What Is Presence Coaching?

What is presence coaching and where does it fit in the map of personal growth?

Presence coaching is not life coaching, it’s not mentoring and it’s not therapy.

The focus is not on figuring out what to do, getting advice on decisions or direction, or overcoming psychological obstacles.

Presence coaching is about learning to see things as they are, both internally within yourself and externally in your life.

We unconsciously pick-up patterns in our life journey that obscure direct seeing, or what we might call insight or clarity.

There are two basic patterns of clouded view.

The first is to see things that aren’t really there.

This is the category of fantasies, hopes, projections, complications, assumptions, expectations, etc.

The second obscuring pattern is to not see things that are there.

This is the realm of denial where feelings of numbness, confusion, stuckness, anger, and fear do not get resolved because we have an unconscious investment in not seeing.

There is a particular form of meditation called Vipassana which translates roughly into “insight.”

I bring 35 years of Vipassana practice to these coaching sessions and rely on this simple training of radical embodiment to sense any hidden patterns of veiled perception and help you explore a clearer view of your inner and outer world.

There is no set agenda or particular approach that is used. The approach, methods and work occur through a form of conversational inquiry—

a curiosity applied in dialogue that can range from being deep, serious, intense and profound, to playful, humorous, theatrical or tender.

The method involves creating a sanctuary for being to enter into a conversation with itself, facilitated by our exchange.

Most of us are actually not very interested in ourselves as we are—but are more fascinated by our story about ourselves.

To become interested in oneself is a very different thing than being interested in our story about ourselves.

Presence coaching will help you to sense the difference between these two orientations.

We’ll explore until we arrive at a new element that reveals itself in a fresh and real way. Usually it's clear to each of us when this element comes into view.

Once revealed, we talk about how you can integrate and honor this new clarity in your life and in some cases we may discuss recommended action steps for working with your new vision.

Direct seeing is efficient and does not require large amounts of time for exploration of the past, for emotional processing or for intellectual understanding.

Such steps can be taken very usefully in therapy or with other mental health professionals.

Presence coaching does not replace therapy if you are already seeing a therapist, nor will it conflict.

Presence coaching can go hand in hand with whatever personal growth or healing work you are already doing with a mentor or professional guide.

I am in awe of the intelligence that is woven into human consciousness and intentional presence.

That living intelligence is what I hope to explore with you through presence coaching should you feel it’s right for you.