In coaching, one of the core things we are trained in is our ability to access the meta-view, stepping out of the weeds, story, and details of a client’s communication to become a neutral, reflective surface where they can truly hear and experience themselves.
Easier said than done! For all coaches, this is the very edge of growth, learning how to hold space without getting pulled into the narrative.
As you deepen your practice, start to notice which narratives pull you in. Where do you find yourself getting hooked?
Keeping a journal can be invaluable here, a place to reflect on your sessions, track patterns, and bring awareness to the moments where neutrality slips.
In your client sessions, begin practicing how to expand your observation beyond the content of their words. Pay attention to the multi-sensory ways your client expresses themselves, tone, pace, posture, gestures, even the energy in the room.
Maintain an openness in your observations. Instead of landing on, “I sense anger,” ask yourself, “What am I sensing?” Trust that you sense something and pose the question to the client. This keeps you curious, present, and less likely to impose your own interpretation onto the client’s experience.
It’s natural to get hooked, sometimes so subtly we don’t even notice at first. As we move through our own lives, there will be moments when the elevation we once held suddenly slips, and we find ourselves back in the story.
The work, then, is not about never getting hooked, but about noticing when it happens and gently returning to elevation, again and again. That’s where our practice deepens. And when you can hold that openness, the question comes alive: if this isn’t about you, what can you see?
Professional Coaching Development for Coaches, Therapists & Wellness Practitioners
Interpersonal dynamics shape every coaching conversation. How you show up, listen, speak, and relate determines the depth of trust and impact with your clients. Attending to relational agility and the way of being that drives behaviour allows you to navigate complexity, work with growth tension, and support deeper, ethical transformation.
Advanced coaching development includes:
- Supervision and Mentor Coaching
- Consistent Clients: From Being to Booked. An Ontological Approach to Filling Your Practice
- Ontological and relational coaching mastery
- Aligned Coaching: Ethics & Core Competency Mastery
- Navigating complex client dynamics
- Expanding your coaching confidence
Strengthen your practice and expand your impact by booking a 30-minute exploratory session today.
