Jungian coaching - Harness the power of awareness!

Interview: November 19, 2020, Nina Gornik, SACRET LIFE

1. What is Jungian Coaching and how does the latter differ from most other Coaches? For example, what are the advantages of this type of Coaching and why?

Jungian coaching was developed by dr. AVI GOREN BAR, Israeli therapist and coach. Jungian coaching is an in-depth way of working with a client as it activates the unconscious and allows changes to happen more deeply, using a variety of tools.

2. People often have the misconception that Coaching is something that will change their life because the Coach will swing a magic wand, offer him solutions and advice for all his problems and he will act on them and everything will get better. What does Coaching not really cover and how does it actually work?

Yes, this is really common thinking, because as individuals we strive for instant solutions, if I symbolize the “blue or red pill” from the Matrix. However, this is not the role of a coach, this would be the role of a mentor or counselor.

The coach leads the process so that the client with his insights, his thoughts comes to solutions or reasons, for what he needs to change, and how he will achieve the result. So, it is a process where the responsibility for activation and change lies with the client and not the coach. Of course, it is the coach’s responsibility to support the client, use the right leverage, and challenge the client.

3. What is the role and task of an individual to be able to actually achieve above-average results in private and business life with the support of Jungian Coaching?

The decision to seek help to solve a challenge or to take a step forward is paramount. If we seek help, we are aware that we have a challenge, which also presupposes the motivation to resolve, a step forward. If the client is not motivated to change, then no coaching process can be successful or. lead to results. So, motivation is necessary, everything else starts to unfold during the process, is discovered and solutions are suggested.

4. Can Jungian coaching actually help to achieve above-average results for "ordinary people" as well, or is it more focused or aimed at leading individuals or employees in companies (it focuses more on business or goes hand in hand with private life)?

Jungian coaching is useful at just about every level of our lives, whether business or private issues, and purely for every individual. Namely, the understanding of people that coaching is only for management, that it is something elite, is wrong. Each of us gets to the point where we can’t find it on our own, we can’t see the way forward. It is about our inner saboteurs, our beliefs that do not allow us to move forward. Most of these saboteurs are part of our unconscious, we are not even aware of them and therefore we cannot operate with them. The first step is to make them aware and only then can we find out why they are there, why we developed them and whether we still need them. People imagine coaching as seen in movies- something exciting, I come and go different, everything solved. But this is really not the case, any coaching is to some extent painful for the client, as it requires transformation, change. Stepping out of the comfort zone is painful for some, stepping out of the framework of the known into the unknown is scary.

5. What role does the Coach play in all of this? What are the systemic approaches in Coaching through key competencies?

Every Coach must constantly develop himself, because only in this way can he really understand what processes the client is going through. But everyone has to do many other things:

1. Have highly developed standards of ethics, respect and mutual trust

2. Understand that coaching is an equivalent relationship, that you step into that relationship without prejudice, that you understand that each individual has their own pace of development

3. To have extremely developed qualities of Active Listening, to be present

4. Provide the client with insights and learning using tools and techniques such as effective questioning, silence, metaphor

These are basic competencies and unfortunately there is no clear practice and standards on the Slovenian market today. Since last year, we have the ICF Slovenia Chapter, which is part of the International Coaching Federation, one of the largest global associations for the development of the profession and standards in coaching.

In doing so, we are committed to adhering to the guidelines of the global ICF, namely to raising ICF coaching competencies and respecting ICF ethical principles as the two foundations of professional coaching.

Namely, coaching as a profession is in the development phase in Slovenia, so it is important that we have standards and that we understand how responsible the profession is. That knowledge and skills are needed, constantly working on yourself to be a Coach. And that it is not enough to write this in your CV. It’s about lifestyle, it’s about life mission, humility and gratitude that you have the client’s confidence to share the most vulnerable thoughts with you and to know that he is safe.

6. What does it mean to discover (using Jungian Coaching) your abilities of both male and female principle and their suitability at work (do we actually know how to use both poles in practice)?

We all have within us, regardless of gender, male and female principles of operation. It is best to have both principles equally expressed, and life shows that we often have one dominant principle guiding us. If we look at the history of the last 50 years, the role of women has changed, women compete in the male world, and as a result, many women today have predominantly developed masculine principles. This allows her to be competitive in the business, but it can also cause her challenges in the partnership, in the role of mother. It is extremely important that we are aware of the importance of both and that we know how, depending on the role, to activate these principles. The female principle is intuition, patience, imagination, everything that is cyclical, repetitive.

The male principle is logic, rationality, rules, order, discipline, hierarchy, …

Like everything in nature, male and female principles have their positive and negative sides. That’s why it’s important to know how to see this in ourselves. However, because we have blind spots, we have our shadows, we cannot see them and that is why it is important that someone third, a coach, helps us with this.

7. Can Female Leaders Use Jungian Coaching Techniques to Lead Business More Successfully and How?

I would not say that women have any special advantages over men, but it is true that women often allow ourselves to be vulnerable, genuine, even in business. And it is the advantage of good leaders to be able to listen, understand what guides them and work on their development.