Journal - how to increase impact in coaching
This is an article I have written for ICF Romania’s blog and it can be read here, but since a big part of my community and friends are English speakers not native Romanians I decided to translate it, as well :) Hope you find the information useful for your coaching/mentoring or learning practice :)
Whenever I decide to illustrate my own I think it should be more often :)) and somehow it is easier to have a picture…
Reflective practice - understanding the situation at 360 degrees (journaling without a prompt)
Reflexive practice - learning and challenging yourself to keep growing (journaling with a prompt)
Although people have been writing and using journals for centuries, the therapeutic potential of this reflective writing habit became known to the general public in the 1960s when Dr. Ira Progoff (a New York psychologist) began offering workshops and classes he called the Intensive Journal Method. He had been using a "psychological notebook" with his therapy clients for several years.
His system uses different colored sections for each aspect explored in the writer's life or for each perspective pursued in healing. Progoff's method of journaling became very popular and is still used today in many areas. If you want to discover more on the subject I recommend the book written by him in 71: ”At a Journal Workshop: Writing to Access the Power of the Unconscious and Evoke Creative Ability”.
In my work as a coach, I noticed a few opportunities when I invited my clients to use a journal between sessions we had together, here are some of them:
- Awareness - how they address certain perspectives, how they relate to themselves (what words, descriptions, verbs they choose when it comes to their own actions);
- Long-term clarity by writing down and downloading emotions on a piece of paper leads to understanding and noticing emotional triggers that cause stress and anxiety;
- Form isn’t important may it can be writing, drawing, with colours, pictures, in their mother tongue or another language of choice - the client does a reflective practice and that takes him/her from the zone of haziness into the zone of bringing out the understanding of the phenomenon. It starts a restructuring and leads to action - which makes them feel the need to make things happen and this is reflected in the session - because they go from the neutral zone into the "I will act!" zone. The reflective process is also mentioned in Donald Schon's book (1983 - The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action)
- Infinite space for exploration - writing is a process that activates both brain hemispheres - so there is more chance of seeing solutions, insights, actions, new ideas after the information is distilled into a journal. Capturing things on paper frees up your mental space for new ideas.
When it comes to my ongoing professional development, journaling has really helped me bring relevant topics into supervision, but it has also given me more awareness. And, because I'm a fan of reflective practice, I'll share some of my observations with you:
- Accountability for my own development - taking lots of visual notes helps me visualize directions where I want to learn more or where I feel I have yet to discover things. It makes it easier for me to identify actions needed in the near future for further professional development;
- I identify topics to bring into mentoring sessions or supervision sessions, or even therapy - that's how I make sure I have two conversations from different perspectives and these help me become a better coach for my clients;
- I have a clear picture that my values and beliefs are aligned so I significantly reduce the chances of internal conflicts that could damage relationships with self or others.
If you are just starting out it can be difficult to begin such a process so I include below some examples of formulas you can use. They are designed to make your first steps easier if you want to try reflective journaling for yourself first or perhaps you want to start use them with your clients.
One of the most popular formulas is the 4F (Facts, Feelings, Findings, Future and how we use what we have learned after this process). Questions that can be asked at each step of this process were also exemplified at the ICF conference during the presentation by Madi Rădulescu and Alina Ionescu. (Extra edit - here is my article on the 4F and how to use it)
Another method would be Gibbs' Reflective Cycle created by Graham Gibbs in 1988 to give structure to learning from experiences: Description (what happened), Emotion (what I felt), Evaluation (what went well, what could be improved), Analysis (understand the situation), Conclusion (what you learned), Action Plan (what you will do differently in the future in a similar situation).
Traffic Light Technique
The third and perhaps simplest method, which you probably use when setting targets -it is a great tool to bring into your reflective journal: the traffic light technique: green (go - what's going well, what gives you confidence, what you're ready to try), yellow (slow down - what are the areas where you're moving slowly, ideas where you need support and encouragement, what's not moving at the speed you'd like), red (stop - what's not working, where you're stuck, things or actions you're not yet ready to do, things/actions you want to stop doing).
Whether you choose to do a visual journal, a written journal, or a mix of the two, think about your opportunities as a professional coach, how a journal will support your development? What benefits you see for your clients based on your experience?
Whatever you decide, I hope it brings you joy and good relationships.
