The Anatomy of a Coaching Session
Posted on October 20, 2020 by Cheryl Burke, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Did you ever wonder what a coaching session actually looks like? Here I outline the sections of a typical session so you know what to expect.
A lot of people are interested in coaching because they’ve heard friends or colleagues talk about the benefits they’ve received from working with a coach. They’re still a little nervous though, and you may be too, because you still don’t know exactly what to expect from an actual session. Let’s pull back the curtain a little then, shall we?
Individual coaching sessions are usually about an hour long and can be described as a conversation with a goal. The best coaches will ask you a few questions at the beginning of each session to determine what you want to talk about, what goal you want to reach today, and why it’s meaningful for your life. This is part of the magic of coaching, you determine what you want your outcome to be and your coach knows that you can get there even if you’re not sure yet. You work together to determine what success looks like for you. This first part usually takes about 5-10 minutes.
During the bulk of the session, your coach’s job is to use her skills and intuition to help you dig into your blindspots and anything that is holding you back. You’ll have a look at what is working for you and what’s not. She’ll then help you determine how to overcome what isn’t working and harness what is so you can reach your ultimate goal. This section includes insightful questions and as much space as you need to work through what comes up. If this means that you need 5 minutes of quiet to process something, your coach will know and will give you that space. If it means that you need to process something verbally without interruption, your coach will know that too. The most important thing that your coach provides you is a safe space. Professionally trained coaches have lots of tools at their fingertips and can handle whatever comes up so don’t be shy, this is your time! Your coach will make sure you know you are seen, heard, and understood. The part of the session usually lasts 40-50 minutes.
The last section of a session is used to integrate what you have learned that day and set up a plan to put it into action. Your plan for the next week or 2 is entirely up to you. You may choose to journal about your insights, perhaps you’ll do some research, your coach can give you an assignment if you like, or you might take a series of steps to play out the decisions you have come to during your session. Your coach can hold you accountable to your plan if you like. The last part lasts 5-10 minutes.
There is one more component to coaching that you might not have considered yet, the time between the sessions. A fair amount of learning and insight comes between the sessions as you put what you’ve discovered during coaching into practice in your day-to-day life. Be sure to set and keep your coaching appointments every 1-2 weeks to keep your momentum going. Whereas you’ll make a fair amount of progress at individual sessions, life-changing progress comes in the multi-session coaching relationship. Keep showing up and you will be amazed at how much your life will change in just a few months!
