Brain Part’s specializations, brain integration & implications for Coaching
The human brain consists of many different parts and specific areas for all different kinds of learning and processing, several parts focus on sensory inputs, and others focus on logical reasoning, linguistic thinking, and organizing information according to patterns, relationships and movement. And the human brain is divided into two hemispheres, the right and the left brain, which are connected by thick band of nerve fibers – the so called corpus callosum – that sends messages back and forth between the two hemispheres.
And while both sides of our brain are involved in nearly every human activity, the theory of the structure and functions of the mind suggests that the two hemispheres of our brain process information in different ways, typical of that side: The so called „logic hemisphere“, usually located in the left side of the brain, prefers logical, sequential, rational, analytical and objective processing, whereas the so called „Gestalt-Hemisphere“, usually located in the right side of the brain, prefers to process things in an intuitive, holistic, synthesizing, subjective way.
According to different findings it is widely assumed that an individual’s nature and preferences largely depend on which part of the brain dominates the nervous system. A quite well known body of implications for individual learning emphasizing the role of brain dominance profiles for how we process sensory information, how we prefer to learn, what we need in order to learn, and how we react on different educational styles and environments is based on this twobrain doctrine.
But it seems like the two-brain doctrine never has been underpinned by evidence and has therefore been questioned and criticized due to contra dictionary findings, like e.g. cases of children who has been extracted one side of the brain, that showed that they were able to compensate the missing hemisphere and its functions. But what we do know is that in the process of learning and absorbing information
every brain simultaneously perceives and creates parts and wholes. (…). In a healthy person, both hemispheres interact in every activity, from art and computing to sales and accounting.
(Caine & Caine, 1994)
I personally still believe that the consideration of different individual learning needs and preferences – based on hemispheric specialization and brain dominance profiles or not – is still useful for us coaches to understand our client’s preferences and blockades and to sometimes adjust the coaching environment according to them.
But there is one finding that is commonly shared within the research in this field. And this is that the two brain
doctrine is most useful for reminding us that the brain reduces information into parts and perceives holistically at the same time.
(Caine & Caine, 1994)
A field underpinning this statement arrives from the field of Mind and Brain Research and brain integration. Dan Siegel, differentiates in his article Mindfulness, Psychotherapy and the brain nine different forms of brain and mind integration which are most relevant for Psychotherapy and Coaching and says:
When separated areas of the brain are allowed to specialize in their function and then become linked together, the system said to be integrated. Integration brings with it a special state of functioning as a whole which has the acronym faces: flexible, adaptive, coherent, energized, stable
(Siegel, D.J. Mindfulness, Psychotherapy and the Brain).
Implications for Coaching
To summarize all implications different forms of brain integration would go far beyond of this article’s scope, but to mention just one of them:
Good training and education for example should recognize that the brain reduces information
into parts and perceives holistically at the same time by introducing natural “global” projects
and ideas from the very beginning.(Caine & Caine, 1994)
As coaches being aware of different forms of brain and mind integration gives us the possibility to „holistically“ coach the client by activating different specialized parts and functions of the brain through different forms of question that guide the client’s attention and awareness to different sensory input systems, thereby integrating sensations from their body, their feelings & affective states and their conscious thoughts and ideas as well as their unconscious assumptions.
I personally also believe that based on these findings it is also always worth the effort to reflect on the client’s preferred processing modes and to consciously promote the ones that do not necessarily come natural to him. Activating these neglected processing modes and sensations might bring the client out of his comfort-zone and might support him to take over unfamiliar perspective. This way we might encourage brain integration with coaching.
The power of visualizations Seen from a neuroscientific view
The last phenomena I’d like to unfold from a brain based perspective is the well known coaching technique of visualization. Lots of us have already experienced the powerful and motivating effect of visualization. And in my eyes there are three neurological phenomens that seem to underpin the power of this technique from a neurologic perspective.
One is the finding of what happens in the brain while visualizing a compelling future from a neuroplastic perspective. Another one is the concept of attention density, that will be increased as more senses are activated while visualizing and its role for building new circuits. The third one is the effect of brain integration through multisensory activating and its effects on effective learning:
From a neuroplastic perspective visioning activates the same circuits that we activate while really doing an activity, which means that we are not only able to strengthen the circuits we already started to create by visualizations, but to even build up new ones through visualizations. It also shows that visualization of a compelling future might be seen as practice itself.
And as more senses we activate as more the attention density will be increased, supporting a faster and more sustainable change.
Finally activating different senses will result in activating different parts of the brain as well. That’s why the powerful effect of visualizations also seems to find support in the statement that the
integration brings with it a special state of functioning as a whole which has the acronym faces: flexible, adaptive, coherent, energized, stable(see p. 9 of this article).
Another theory supporting this is Lairds sensory stimulation theory. According to this theory efficient learning only occurs when the senses are inspired. The theory has an outstanding reputation amongst teachers and states that when multi senses are stimulated greater learning takes place. Research found that most of the knowledge held by adults i.e. is learned by seeing, hearing, followed by other senses like touch smell and taste account and of what we know, perceive or reflect.
Coaching Implication
These findings indicate why visualizations work most powerful for some of our clients and give us implications on what coaches should have in mind while guiding our clients through visualization within coaching:
SUMMARY
The purpose of this article was to discuss some of the currents trends and findings from neuroscience and its implications for coaching. It must be said that this article never had the purpose to sufficiently frame the whole field of neuroscience that is relevant to coaching. Instead I concentrated on some hand-picked neurological findings and coaching techniques or principles, that catched my attention throughout my coaching journey and tried to put them into the light of a neuroscientific point of view to explain their implications for our coaching practice.
Last but not least I hope, that I have been able to at least to convey part of the richness the field of neuroscience holds for coaches and our coaching practice. It is a wonderful fishing-ground for everybody, who is engaged in the coaching industry, which means that we always should have an eye on findings not mentioned in this article as e.g. the mirror neuron system and its relevance for the coaching relationship as well as on new trends within this vibrant field of research.
Thank you for your attention!
Resources:
David Rock ( 2009) „Managing with the brain in mind“ published in Oxford Leadership Journal, December 2009, Volume 1, Issue 1
David Rock (2006) „A brain-based approach to coaching“
Siegel, D. J. – Mindfulness, Psychotherpy and the brain. Internet - Blogpost http://www.ithou.org/node/2730
Siegel, D.J. ( 2010) „Die Alchemie der Gefühle, Wie moderne Hirnforschung unser Seelenleben
entschlüsselt- das navigationssytsem zu emotionaler Klarheit“ Random House Publishing Group , New York, USA
Caine, R. & Caine, G. (1993). "Understanding a Brain-Based Approach to Learning and Teaching." In
Fogarty, Robin, (Ed.) Integrating the Curricula: A Collection. IRI/Skylight Publishing.
Caine R. & Caine, G. (1994) Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain, Addison-Wesley
)
Hannford Carla (1997) “The dominance factor. How knoing your dominant eye, ear, brain and foot can improve your learning”, Great Ocean Publishers, Inc. Arlington/Virginia