Psychodynamic Coaching
Alec Gardner
Independent Board Member Advisor Australian India Trade Corporation | Organisational Development, Executive - Business - Transformational Coaching, Change Management
Psychodynamic coaching is an approach that incorporates psychodynamic theory and principles into coaching. The main concepts behind psychodynamic coaching are:
1. Exploring the client's unconscious thoughts, feelings, and motivations: Psychodynamic coaching aims to uncover the more profound, often unconscious, motives behind a client's behaviour, emotions, and objectives. This involves delving into the client's past experiences, relationships, and inner world.
2. The client-coach relationship: This is not just another aspect of psychodynamic coaching but a cornerstone. The relationship between the coach and client is considered vital to the coaching process. The coach pays attention to transference (the client's unconscious feelings towards the coach) and countertransference (the coach's own unconscious reactions to the client).
3. Understanding behaviour patterns: Here, the coach plays a crucial role. Psychodynamic coaching seeks to assist the client in recognising and understanding recurrent patterns in their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, often stemming from their past.
In a psychodynamic coaching session, these principles could be applied by:
- Encouraging the client to deeply reflect on their motivations, fears, and past experiences that may influence their current challenges.
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- Actively exploring the dynamics of the coaching relationship, such as any resistance or dependency the client exhibits.
- Helping the client gain insight into how their unconscious beliefs, emotions, and relational patterns impact their current life and goals.
- Using unique techniques: In psychodynamic coaching, unique techniques like free association, dream analysis, or exploring metaphors are used to access the client's unconscious.
- Providing a safe, non-judgmental space for clients to explore their inner world.
- Assisting the client in developing self-awareness and the ability to make more conscious choices.
The ultimate goal is not just change but lasting, transformative change. By working with the client's deeper psychological processes, not just their surface-level behaviours or goals, psychodynamic coaching has the potential to make a significant impact.