Cleaning your own temple first: a primer for coaches (part two)

Energy Work and Coaching Community of Practice
Led by Rhona Post, MA, MCC
When: April 16, 2012

In March, we began the discussion of what it means to get our acts together so that when we meet with clients, we can meet them where they are, and be confident that we will bear witness to their experience, fully present to what is being shared. 

The funny thing about being present is that it is not a thing, rather it is a way of being, spacious and lucid, a result of our intention to consistently recognize and release stories to which we are attached. This skill is built over time employing various practices, including mindfulness meditation and clutter clearing.

First you have to recognize that you’ve got some cleaning to do; then you have to start the practice. Cleaning our own temples first is not a psychological exercise.  It requires a felt experience, our ability to observe our emotional, physical, spiritual and even intellectual clutter. Clutter can obscure all our sense faculties and reduce our ability to be spacious and whole. 

No matter how much control we exert to contain/avoid/negate the impact of our stories on others, the containment and control create mental agitation/stress. We’re just so impervious to our own stress that we don’t realize how spacious we can be until we eliminate the stressor.

Rhona Post

I’m inviting my coaching colleagues to bring their clutter cleaning practices to the conversation on Monday, April 16th. What are some of your best tools, including energetic modalities you use to keep your temple clean? The more the merrier on these calls.

For more Information on healer coaching,  contact Rhona Post: www.facebook.com/rhonapost or by email at rhonapost@gmail.com.

Cleaning Your Own Temple: A Primer for Coaches

Energy Work and Coaching SIG
March 19 2012 11:00AM ET
Call In: 712-451-6000
427724# Pin
Facilitator:  Rhona Post MCC

During the February Energy Work and Coaching SIG call, we explored how we can more effectively communicate the value and benefits of offering clients an integrated approach to coaching that would honor both the energy or alternative healing modalities we’ve studied while still preserving the dignity of the coaching models we utilize.

One of the recurring themes during these calls is the idea that we serve our clients better when we have done the work on ourselves, first.

That has been my experience. Several group members have asked me to lead a conversation about how we can better clean our own temples first prior to trying to coach clients in those areas with which we are not familiar.

So what does it mean to clean our own temple first? Some of us have spent years learning about ourselves, studying the mind (our minds) to become better acquainted with our mental formations, our viewpoints that direct how we interpret and interact with others. We’ve dissected our emotions and our narratives to better understand and accept our frailties and our gifts. Awareness, we have learned, is the first step to changing ourselves. You cannot change what you don’t know.

This commitment to learn more about the self, not from a strictly analytic or psychological approach has helped many of us become more discerning in our coaching. Because we have cultivated the wisdom to realize that one size does not fit all, we keep learning new modalities so that we have a toolkit from which we can work. Our wisdom is rooted in experience, knowledge and compassion. 

Rhona Post

On our March call we’ll explore the types of practices we can engage in that will support us to clean our own temples and to keep them clean. What are those rooms in your house (mind) that you keep closed? What is it about those areas that scare or frustrate you? What are some practices you do on a regular basis that support you to be fully present and engaged? How do you keep your energetic distance while still maintaining a compassionate presence? How do you know when you are in your head and not fully in your body? We will address these and other questions during the call. A community is a place where our gifts are received. Please take the time to share your gifts with us.

For more information contact, www.facebook.com/rhonapost or call +1.941.554.8466.

The ICF ADHD Community of Practice: What’s It All About?

The ICF ADHD Community of Practice thanks the ICF for hosting us and for validating us.

What is the ICF ADHD Community of Practice?
ADHD coaching is General Coaching amplified.
ADHD Coaches work with life issues that are often of a greater intensity, more challenging, and often filled with greater humor, as we help clients to see themselves. 

The ICF ADHD Community of Practice calls are about the many aspects of ADHD coaching and the topics apply also to General Coaching. 

If you would like to join the ICF ADHD CP or be on the email notice list please email: Chana@KleinCoaching.com. 

THE ICF ADHD CP Experience
The best way I can share what the ICF ADHD Community of Practice experience is like is to tell you about the calls we have had this season.

The information that the speakers have brought us can be applied to our everyday coaching practice, which is likely one of the reasons that the people who join the call are coaches with many different specialties.

The 2011-2012 season began with David Giwerc, MCC, the founder of ADD Coach Academy (ADDCA) and author of Permission to Proceed. David’s topic at the CP call was “How to Prosper By Getting Into Your Heart and Out of Your Head.” 

David shared with us the source of real success, success from the inside and how to achieve it. He spoke about how to choose so that we are in integrity with who we really are, with our inner spirit.

He told us how to rediscover the small voice within for ourselves and how to help our clients hear theirs. He spoke on the value of being vulnerable rather than in isolation, and how to choose that He inspired us about how to grow our business from a place of spirit, from the inside-out, rather than from the outside-in. 

Then, in October we heard “Listening to Linda – Confessions of an ADDiva.” with Linda Roggli, PCC, author of Confessions of an ADDiva, Midlife in the Non-Linear Lane. 

This was a one-hour entertaining and informative journey into the inner workings of the ADHD Brain, and even more, into the ADHD Spirit. We heard how they come together in a hysterically funny expression, as portrayed in one woman’s life. Linda’s words helped us to better understand ourselves and our clients.

We traveled with Linda through missed plane flights, robbed offices, checks with decimals in the wrong place, struggles with miscalculation of time, the need to control. There was not a boring utterance and no way that anyone could have stayed in a bad mood listening to Linda.  

Next, we heard Andrew Lewis share “The Benefit of Having an ADHD Brain - How to Get Your Clients to Love their ADHD.”

Andrew gave us information on how to become a more effective coach by understanding the thought mechanism underlying the things we are coaching.

We learned from Andrew a way to explain for ourselves and to our clients why they behave the way that they do. He taught us about finding the inner strength of a client and building on those strengths in our coaching. 

Then, on another call, Andy Bounds, author of The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick, dazzled us with his techniques of how to enlist clients and network. His topic was “How to Communicate Persuasively So That Your Communication Works Every Time.”

Andy taught us a new way to use the skills of good manners and the ability to chat in an unfamiliar context.

He shared with us ways to quickly create persuasive, inspiring messages and how to deliver these messages so they – and we – impress the people we are speaking with. He shared with us how to ensure that people buy into – and act – on all that we say.

It is difficult to put into words how valuable some of these calls have been, for me and for the people who call in. Andy Bounds was an absolute winner.

The February call featured the speakers who will be presenting at the ADD Coaches Organization in February. The speakers shared a lot of information with us and were informative, whether or not a coach planned on attending the conference.

Our Next Call
Coming up, on Wed, March 14th at 3 p.m. (New York), we will hear Kelly Dorfman MS, LND, author of What’s Eating Your Child? Kelly will speak on  “The Hidden Connection Between Our Coaching Issues and Nutrition.”

Join this call to learn some powerful “out of the box” information from a true expert who cares.  Email me (Chana@KleinCoaching.com) to get the call information.

Kelly Dorfman is a nutritionist who often focuses on the issues that we focus on in our coaching.

Perhaps in working with clients daily we don’t think of, or we overlook, a very important part of optimal functioning, one that may make a world of difference. Some of what will be covered:

• How can we as coaches help our clients and ourselves to improve cognitive functioning?
• What clues can a coach look for that will guide him further about what may alleviate many of the client’s issues?
• How can the knowledge of nutrition and environment make my coaching more effective?
• What are clues that a nutrition change would help a client to get more from the coaching and from life?
• Is there a way of eating that helps alleviate some of the issues of ADHD that our clients bring to the coaching?
• How does a coach help her client to “master the meandering mind?”
• How do our food choices affect us?
• Is it different for an adult that a child?
• How is our brain connected to our gut?
• How can I improve my cognitive functioning through nutrition?
• How do I know if my coaching issues have an environmental component?
• How can I help myself, and my client, to improve word retrieval?
• How can we improve our concentration?
• What should I know about medication? How as a coach can I share information about medication within the framework of the ICF competencies?

Kelly Dorfman will blow your mind with new avenues and ways of thinking about our clients and ourselves.

 

CCEU’s

Each of the calls has qualified for a CCEU and each participant who sends the code words within 24 hours receives a personalized certificate of the earned CCEU.

 

How to Join Us

I hope that gives you some idea of what the ICF Community of Practice is about.

 

It has been a joy to connect with each of you who has reached out to join the ICF ADHD Community of Practice.

Chana Klein

If you have any questions please email me at Chana@KleinCoaching.com. I look forward to connecting.

Chana Klein, MSEd, PCC, EEM-CLP, MACC, ACG, PACG, CCUG, EFT, NET, AGI, SSS®

 

ICF ADHD Community of Practice Leader

Energy Work & Coaching SIG call on Monday

SIG: Energy Work & Coaching
Presenter: Rhona Post, MA, MCC, Certified Energy Practitioner (CI)
When: Third Monday of every month; Monday, February 20 2012
Telephone:  +1712.451.6000 (www.freeconferencecall.com)
Pin:   427724#
What would our lives be like if we could roll with greater joy during our ups and downs steady as we go, yet firm in our commitment to serving others?

I hold this intention both for myself as a master coach and as the leader/participant in the Energy Work and Coaching SIG. Life is impermanent, constantly changing, and we cannot control anything outside of ourselves, outside of our own minds. As I hone my beliefs to better serve myself and others, I experience more ease incorporating energy work in my coaching practice because I hold energy work as a bridge to wholeness, not something antithetical to what is already being said or done.

Building on our January SIG call where we explored how our beliefs shape our emotions, reactions and outcomes, on February 20th we’re going to discuss how we can better incorporate energy work and coaching in our practice. What beliefs do we hold about alternative or complimentary approaches to wellness, wholeness, and coaching? How can we invite our clients to reframe their expectations of coaching to include the many alternatives available?

Rhona Post

Great News! You can now invite your friends and colleagues to join us on these calls as ICF is reshaping the special interest groups to become community of practitioners. We’ll be using freeconferencecall.com, and recording our talks, so please invite others to participate. The more the merrier!

I hope you can join our growing band of energy workers/coaches February 20 2012.

For more information or to request a healer coaching appointment, call: Rhona Post, 941.554.8466 or email rpost@thehealercoach.com.

Getting your act together and taking it on the road

When I joined the newly founded ICF association in 1999, and was awarded the MCC designation, I was part of a small elite group of pioneers who shared a vision of what might be possible if more people had access to coaching.

Over the past twelve years, my vision for what is possible using coaching has deepened. ICF has grown from a few thousand coaches to more than 20,000 members worldwide. To witness such huge growth in a new profession is inspiring. To be part of a community is a natural drive for us (mammals); I am grateful for the many opportunities ICF provides to encourage the expansion of ideas, theories and practices.

A year ago I started a Special Interest Group to focus on the integration of energy work and coaching. By providing a platform for coaches who were also learning to use alternative/complimentary healing with their current coaching modalities I felt that we would benefit from sharing our varied learning approaches, as well as increase our confidence and skill to promote how we can better bridge “current” coaching techniques with energy work to serve our business and life coaching clients.

To celebrate International Coaching Week, we have an opportunity to get our acts together and take it on the road. I’m asking Energy Work & Coaching SIG members to take the risk and offer one business or corporate client the chance to experience your “healing” skills. With your longer-term clients, it is much easier to ask them to try something new or different because you already have the relationship in place. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to ask. Don’t be attached to the outcome. Be curious and joyful as you give yourself permission to bring more of yourself to the coaching session.

I’m offering pro- bono healer coaching sessions next week, in particular working with several “trauma” cases, because that is an area that intrigues me. These clients are cynical about energy work but they are suffering enough from their traumas that they are willing to try anything to stop the pain. I will tread lightly, build their trust and confidence and take them step-by-step so that they can pace themselves with the combined modalities. I know I have the big guns ready, but often people who are new to alternative approaches need baby steps to start. Unless the client is hemorrhaging on the floor in front of you, baby steps work big magic.

Rhona Post, MCC

What we do matters! That’s why we became coaches. Please use the International Coaching Week to take what you know on the road.

For more information on the Energy Work & Coaching SIG please contact Rhona at rhonapost@gmail.com or call +1.941.554.8466 to set up your healer coaching session.

Rhona Post, MA MCC
The Healer Coach, LLC
Sarasota, FL, USA
+1.941.554.8466

I Care For: People in Conflict

In celebration of International Coaching Week (February 5-11), a different guest blog post will be highlighted on the ICF blog each day this week. This is the first in this special series.

Though it is inevitable to have disagreements in both our personal and professional lives, many of us do not have the skills to effectively engage in conflicts that may emerge. What may start as a difference of opinion for instance, can escalate unnecessarily into a harsh exchange that is full of blame and hurt. Unresolved and poorly-managed disputes can also linger after they are ostensibly over. When this happens, the words and feelings expressed remain as remnants that hang on us and shroud the next dispute and the one after that and on and on.

Conflicts happen for many reasons, including the fact that we have values and needs in our lives that we feel strongly about. It may even be a perceived challenge to how we see ourselves and want to be seen by others. That is, when we become defensive, we are defending something important to us. At these times, when we are offended by something another person says or does, we often react -  in offensive ways  - and perpetuate the cycle of conflict. We lose our perspective about what is important to us and also, what may be important to the other person. Conflict takes a toll in a range of other ways too. The emotional repercussions cause stress for us and those around us and have an impact on our problem-solving skills and abilities, our creativity, decision-making and our way of interacting and being.

A typical scenario that I encounter in my coaching work recently occurred for a former colleague who is aware of my speciality – conflict management coaching. She shared her deep concerns about the conflict-saturated dynamics among members of a Board - of which she is one. The group have apparently been at an impasse regarding some major decisions over the past six months, and their individual and collective well-meaning intentions are suffering due to the in-fighting.  My colleague said that the constant internal and interpersonal disputes among the members are apparently causing some stakeholders to question the Board’s effectiveness. She added that the members have built walls around them - and we are ‘up against a wall.’ 

What does this have to do with Coaching Week? To celebrate, I have volunteered to help out the Board by using my conflict management coaching skills and also, the coach-approach to mediation that I developed. Together we have just framed the objectives. They are to help the Board members break down the walls, to better understand the dynamics that lead to their conflicts (as to proactively consider how to handle future challenges that may occur), to establish a process for making decisions in collaborative ways and to get on with the important work of fulfilling their mandate. We start at the beginning of Coaching Week - on February 6, 2012.

Cinnie Noble ACC, LL.B, LL.M (ADR),  is a lawyer-mediator and certified coach, specializing in conflict management coaching. She hosts ICF’s Conflict Management Coaching Special Interest Group and is a former Board Member of ICF-Greater Toronto Area. Cinnie is the author of “Conflict Management Caoching:The CINERGY Model” (September, 2011) http://www.tinyurl.com/conflictcoaching/ and co-author with Ed Modell and Diane Brennan, of the chapter entitled Conflict Management in the book “The Handbook of Knowledge-Based  Coaching:From Theory to Practice” (John Wiley and Sons, 2011),  by Leni Wildflower and Diane Brennan. Cinnie’s website is www.cinergycoaching.com.

Letting Go Letting Go

SIG  Energy Work and Coaching: The Next Wave Presenter: Rhona Post, MCC
When: Third Monday of Every Month, January 16 2012
Virtual +1.212.457.9879
Pin: 622186#
Title:  Letting Go Letting Go 

Welcome to the Energy Work and Coaching SIG where coaches from all over the world bring their knowledge and wisdom of natural and energy healing to their coaching practice.  Our SIG participants are interested in deepening their skills in various coaching competencies including cultivating a centered presence, powerful communication and listening.

December’s topic was Holding Patterns--how what we hold onto holds onto us. We explored how something innocuous like waiting in an airplane that is being forced to circle the airport (holding pattern) can ignite a variety of emotional, physical and psychological responses.

During the 2011 SIG sessions we got underneath our story lines to observe the real drivers that pull or push us in one direction or another. Why? Because we’re interested in bridging our own four aspects, mind, body, spirit and emotions, and learning creative ways to better assist our clients incorporate their four aspects.

January’s call is an invitation to investigate the art and science of Letting Go so that we can bring more of ourselves to the 2012 party.

Rhona Post, MCC

Whether you approach a new year on tiptoes or throw yourself fully into the month, how can you make the process of Letting Go more joyous for yourself and others? Letting go is not for sissies, as it requires a release of control. Our January topic is multi -faceted topic and it will arouse excitement and anxiety. For more information on how you can incorporate healing in your coaching practice, contact Rhona Post, The Healer Coach, at rpost@thehealercoach.com or by phone at +1.941.554.8466.

What We Hold-- Holds Onto Us

SIG: Energy Work and Coaching: The Next Wave
Host: Rhona Post MA, MCC, Certified CI Practitioner
December’s Topic: How What We Hold-- Holds Onto Us

My meditation teacher, Michael Gregory (www.mindfulnessmeditationcenters.com) provides straightforward guidance for mindfulness practice. Watch your breath. Observe yourself as you observe your breath. Although simple in theory, breath watching can be challenging as we are constantly pulled toward our senses, qualifying what we think, feel, see, hear, and smell. We are captivated by our stories. I think of my mind as a large screen television with access to more than 150 channels. Whether I’m watching dramas, horror, documentaries, commercials, or re-runs about my life, I’m pre-occupied with my narratives.

I am not alone. Our stories explain why we do what we do, how we see the world, who we can trust, who we should avoid, what we want or don’t want, etc. Not to mention the many hours of the behind-the-scenes interviews we conduct where we berate or deliberate with ourselves, act as the hero or the victim of our stories.

It’s a merry go round, for sure, and some of us want to get off. Why? We want more peace, more joy and a greater sense of equanimity.

The purpose of the Energy Work and Coaching SIG is to provide coaches with another vantage point from which we can work. Using an open forum approach, we explore topics that will help us coach from a strong centered presence, using our intuition to guide us to work more deeply. We practice with a variety of somatic, energetic and ontological coaching tools. Our goal is to foster community—a place where our unique gifts are received. The more we model what is possible for our coaching clients, the easier it becomes for them to take the risks necessary to transform their relationships to their stories.

In November, my coaching colleague, Sandy Mobley (http://www.thelearningadvantageinc.com/) and I led a discussion about the power of positive thinking as it relates to changing our neural programming. We practiced with several tools, including the GAP, Length, Width and Depth (http://www.strozziinstitute.com/) and a loving kindness meditation. 

Rhona Post, MCC

December’s topic is all about holding patterns—from the physical to the emotional clutter keeping us from experiencing joy. As a Core Individuation practitioner, I have learned to energetically remove holding patterns so that my clients feel whole. During the month of December, I am offering a discounted rate to ICF coaches for a healing session. Please call or email me at rpost@thehealercoach.com. I look forward to our SIG call Monday, December 19 at 11 a.m. (New York).


For More Information: Contact: Rhona Post via email at rpost@thehealercoach.com or via telephone at +1.941.554.8466. You can also find me on Facebook or Twitter.

How a positive mindset impacts us

SIG: Energy Work and Coaching: The Next Wave
Presenter: Rhona Post, MA MCC
Date: Monday, November 21 2011, 11:00 a.m. (New York)

Building upon the input from the October session, how our private and public identities often keep us from experiencing wholeness, our November session steps us into the conversation about how what we think shapes our actions, reactions and outcomes.

Joining us is Sandy Mobley, MCC and certified Core Individuation practitioner to discuss the value and benefits of having a positive mindset. We will expand the conversation to focus on the integration of energy work to support an individual’s ability to resolve or release conditioned patterns that have limited one’s experience of creativity, joy and satisfaction.

For example, what triggers a “victim consciousness” and how does that consciousness shape the person’s worldview? Is the person even aware that his/her victim consciousness informs all that he/she says and does? Have you noticed how blind we are to our conditioned tendencies? Or how hard we fight to hold onto what we know and do, even when these tendencies are harmful to our health?


Rhona Post, MCC



As I build the healer coach identity, I am grateful for the support and input my coaching colleagues provide on these calls. We are opening up the door to deepening our spirituality and skill to work more effectively with powerful emotions—two areas where we often feel vulnerable whether we are coaching others or coaching ourselves.

If you are interested in healer coaching and would like to experience working with a certified energy practitioner, please contact me at rpost@thehealercoach.com to set up your healing session.

Rhona Post, MA MCC, Certified Core Individuation Practitioner; +1.941.554.8466

Integrating Our Private and Public Selves

SIG Energy Work and Coaching: The Next Wave
Presenter: Rhona Post MCC
When: Third Monday of Every Month, Monday October 17th, 11:00am ET
Telephone: 1-212-457-9879
Pin: 622186#

In the mid 80’s, when I first studied coaching with James Flaherty, CEO of New Ventures West, he asserted that we all wanted the same things for ourselves. More love. More joy. More peace.

Although we adored, even loved our clients, we did not sell love, peace and joy in business environments. We designed our communication to address business issues, like increased effectiveness and efficiency. Our corporate packages aligned with clients’ hopes, goals and concerns.

Some of us shelved the desire to address a person’s deeper concerns, about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as we sought to keep what’s personal separate from what’s professional. Like our clients, we had private and public identities. Oftentimes, there were great disparities between our internal lives and what we showed the world. What kinds of examples come to mind for you when you think about private and public identities?

After more than 25 years in this profession, I’m circling back around the concepts of peace, love and joy, because I’ve observed that being more effective does not produce greater love, peace or joy.

How does this relate to Energy Work and Coaching? Since I incorporated the energy healing protocols in my coaching, I can more easily assist clients to face and bridge their personal and public identities. The goal of healer coaching is to help folks integrate the head and heart reducing the compartmentalization upon which we have effectively shaped our existence.


Rhona Post, MCC



During our October call we will explore how we create and work from two identities. Do you have two selves? Is the self you show the world in better shape than the self you keep private? Or vice versa? Would you like to heal the rift or sense of separateness you experience even as you extend yourself to others?

Please join us on Monday, October 17th, 11am ET for our monthly SIG call.

For more information contact Rhona Post, MCC by telephone +1.941.554.8466 or by email rhona@thehealercoach.com.

Energy Work and Coaching SIG Starts Back

Hello coaching colleagues and members of the Energy Work and Coaching SIG. I missed everyone this summer but am glad I took the time to buy a house, move, and begin remodeling. Opening up the living space to expand my practice, and clearing my energetic structure so that I can heal my physical concerns are two areas where I focused my attention. What about you? Did you take any classes that invigorated your spirit? Have you continued deepening your coaching by adding meditation to your daily practice? Please jot me a note at rpost@thehealercoach.com or tweet me (Rhona Post) to share your summer adventures.

This fall we are going to delve into the conversation about energy, and what it means to set our intention to use our sensing skills, bringing our awareness to what’s in front of us, as we use our attention to heal. I am inviting my colleagues, both coaches and healers to co-lead some of our discussions this fall so stay tuned.

The reliance on intuition and sensing skills helps us get underneath a client’s narrative to see the emotional triggers pulling or pushing the person. It is the difference between treating the symptoms and getting to the root cause of an issue. This kind of work is deeper, and the results are transformative, as what is revealed is resolved.

Rhona Post, MCC

We will continue to discuss the value of having a strong spiritual practice as we work with others, and we will spend time discussing how we position ourselves in the marketplace.

I invite my coaching colleagues who are interested or who already incorporate an energy modality in their coaching to join our call on September 19th, 11:00am EST.

For more information on Energy Work and Coaching please contact Rhona Post, MCC, 941.554.8466 or www.thehealercoach.com.

Energy Work and Coaching: The Next Wave

Thank you to all the ICF coaches who joined me for June’s SIG conversation “Deepening our Spiritual Practice.” The curiosity and commitment my colleagues bring to these calls is inspiring. Coaches are curious to learn how others are incorporating a healer’s orientation in their corporate coaching, as well as interested in expanding their own personal knowledge of how to work with energy.

The use of energy work in coaching is a portal that helps clients integrate their four aspects---mind, body, spirit and emotions. As a result, clients feel whole; all their parts fit. As my mom would say, “They have more bounce in their walk.” There is no one way to success; practitioners realize that it is a combination of practices that produce healing. I am using my energy background to help heal my own life, as well as helping clients heal theirs.

Energy work is complementary to the coaching modalities we use. In fact, at the basis of both “fields” is the same commitment to service. The addition of a natural healing practice to our coaching has deepened our relationship to serve. Many of us are guided by compassion, a muscle we cultivate through our spiritual practice.

During the SIG programs we bring the lines closer between energy work and coaching, because in fact the lines overlap. We are human beings composed of four aspects; and we are energetic beings. All of us want to experience more joy, more peace, more love. The addition of an energy healing practice has given me the tools, the confidence and the humility to keep looking for and utilizing “healing” protocols to help clients experience as much joy as they can. Why? Life is short. The more you live the less you die.


Rhona Post, MCC

 To support my fellow coaches on this path, I have developed a ninety (90) minute Healer’s Orientation Intensive, which I am offering twice in July. I will not be conducting the SIG in July, but will start it again by September. For more information on the Healer’s Orientation Intensive, please email me at rpost@thehealercoach.com.

Rhona Post, MCC
Energy Work and Coaching: The Next Wave SIG (held 3rd Monday of each month)www.thehealercoach.com
941.554.8466

Body domain: the lost continent

What can coaches do when they hit an invisible verbal ceiling with their coachees? How should coaches continue the process when it seems that words aren´t enough?

Usually there is a deficit to use somatic knowledge when in session. When a coach not only has distinctions of non verbal communication, but is able to apply body dynamics (not only focused in techniques); these competencies allow for increasing the effectiveness of the interventions. The body dialectic enriches the process…

On one hand there are coachees who just cannot clear verbalise their real breakdown. Others may feel they can. But when it´s time to show what is happening for them and their desires, the body has its own voice in a different way of getting the message across. That means that very frequent the body´s coachee talks something different than his mind, has a different code, a different time to learn.

To further the coaching process, coaches should use a combination of verbal and non verbal approach. That is to say to know which type of strategy should be used to work the breakdown, to be aware of what the coachee is able to do when doing a body dynamic, what techniques or disciplines.

It doesn´t have the same impact and we have to know when it´s appropriate and timely to use music or elements with symbolic meaning to solve a breakdown and when not, when it´s adequate to draw or to make a collage, etc. I have learned when to move together with my coachee, and when to leave well alone; in so doing I practice being a compassionate and alert witness.

When using this approach, body manisfestation should be brought to the attention of the coachee so he could make a connection with his everyday life.

Andrea Gregoris Kamenszein

It is amazing to use power of movement as a way of growth. Often it supports a faster and deeper coaching process that the coachee clear can appreciate.

How is your experience regarding the body domain in session?

If you are a Spanish Speaking coach you are invited to participate in the SIG Coaching and Corporalidad. Feel free to ask me about this group.

Lic. Andrea Gregoris Kamenszein
www.evolucionmovimiento.com.ar

The Internal and External Conversations We Have Around Healing

Since February 2011, when I started the Energy Work & Coaching SIG, I’ve been surprised, even amazed with the depth of our conversations as we celebrate the value and benefits combining these two modalities has provided both us and our clients.

Participation in the third Monday of each month call is an invitation to expand our individual skill set in the areas of Coaching Presence, Building Trust and Intimacy and Powerful Questions, to name a few of the ICF Core Competencies, but more important, these calls affirm a commitment to expanding our coaching repertoire so that we better model a whole/ authentic identity. We are not alone, as the recent popular documentary, I AM, asserts. During these calls I lead the group in a centering/ embodiment practice which serves to ground our conversations.

Today’s call (May 2011) focused on the healer label; our personal, even cultural concerns about calling ourselves healers. My partner in this discussion, Sheridan Gates (http://www.purposeatwork.com/) is a seasoned coach and certified energy practitioner, who has over time, shifted her focus from corporate coaching and consulting to finding a more authentic way to present her gifts. She pointed out that this has been a journey; it has taken some time to embody the healer’s mantle as part of her overall coaching persona.

We all acknowledged how the inclusion of energy work has opened up possibilities in our practice; clients often change their lives completely. Clients experience more peace, more joy and more possibilities for how they can live and work in the world.

We discussed the hurdles we encounter to bridge what is often viewed as disparate identities—energy healer on one side, and business or executive coach on the other. We pointed to many examples within our culture where healers are physicians, providing cures-- not coaches. Are these two separate paths, or is there a way we can with confidence and humility incorporate both identities?

Rhona Post, MCC

Sheridan and I talked about surrendering to our passion, giving ourselves permission to publicly state that we are energy workers and coaches.

I’ve observed that the more we accept where we are on this journey, the easier it becomes for others to accept and trust us. The June SIG promises to be another hot topic: “Why Taking on a Spiritual Practice Is a Good Thing.”

For more information on Healer Coaching and The Energy Work & Coaching SIG, contact Rhona Post, +1.941.554.8466, www.thehealercoach.com.

Coaching Youth in Education

The cutting edge of coaching teens and young adults appears to be in education. This may be because schools are where large numbers of youth gather for a predictable amount of time. Schools are great environments for influencing the learning habits of youth. Many schools welcome coaches provided that it supports both the students and their education. 

I am currently working on my dissertation on “Life Coaching Youth.” Research on youth is limited, as most coaching literature focuses on adults. There is, however, some existing research that provides evidence that life coaching programs for youth may provide multiple benefits. These benefits include; improvement in overall health, and well being, and hope, improved academic performance, goal setting and motivation;  increased ‘cognitive hardiness’ and confidence in themselves. 

I’ve been coaching youth at the high school level since 2005, with great results!  If you are a coach who loves working with youth – consider partnering with a local school to provide coaching services. Funding cuts abound in this current economy, including in educational  settings. Educational leaders are, however, beginning to realize that coaching youth in schools may have several positive effects. These may include increased attendance, academic scores and graduation rates. These are results that grant providers are seeking!

Here are some ideas that I have found successful with coaching youth in educational settings:
• Coaching small groups of students around a specific topic.
• Coaching individual students for short periods of time.
• Working with alternative or charter schools who provide students with academic credit for participation.
• Coaching seniors to support graduation and transition plans.
• Coaching 9th graders to assist their adjustment into high school.
• Coaching college freshman to support their transition.
• Provide coaching to students with AD/HD.
• Provide training for teachers and administrative staff to learn coaching skills.

Most importantly –  don’t forget to seek out support and even peer supervision for yourself.  Coaching youth can be challenging. The ICF Teen SIG meets the first Tuesday of each month at 12:00 p.m. (New York). Join us!

-Sandi Lindgren, LICSW, PCC (www.isupportyouth.com)

Taking Off The Blinders Reveals The True Self

Rhona Post, MCC

The second Energy Work and Coaching SIG call (held Monday, March 21) was a great success. I’ve received really positive feedback including “great, practical exercises to use with clients” and “thought provoking and interesting teleseminar.”

I invited Sandy Mobley, an MCC executive coach and fellow energy practitioner to join our dialogue.

On the heels of my talk last month about the intersection of embodiment and presence resulting in our expanded capacity I used this call to educate participants about the behind the scenes practices they can do to strengthen a centered, coaching presence, which results in their increased competence to listen deeply, ask powerful questions, and build trust and intimacy.

Sandy and I are both Strozzi (http://www.strozziinstitute.com/) certified coaches, and energy healers (http://www.coreindividation.com/). We encouraged SIG participants to try a variety of centering postures, including the Strozzi exercise of practicing length, width and depth, following one’s breath, and moving one’s breath from head to heart. We drew some distinctions between being centered and being grounded, and invited participants to spend the next thirty days practicing these different exercises as they interact with others.

I encourage coaches on the combined energy work and coaching path to engage in a spiritual practice, like Insight meditation, as a way to learn about their own thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Meditation is a powerful tool/technique to reduce suffering.

April’s talk will take place for 60 minutes beginning at 11 a.m. (New York) on Monday, April 18. During this call, we will delve in the waters of embodiment-what does it mean to embody coaching qualities of compassion, respect or empathy? The goal of the Energy Work and Coaching SIG is to strengthen seasoned coaches’ competence and confidence to explore the parts of ourselves that we often ignore, deny or avoid, and to use this increased awareness in relationships—at work and at home.

Rhona

For more information on Energy Work & Coaching, please contact Rhona Post, MCC, via e-mail at rpost@thehealercoach.com. Learn more at http://www.thehealercoach.com/.

I support youth!

Do you coach teens or young adults?

• Are you passionate about coaching youth?
• Or are you a corporate coach who just happens to have a couple teen clients?
• Do you include parents in your coaching sessions?
• What about getting permission to coach minor youth?
• Who in the world pays for youth coaching?
• Is there any difference between coaching adults and coaching youth?
• What about college youth?
• Do you coach youth with AD/HD?
• How can I build my practice coaching youth?
• Where do I find information about coach specific training for working with youth?

The ICF Teen SIG is just the place for you to get ideas, share resources and connect with other coaches who work with teens and young adults. We have guest speakers to provide us with ideas and information. We have a “pot luck” where we each bring in ideas and resources to share with each other. We have an online "group site" where we can connect with each other individually for collaboration, information and support.

My name is Sandi Lindgren: this is my second year as the Teen SIG leader. Randy Nathan started this SIG in 2006, when there were only a few of us. We felt a bit isolated, and unsupported in our endeavor to coach this population. Under Randy’s leadership, the TEEN SIG group grew to over 45 members. Now, I am HAPPY to report, we are now 100 members strong! (Woot!) We are passionate about youth! We are not picky about what age you call “youth.” We are very eclectic and varied in our experience as coaches. And–we want YOU! That is, IF you are interested in supporting youth though coaching!

We meet the first Tuesday of each month at 12:00 p.m. EST (US). The call in number is: 1.218.895.3033, pin:8275657#. Please contact me for any questions, ideas and also if you’d like to be a guest speaker and share YOUR insight and wisdom about coaching youth! Email me at sandi@isupportyouth.com.

-Sandi Lindgren, LICSW, PCC

Nonprofit Special Interest Group Off to Strong Start

I have been amazed at the richness of the conversations we have had so far during our nonprofit special interest group calls. We have a variety of participants ranging from those who are just dipping their toes into the nonprofit waters to those who have experience working with social sector organizations throughout the world. Members of the group hail from Europe, Canada and the United States. Our calls are one hour and are held on the second Monday of each month at 12 p.m. (New York Time/Eastern Standard Time).

Our last call focused on ideas on how to connect and build relationships with potential clients within the nonprofit community. There was a consensus among us that the nonprofit sector is not easy to break into when you are viewed as an “outsider.” One of the recommendations was to join the local chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals or some other group that has nonprofit professionals as its members. Another idea was to volunteer to do speaking engagements in the nonprofit community in order to connect and build relationships.

Our next call, on March 14th, will be about group coaching in the sector. Our calls are only moderately structured, with half the time devoted to discussing the “topic of the month” determined by the group, and the remainder dedicated to an open forum where people are free to ask questions or get feedback from the group. Please join us!! We have new participants every call. The call-in number is +1.212.457.9879 and the pin is 622186#.

Karen Ramsey, ACC, March 2011

Conflict Management Coaching

Coaches from the wide range of contexts regularly help clients to work through their interpersonal conflicts. Related goals may have to do with ways to better manage an ongoing conflict, to prepare for one that is anticipated or to resolve a past dispute that is lingering. Some clients may also want to improve their general conflict competence.

For example, objectives may be about how they react to certain triggers, how to regulate their emotions when involved in contentious discussions or how to enhance their communication skills. Relevant to providing conflict management coaching (also known as conflict coaching) is that the language in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has shifted from conflict management to conflict engagement. This is premised on helping people to gain the knowledge, skills and abilities to effectively participate in interpersonal conflict, rather than avoid it or wait until things have escalated before addressing them.

The inherent philosophical shift in this language is significant for those of us who either specialize in conflict management coaching or find ourselves commonly coaching clients about their interpersonal disputes.

Not surprisingly, one important requirement to do this sort of work well is to examine the strength of our own personal and professional foundation in conflict engagement. In this regard, some examples of possible questions to examine the strength of your foundation in this area are:

• On a scale of 1-10, 10 being to a great extent, how much do you view conflict as an opportunity to sort out differences and improve my relationships?

• What do you have to learn and work on to build your conflict management foundation?

• What conflict habits do you have that do not serve you or others well? What are you getting from holding on to them?

• What are your ‘hot buttons’? How come these are ‘hot’ for you?

• How much do you consider and take responsibility for your own contribution to disputes?

• To what extent do you regulate your emotions when you are in conflict?

• What are you gaining from blaming ‘the other person’ in your disputes, when you do?

• What is keeping you from letting go of old hurts that have a negative impact on one or more of your relationships?

• How else may you view your conflicts and ‘the other person’ so that you do not react in ways that are counterproductive?

• What keeps you from apologizing for your part of a dispute?

• For what do you need to ask forgiveness?

These are just some suggested questions to consider in your efforts to reflect on your own conflict competence and examine what gaps there may be in this area of your lives. I welcome your further suggestions.

Cinnie Noble, ACC, LL.B., LL.M. (ADR) is a lawyer-mediator and the Founder of the CINERGY® model of conflict management coaching. She hosts ICF’s Conflict Management Coaching Special Interest Group which holds monthly teleseminars on related topics. Cinnie’s website is www.cinergycoaching.com and she may be contacted at cinnie@cinergycoaching.com.

Getting Our Energy Work Together With Coaching

Congratulations! We completed ICF’s first Energy Work & Coaching SIG today. Thanks to all the coaches who participated and who stayed on the line despite the grueling sound effects.

One of the participants asked me to note the resources to which I referred. The big word today is embodiment. I linked embodiment and centered presence, which helps us expand our capacity to see, coach, heal. You can review the ICF core competence on Centered Presence. I have found that embodying oneself is crucial to learning how to work from an energetic, compassionate stance whether I am healing or coaching. 


Rhona Post, MCC



Becoming embodied is a commitment as it involves connecting with and learning from the sensations and stored memories in our bodies. My years of study with Dr. Richard Heckler, founder of the Strozzi Institute, provided the awareness and skill to learn how to stay centered, and how to find my way back when I was triggered by an event or emotion. With the somatic background, I can more easily presence myself energetically with clients. I have taken these skills into my healing work where I can move quickly and easily from my physical body to beyond my own physicality to work from my expanded capacity (energetic structure). 

I suggested reading and doing the exercises in Stuart Heller’s book, Retooling on The Run, as they open the door to a deeper awareness of the relationship between body, mind and spirit.

We’re all in different places on this continuum. The addition of a healing protocol helps me do the deep transformative work with clients. This kind of healer coaching is not for everyone. But my clients, whether executives or families, want clarity to end their suffering now!

Future SIG topics for Energy Work & Coaching include: Identifying and Working with a Person’s Emotional Drivers, Cultivating Body Awareness, How Coaches Use Intuition in Coaching, Healing: What it Means for Coaches and Clients. If you have a special interest in this topic, please e-mail me your ideas at rpost@thehealercoach.com. See you next month, March 21, the third Monday of the month, at 11:00 a.m. (New York) and each third Monday, thereafter.

For more information on Healer Coaching, contact Rhona Post, rpost@thehealercoach.com or www.thehealercoach.com.