The ATTUNE – Process of Attuning Within Coaching

A Coaching Power Tool By Amy Philippen, Transformational Coach, GERMANY

How “ATTUNE” Can Help You Become a More Effective Coach

Many of the clients I coach recognize that their lives have become overly driven by their rational brain and they simply do not know or struggle to get in touch or relate to their other intelligence such as the heart, gut, or body or how to even find alignment between them. This is normal when we consider that our education system is primarily focused on fostering the rational brain and little emphasis has been placed on emotional intelligence or our intuition. Learning how to tap into this intelligence is not as simple as turning on a switch, it takes time, courage, patience, and in many cases a big break away from behavioral patterns.

The definition of attuning according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary:” to make receptive or aware, or to bring into harmony”

What Is the Process of Attuning Within Coaching?

Attuning within coaching is to turn inwards towards the essence of who we are, supporting a better alignment between our inner and outer world. It means tapping into and accessing different elements of our being that provide and complete valuable information about who we are. The coaching process supports clients in this journey by inviting our clients to explore these parts of themselves in a safe place. Attuning refers to both the journey of the client to tap into their essence and how the coach uses their skills to attune to the client’s energy, feelings, perspectives and respond intuitively to these aspects of their being.

What Does the Attune Model Stand For?

A – Allow

T – Truth

T – Trajectory

U – Undertake

N – Nurture

E – Expand

Allow

There needs to be an openness from the client to the coaching process, a willingness to explore, reflect and transform what might be standing in the way of what they want to achieve.

With an open heart and mind, the client is more able to allow and trust the process of coaching to unfold and lose their sense of attachment to the outcome. The client is more comfortable co-partner with the coach trusting that they have their best interests at heart and will provide a safe space of non-judgment and a healing presence if necessary.

There is a gentle quality to allowing that provides a kinder lens to what we are trying to achieve in fostering self-compassion and self-love that is needed if we want to turn inwards and perhaps uncover uncomfortable parts of ourselves.

From the coach’s perspective, it is allowing what the client is bringing to the session to be as it is, not to try and influence the outcome or control the session to go in a certain direction. It is also allowing their intuition to evolve but without any attachments placed on it.

Truth

Seeking the truth in whatever unfolds will mean the exchange during the coaching process between coach and client will be aligned with the core of who the client is, creating more sustainable change and results in in in the client wishes to achieve through the coaching process. To be truthful about what is unfolding requires vulnerability and courage.

It also entails the client (with support from the coach)assessing the reality in which they are currently living. What are the beliefs, behaviors, perspectives that govern that current reality? Are they still serving them? How is the truth of what is being uncovered aligned/misaligned to the current lived experience?

Coming from a place of transparency and honesty will allow truth to flow naturally through the session.

Truth from the coach’s perspective is for them to show up authentically as they are and respond authentically to what each client and session is asking of them to be.

Trajectory

With an open heart of allowing and using truth as the compass, the client is more poised to navigate the coaching trajectory attuned to who they are. To peel away the layers of conditioning and tune in to what is lying underneath the surface and bring it eventually into harmony.

An important element of the trajectory will be in accepting that it might not be a linear process but that each step of the way nature unfolds as it should and there is progress in every commitment that the client takes towards their goal. Another important element is that there is no set path to be taken but only one that is initiated by the client and what binds everything together is their commitment and intent to a transformative change.

Undertake

Once there is clarity on the trajectory the client should take there is a greater sense of strength and courage to undertake it. This includes an exploration that goes into the depths of the being.

A practical way of going within might be to work on the values exercise or focusing on somatic and visualizing exercises, heart breathing techniques, or meditation as a way of accessing different elements of our being such as our body, heart, or gut intelligence. This can provide a more holistic picture of where the client is heading or what needs to be looked at first.

Nurture

There might be a radical shift that happens, a change of perspective or increased awareness, a breakaway of patterns that no longer serve us. Whatever change occurs in the coaching process it needs to be nurtured so that it can grow sustainably, so that it can withstand the test of time and challenges that might come its the way.

Nurture in coaching is reflected in the support and acknowledgment that the coach offers the client every step of the way. In the quality of the coaching presence practiced by the coach that connects both client and coach in the sacred coaching space. It is also reflected in the practice that the client commits to the outside of the coaching sessions. This could be through journaling or any exercises that the coach might recommend the client to take forward.

Expand

Expand has multiple dimensions. It’s the expansion that takes place within the coaching session by simply allowing space for the client to explore their inner world and how they respond and interact with their outer world.

It is also about the expansion the client might feel once they have adopted a new perspective, sensed a shift in their being, or increased their awareness on a topic which creates an increased sense of space that allows them to open up to opportunities and possibilities. From this space, the client has shifted their mindset and tapped into other intelligence and takes with them some tools or markers that will allow them to practice these shifts in being beyond the coaching space, particularly if they feel they are contracting into old ways of being.

Expansion from the coaching side comes from the open-ended questions or comments the coach offers that provide the client with the space to explore limitless possibilities.