspects to work with today, even if a bit puzzling, take a moment to notice what you have noticed and to say a thank you to everything that showed up. Also, invite the gathering to disperse.
• Come back to the outer world with your new awareness.

You then work with the information gained from the inner noticing in whatever way seems appropriate. This may simply be quiet reflection. Note that in Step 2, people might say things such as: “There is something here I am associating with fear; for some reason I am aware that my neck is sore; I am also noticing three people involved in this that I hadn’t thought about before”.

How to work with this experiment…

The work of the noticing is to pay attention in a more full way than people often do when puzzling about an issue, and to stay close to sensation, although encompassing any arising emotion. Ensure distinctions are made between, for example, sensation and emotion, or either of these and judgements.?The invitations of the supervisor to ‘notice’ is best done in an easeful and relaxed manner. Different individuals will have different pacing, so acute attention is required to a supervisee’s readiness to move on. Be guided by the supervisee rather than the clock.

A word of caution.

Work to a depth that is appropriate to the question and suits the capabilities and capacities of the supervisor and the supervisee.?

Check that the ‘felt sense’ arising from the enquiry is not hanging around in an unhelpful way to promote rumination or worry. This is the reason for asking the metaphorical gathering to disperse, having expressed appreciation.?

What other uses are there for this experiment??

There are many uses for a similar format as the intention is always to tap into our wider ways of knowing/understanding, to notice in a phenomenological way, and to make a conversational space for our own embodied process of making sense. When we experience ourselves noticing and learning, we also start to explore our own filters, translations and co-evolution of our contexts, and this is usually helpful.?Coaching clients benefit similarly.

Reference:

Gendlin, E. T. (1978) Focusing. Everest House.

Further reading:

Stelter, R. (2000) The transformation of body experience into language, Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 31(1), pp. 63-77.?

Varela, F.J., Thompson, E., and Rosch, E. (1993) The Embodied Mind. Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press.

Resources:

Gendlin’s Focusing:

International Focusing Institute. Available at: https://www.focusing.org/sixsteps.html); [Accessed 8 October 2019]

Gendlin film clip; Focusing with Eugene T. Gendlin. ?PhD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjhf_qUklSc; [Accessed on 8 October 2019]

And any basic sources on phenomenology according to Husserl and to Merleau-Ponty.

Thanks to Julie and Alison for sharing your expertise so generously. If you would like to contact them to find out more –?please visit www.dhirubhai.net/in/julie-allan-coachingpsych or alisonwhybrow.com?

We hope you enjoyed reading this article and that you will go on to experiment with it in your own practice. We will share, at random, one technique with you each Wednesday, so please keep connected to get regular new ideas. We have set up a “Virtual Book Club” as a LinkedIn group to support readers of the book (and these articles), where you can share experiences and raise questions for the Editor and authors.?Please do join the group and join the discussion!

Note: This content has been released with permission from Routledge.com.?

The image is part of “Liminal Muse” a set of picture cards which provoke generative conversations; developed by Charlotte Housden www.charlottehousden.com/cards

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