“Integral – necessary to make something whole; essential or complete”
Before signing up for coaching, you might be wondering what integral coaching is, and how it is different from other types or forms of coaching. So, I've created an overview to give you more information about the fundamental principles of integral coaching, and how it can support you to make the changes you seek.
A philosophy of human transformation
Firstly, integral coaching is a philosophy that aims to help individuals transform by providing a comprehensive response to human experience. In so doing, it acknowledges the complexity of human beings. And incorporates the evidence that to change and become competent we must develop and integrate multiple aspects of our being, viz.
mind
emotions
body
relationships
connections with our context.
It further prioritises the importance of language, i.e. that in part we create our realities by means of the stories we tell ourselves and others.
A methodology that prioritises insight and action
Secondly, integral coaching is a methodology that prioritises insight and action. It acknowledges that change happens because we grow our insights, and apply these insights to develop new and more effective behavioural responses to what arises.
Critically, though, the overall purpose of action within the context of integral coaching is integration. This means that the actions that you are offered in integral coaching are grounded in the understanding that in order to develop, we must make whole what might presently be fragmented or disconnected Therefore, each action has applicability to one or more aspects of your lived experience, i.e. mind, emotions, body, relationships, spirit and connection with your contexts.
Methods
Integral coaching offers you four distinct methods of taking action, viz.
Self-observations/reflections: Here you are offered an opportunity for guided self-reflection by observing all aspects of your being. The emphasis is on non-judgemental observation of these aspects of themselves as they arise in their present contexts.
Assertions/Affirmations: Here you are offered opportunities to affirm the aspects of yourself that are most important. For example, the focus might be on an essential characteristic (such as courage) that you need to apply to address the problem or challenge.
Exercises: Here you are offered opportunities to learn about yourself, others and the world around you by reading and writing about key topics that relate directly to the outcomes the coaching programme seeks to facilitate. Typical exercises include journaling, reading articles to expand their knowledge, and writing reflections on what they observe.
Practices: Practices are perhaps the most important type of action that clients are offered. Practices require clients to do something and to do things differently. It is in doing that competence is developed. Typical practices include breathing/mindful meditation practices, speech acts and working with judgement.
Deep and comprehensive support
Thirdly, integral coaching is a relationship defined by the depth and types of support it offers clients.
Depth
The depth of the coaching relationship is expressed in the compassion that the integral coach offers each client. Here it is valuable to pause to reflect on the meaning of compassion. The root of the word ‘passio’ (Latin) means suffering, and its prefix ‘com’ means with.
What therefore does it mean to suffer with another human being?
In the context of compassionate integral coaching, it means that the coach is able both to feel what the client is feeling and to detach from this to offer the client the paths out of suffering they need and seek. By sitting with the client in their suffering, the coach expresses full commitment to the client’s journey. The coach shows up with full presence in each session.
Types of support: Boundaried – Purpose-driven – Accountable – Ethical & Confidential
Boundaries: The coaching relationship is characterised by boundaries. The integral coach holds the awareness that the client’s story is not the coach’s story. It is the client’s story that is the focus of the coaching programme. Therefore, the coach’s story is ‘off stage’ and not offered as blueprint for how the client can develop the competences they need nor how they can engage deeply with themselves, others and the world around them.
Purpose: The purpose of coaching is the client’s development. Therefore, all aspects of the coaching programme focus on what the client most needs to develop aspects of themselves, and to integrate these in service of reaching the outcomes that the coach and client set at the beginning of the programme.
Accountability: The coaching relationship is further characterised by accountability. The coach is accountable to the client for what they promise to offer and how they offer it. One aspect of this accountability is that integral coaches undertake to apply integral methodologies. These are methodologies that are proven to help clients make and sustain meaningful change.
Ethics and Confidentiality: Integral coaches are bound by the ethics of, inter alia, the International Coaching Federation. These ethics include confidentiality as a key part of all coaching contracts. Clients who enrol in integral coaching can therefore be assured that all information they share with their coach is never shared with others, unless they give their permission for the coach to do so.
Is integral coaching for you?
If you think that integral coaching could help you develop some of the competencies you need or help you to overcome present obstacles and challenges, then please reach out for a free discovery session.
Alternatively, if you want more information about how integral coaching methodology translates into practice, then read about What to Expect, which details the coaching process.
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