Online course Nature based coaching - Lesson 7
Session 5
Completing
In this lesson we will teach you all you need to know about the 5th session of the coaching trajectory. In this session we work towards a solid step-by-step plan that will help our client to finally make their wish come true.
We start again with a written overview of all 6 steps you need to take and we will end this lesson with a video of the live movie recordings of this session. After studying all this material you can do your fifth live practise with your fellow student and/or your final session with your try-out client.
Concrete results
The power of our method is that we invite the client to simply stay with that what is being revealed. We make sure they don’t lose themselves in stories and analysis. In de first four sessions we emphatically refrain from looking for solutions. We focus on the way it is in the here and now. This is what we’re interested in. If you can stay just with that, the process will unfold effortlessly. Answers will come on their own. You will then see that standing still is actually moving forward. But in a very subtle and aligned way. Not because we specifically want it, but simply because we trust in the natural movement of life itself.
Following this natural movement, we see that only now, in the fifth session, your client will be ready to look at possible solutions. We do in fact want to achieve concrete results, however not too quickly, only when the time is right. In other words, we aim for long lasting results.
Summarising the previous sessions
- On the 1st walk you did an extensive intake
- On the 2nd walk you have determined a goal for the process and the client has gained some insights regarding their
- During the 3rd walk you went deeper, and the client has gained more insight into deeper fears that block heir natural flow. The client also has expressed a strong YES and NO regarding their desire and towards that which is blocking it.
- In the 4th walk you were focussed on enhancing their inner strength.
In this 5th session you work towards completing the process, you will create a clear step-by-step plan and the client performs a symbolic ritual to anchor all the insights and choices that have been made.
Symbolic workforms:
- Image in the environment
- Ending ritual
Once more we will use an image in the invironment to make the insights visual. And at the end of this last session we will invite our client to perform a ritual to mark the decisions they have made.
Starting your 5th session
Step 1: Walking meditation
Step 2: Recall insights from all previous session
While walking, look back at the past 4 sessions and ask your client what insights they have gained. You want to know briefly and concisely:
- What was your wish?
- What was the biggest obstacle?
- What fear was hidden beneath it?
- Have you expressed a clear YES towards it?
- And to what did you say NO or STOP to?
- What are your most important natural qualities?
- What helpful resources do you have at your disposal?
- What are your biggest insights during this whole process?
Step 3: A message from nature
Stand still. Invite the client to calmly look around them and ask:
- What catches your attention?
- Describe what exactly is attracting you in this image.
- What are the characteristics of this image?
- What does this add to your process?
- Take some time to elaborate some more on
Step 4: Specifying & making a step-by-step plan
Once again, you start walking. Together you look at what your client has learned and determine how this can take shape in reality. Do this based on the following questions:
- What is it you want to accomplish now or in the near future?
- Which steps will you have to take to get there?
- How can you make sure it won’t remain a mere intention?
- Who or what can support you in this?
- Can you do this within a certain time limit? If so: when are you going to do this?
- How can you check whether you have accomplished your wish?
- What could be a pitfall along the way?
- How can you prevent yourself from falling into it?
- Think of more questions yourself.
Important
Make sure that the answers are as specific as possible, so that there’s no room for escape. So, keep asking probing questions. This is the phase in which you address the client on their own responsibility, regarding the wish that they would like to realise. This is what you want. You have expressed the truth, you have felt, and you have gained insights, now we are going to see what you will do with it. This requires a more confrontational attitude from the coach. Staccato energy. We have been slowing down for 4 sessions, now we are going accelerate. It’s time for action.
Note: The client shouldn’t be doing any of this for you, but really for themselves.
Important
Make sure that the answers are as specific as possible, so that there’s no room for escape. So, keep asking probing questions. This is the phase in which you address the client on their own responsibility, regarding the wish that they would like to realise. This is what you want. You have expressed the truth, you have felt, and you have gained insights, now we are going to see what you will do with it. This requires a more confrontational attitude from the coach. Staccato energy. We have been slowing down for 4 sessions, now we are going accelerate. It’s time for action.
Note: The client shouldn’t be doing any of this for you, but really for themselves.
Important note
It’s important to perform the act with much thought and thoroughly!
- Take the needed time.
- As a coach, be a witness, just let the client share what what they are doing and how it feels.
- Do no continue to ask more questions. This is a finalising ritual that mainly requires silence.
Step 6: Finalising
Ask your client whether they have achieved what they wanted at the start of the trajectory. And ask if it feels like a completed process. Thank the client for their trust. Ask if you can send a feedback form.
Optional: Plan a follow-up session 1 or 12 months later. In this session you can repeat the exercise you did in session 1: Making a still life about their current situation and see where that leads to. Include the optional step: Exploring a possible change.
