Energizing Emotion: Mind Body Coaching Skills that Help Clients Celebrate and Transform Emotion. National Wellness Conference 2013

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1 Energizing Emotion: Mind Body Coaching Skills that Help Clients Celebrate and Transform Emotion National Wellness Conference 2013 Carrie Phelps, MA, BCC

2 Objectives What is emotion? Why is it an important aspect of coaching? How does emotion influence well being? What are some ways I can effectively work with emotion (in myself and in my clients)? What are some evidence based practices that help clients celebrate and express emotion?

3 Emotional Expression Activity: Draw an emotion that you have experienced recently, and your physical reaction to it

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5 Fix the machine = Machine = Breakdown of the Machine = Repair the Machine When we put the body back together again we see many connections that we did not see before Source: Engle (1997), The Need for a New Medical Model: The Challenge for Biomedicine, Science 196(4286). 5

6 What is Emotion? A natural, instinctive state of mind deriving from one s circumstances, mood, or relationship with others A state of feeling Merriam Webster On line Dictionary

7 Do emotions originate in the head or the body? I suddenly had a big ahah!: Why, it s both! It s not either/or; in fact, it s both and neither! It s simultaneous Candace Pert

8 When coaching, what percentage of the time is the coach working with a client s emotions? 100%

9 Coaching and Emotion Emotions are a integral part of being human Many coaches define coaching as being about change Emotions are central to change Emotions are essential to decision making and reasoning Danasio, 1994; Frederickson, 2003; Goleman, 1996; Cremona, 2010

10 How do coaches respond to emotion?? What is the main influences on a coaches orientation to emotions? What is the boundary between coaching and therapy in relation to emotion? Cremona, K. (2010). Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice

11 Questions for the Group What is your approach to engaging with emotions in your clients? What is your approach to engaging with your own emotions as a coach? How would you describe the boundary between coaching and therapy in relation to emotions?

12 Cremona (2010) Study Qualitative, phenomenological (meanings and motivations) study Executive coaches N= 9 (5 female; 4 male) Wanted participants with no psychology background but found that most coaches were trained in NLP, Gestalt, or counseling and most had engaged in coaches training (which may of contributed to the positive attitude about emotion Wanted to understand specifically what influences coaches approaches to emotion and how they think about, and respond to, emotions in themselves and their clients Coaches used a variety of approaches to engage emotion in clients and themselves including acknowledge and playback emotion, notice own emotion, and asking about bodily experiences Finding: The approach and attitude that coaches take towards emotions in their clients and themselves is largely influenced by their backgrounds, training, assumptions, experiences to date, and context of profession All coaches mentioned linking emotions to thinking and action

13 Summary of Reported Approaches to Emotions # 1: Link Emotions to thoughts and actions (Mind and Body) # 2: Name it. I can see that # 3: Create a safe place to be present and authentic # 4: Use silence and stillness # 5: Check in with self # 6: Contracting (work is likely to engage emotions) # 7: Seek out supervision

14 Summary of Reported Approaches to Emotions # 8: Coaches bring their own feelings into the conversation # 9: Notice/ask what clients are feeling in their body # 10: Educate (emotions are normal) # 11: Use a historical point of view (past feelings) # 12: How do you feel? Emotional commitment # 13: Use metaphors # 14: Use therapeutic techniques # 15: Use drawing

15 Special Emphasis Empathy & Quality of Relationships Slow down and experience (experience feelings in present that lead to change) Client is most important factor in change (a time and place to focus on self)

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17 Sadness Depression Joy Hysteria Inauthenticity Anxiety Panic Fear Paranoia Anger Hostility Awareness * Meditation * Expression * Restore Harmony * Broader Perspective

18 Missing the HealthCare Connection Survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the American Psychological Association adults ages 18+

19 Serious physical & emotional implications of stress! Inextricable link between mind and body Resiliency and the Mind Body Connection

20 Americans are not getting what they want or need from the Healthcare system to help manage stress and support healthy lifestyles Less likely to achieve other aspects of well being Chronic stress (exhaustive stress) is climbing Healthcare system is ill equipped to address this issue Those with high stress are less likely to achieve healthy goals Those with high stress are less likely to give healthcare and A Those who manage stress do better overall in overall wellness Those who don t manage stress express a strong need to do so

21 Summary of Survey 1 in 5 (20%) say stress is extreme or high (8 10 on scale) 60% have tried to reduce stress 53% health care provider offers little or no support to help manage stress 47% say it is extremely or very important to discuss stress management 22% say health provider helps manage stress Those who get stress management support do better Only 17% with high stress say they are doing a good job managing it Houston We Have a Problem!!!

22 What keeps you up at night? Money problems (69%) Work (65%) Economy (61%) Family responsibilities (52%) Relationships (56%) Family health (52%) Personal health concerns (51%)

23 Shake it up!

24 How to effectively work with Awareness emotion Meditation/Mindfulness Expression Authenticity (personal guidance system)

25 Evidence Based Self Care Meditation Mindfulness Drawing Autogenic Training Imagery Self hypnosis Journaling Exercise Good nutrition Social/Friends Practices

26 Emotions need to be experienced. There is little value in thinking about emotions; you have to work with them directly Emotions are experienced in the body, so in order to expand the emotional vocabulary of a client, the coach must guide the client to identify how the client experiences various emotions in his or her body Anderson, D., & Anderson, M. (2005). Coaching that counts: Harnessing the power of leadership coaching to deliver strategic value (pp )

27 Heart Centered Meditation

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29 Intrinsic Connection For more information co Carrie Phelps connection.com connection.com connection.com