And then silence was overtaken with sobs

 

My leader often keeps saying this, "A good coaching session is like therapy." Coaching is a space where we, as coaches, hold many emotions for the client.

 At times what we can see the client's low spiral emotions are coming from irrational beliefs about the world, which the client is unable to perceive. In the course of the session I have come across times when the client goes into a vulnerable zone and starts to shed of the old belief and attempts to form a new belief. This process, not easy definitely, makes clients face a tsunami of emotions. Overwhelmed the client may also break down and cry. How as a coach we hold the space for the person to just be?

Usually I have seen the period of new belief formation come after a strong realisation the client feels about a situation, in the course of the coaching conversation. This is generally followed by hmmm and aha and loads of pauses. Silence plays a beutiful role here for allowing the client to absorb and adopt the new belief. 

When emotions overtake the conscious mind, in the space of silence, the client finds his voice and the melt down begins. It could be due to extreme happiness in the new belief formed or deep sadness of 'how I never knew it and therefore I went through all what happened.'

When the client in a coaching session cries, you know that you have created a safe and comfortable space and been the container to hold the tears. The coach is supposed to Just Be, Observe, Allow the client to experience, and Explore after a few minutes if they can take the step forward.

Allowing this has made my client's say "wow I feel lighter now. It felt like therapy."