A Coaching Model By Daria Kral, Life and Relationship Coach, GERMANY
We all are beings that are longing for connection and belonging regardless of origin, religion, culture, or race. We are looking for it in our family, our friends, colleges, peers, and often without our awareness within ourselves. This is the way humans are wired. I feel that in this time of covid 19 relationships became even more important because people are either separated physically or too close together. As a relationship coach, I want to support and empower my clients with the “Bridge to Connection” coach model to create strong and impactful connections with others and themselves to live a life in connection and belonging.
How to Create a Strong and Impactful Connections
Being Present and Mindful
When clients are coming to the session they can be distracted from things that are stressful or chaotic that will make it hard for them to focus and make the most out of the session.
Starting the session with mindfulness and presence can support the client to engage with the coaching process with more impact. Meditation or breathing exercises can help the client to be more focused and present on what they are bringing to the session.
Rewrite Limiting Beliefs
Our beliefs have a great effect on how we experience the world around us. They rule our life by shaping behavior, thoughts, and feelings. Therefore, negative beliefs can have an immense impact on the way we view ourselves. Like self-esteem, self-acceptance, and self-worth.
These are most of the time under the surface.
In the coaching process, the coach will assist the client in rewriting their negative beliefs, blocks, and bring to light what else is possible.
Awareness and Learning
This step is important because the clients can understand themselves better. They are empowered to identify areas that they would like to improve as well as seeing what strength they already have and grow even further. When the clients have self-awareness they become conscious of what they are good at and acknowledge that they still have to learn at the same time. The coach needs to dig deep into awareness and learning. What does it mean to them? What is going on inside their head? How do they feel about it?
It is key that the coach explores what the client has realized to create true and meaningful transformation.
Tools, Skills, and Resources
There are a lot of different tools, skills, and resources that can support clients to have a deeper connection and belong within themselves and the people around them, and all of those are important.
- In my experience communication is a big one. Letting another person know what is going on inside of ourselves but also letting them know what we received or understood is key to any successful communication process.
- Truly being listened to is a beautiful experience as well as being able to genuinely listen to someone and understand what’s going on inside of them.
- When someone has a conversation with a person that is fully present to what is expressed and communicated it is meaningful for both.
- Trust (BRAVING connection) is also a great indicator of creating connection and belonging.
All these tools are incredibly powerful in creating stronger relationships with others but also within ourselves. The coach needs to determine if the client is ready or in need of them.
Transformation
The client might have some awareness, shift of thinking, and transformation. To make a lasting change the thoughts, emotions, and/or feelings (mind, soul) need to go into some kind of action or motion (body). When they are ready to move forward this can be a good step going into action. This action can lead to behaving differently towards oneself and other people.
People like to look at others to change so they can be happy. But we can’t do that without taking away their freedom to express themselves in their own way. It is obvious that only we can change ourselves and therefore our environment has to change.
Creating true belonging and connection requires vulnerability, courage, trust, and being present with others without giving up on ourselves.
References
The Amazing Power of Being Present - https://zenhabits.net/mindful/
Self Awareness – Who Am I? - https://warwick.ac.uk/services/wss/topics/selfawareness/
Brené Brown: Why Human Connection Will Bring Us Closer Together - Dan Schawbel