In helping a client figure out how they wish to approach their inquiry, there is a period of joint discovery. Our engagement in the process is mutual and bidirectional, with the client and the coach trusting the transformational field of the relationship and acknowledgement that there are many unknowns.
Jocelyn* engaged in coaching because her employer encouraged her to do so. As the coach, I had two clients — Jocelyn and her employer. Accountable to both, I was sensitive to the fact that my primary role was to work with Jocelyn in determining what was most meaningful and a balance was struck.
As our sessions progressed, the primary reason for coaching led us to explore what was top of mind at each session. The concerns around Jocelyn’s health were prominent because she had a brain issue that impacted her sight as well as her work.
Jocelyn loves what she does for work, yet the stress of it was wearing her down to the point that she had an emotional outburst at work. Feeling embarrassed about it and not wanting to burden others there was a pinch of shame about crying in front of her manager and coworkers. Jocelyn shared in a session that being the only mixed-race staff and the resulting racial slights uttered by the elderly patients was very painful. Not having the support to process the hurt and frustration she was led to feelings of frustration, dismay, and stuckness that was at time suffocating. She loved her professions, but not the environment.
Jocelyn was working with a Black therapist when she lived in the city, but after moving two hours away she did not have a referral for a similar racially identified clinician. In our sessions, we strategized on how she might find new clinical support, which currently is an ongoing process.
While caring for herself and her patients, Jocelyn started to write down her feelings in a journal. Staying on track with some of her goals – being in touch with family that are out-of-state, resting, managing the neurological diagnosis – while navigating the ebbs and flows of life, she is moving toward caring for herself in a more compassionate way.
While I haven’t experienced every situation my clients face, I meet the client where they are and in an unguarded manner, we explore what is possible at that moment and how to transform that possibility into future moments. Frequently humbled by the ways in which clients vulnerably show up for the process, I appreciate the gifts offered in our sessions that often leads to noticeable transformations.
*Pseudonym for privacy
