w w w . on l in e t h e r a p y instit u t e . c o m
Online Coaching and Developing Relationships BY Yolanda Wysocki Many of us with a counseling background have a similar reaction to the thought of online coaching...”but you miss so much of the nuance, cues and responses that tell so much,” or some variation of that theme. In face-to-face work, we have access to the full range of subtle to obvious reactions; a quick twitch of an eyelid, a change in posture, drop in eye contact; tears silently streaming down a face; energy shifts...we each know the huge variety of available cues when a client sits in front of us. The first big adjustment happens as access to those cues decrease when we switch to telephone coaching. We lose the visual, but still keep auditory cues like voice intonation, pitch, pauses, quavering, etc. We listen to the specific words, turns of phrase, descriptions that offer a lot of information. Despite balking at what has been lost, phone coaching is still rich with information and possibility. So imagine when we make the move to online coaching–– which is coaching where in my experience the majority of contact happens online as asynchronous email, instead of phone or in-person. Most of what we have counted on--the visual and auditory cues-- is gone! This is why so many Life Coaches I meet are very reluctant and pessimistic about the idea of beginning online work.
T I L T MAGAZ I N E MARCH 2 0 1 1
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