The majority of the 11 experienced coaches I spoke to as part of my research into imagery’s use concluded that it could be an invaluable tool both to generate quick solutions and to support deeply transformative change.Many psychotherapists use imagery as a way to help their clients connect with their own inner creativity and wisdom, and there are numerous writers on this subject.
In coaching, imagery tends to be used as part of a number of techniques or orientations. Examples include the “miracle question” of solution-focused coaching; the use of imagery in neuro-linguistic programming, linked to the power of metaphors as discussed by Lawley and Tompkins and based on David Grove’s clean language process; and the creation of a desired future as part of the appreciative inquiry model.
In psychotherapy, imagery draws on the concept of the unconscious. It is often described as “below” or “lower” but some models describe a “higher” unconscious, a source for our higher drives, such as love, altruism, artistic and scientific creativity or genius, oneness with nature and spiritual vision. Roberto Assagioli refers to this as our super-conscious
Imagery is seen as the language of the unconscious, a key that unlocks the link between our conscious state (our present) and the unconscious/super-conscious. Many writers believe thinking in pictures achieves a closer representation of people’s inner reality or unconscious processes than words.
The psychotherapeutic literature shows how imagery is used and described in many ways. One key distinction is the image’s origin. Imagery can be provided by the coach, as in guided imagery, or the image can come freely from the client. Exercise 2 in the panel on the previous page is a mix of both, with the coach providing the structure and the client the content. Here the client can actively create the image or be in a more receptive mode, allowing images to “emerge” intuitively. This often says more about the situation than the client expects, and can lead to valuable insights.
On occasion, clients may get “stuck” with a certain aspect of themselves say, a sub-personality. They may express it along the lines of: “I can’t stop being sad/angry/anxious/working such long hours,” and so on. At this point, it can be useful to use a guided image that Ferrucci refers to for imagining our sub-personalities (the different parts of us that are responsible for a particular frame of mind) and the control the client can gain over them:
“One afternoon… I had an image of myself sitting in the middle of a circle of African huts, and in each one of them lived my sub-personalities. Up to then they had been so strong that they could take turns in grabbing at me until one succeeded in holding me prisoner for a while. It might have lasted for 10 minutes or 10 years; I had no control.”
I have found this to be a powerful image, allowing clients to regain some control by recognising which “hut” they are in, how long they are prepared to stay there and whether they might just escape, if only briefly at first. I invite clients to go into that hut and talk to that part of themselves. When they are ready I invite them to go into another hut, if appropriate, to talk to another part of themselves. This can be a useful exercise for people who feel they have two opposing parts of their personality, and it may help them to find a third point of conciliation between the two.
My research showed that coaches use many methods to allow images to emerge: from magazines to drawings, sounds, music, touch, smell, or through words. The outcomes achieved were broad, dealing with goal-setting, helping clients to get over barriers, generating alternative solutions and creating a shareable language with the client.
Many felt it provided a quicker and potentially more accurate way of understanding the client’s thinking, resulting in a deeper-level change that one coach described as “a fundamental breakthrough in the way they think of something”. But its use comes with a health warning. Imagery can be intensely powerful. Coaches need to know how they will deal with the images that emerge, where to tread and where not to tread for example, when clients are particularly fragile or perhaps even have a delicate hold on reality.
Many advanced coach training courses will explore that area. And supervision can help to identify any contra-indications for imagery and ensure that the meanings are the client’s and not those of the coach.
Exercises in imagery
Briefly, make the client comfortable. For example, get them to become conscious of their body being relaxed and note their breathing.
Guided exercise
Ask the client to draw three pictures: a) how they see themselves; b) how they think others see them; and c) how they would like to be seen (their positive future).
Guided and free exercise
Ask the client to journey, in their imagination, to the top of a mountain or hill where they will meet a “wise being” who will either speak or give them something that has some bearing on their current concern. Allow time for this to happen and on return of awareness to the room, perhaps ask them to draw their object or simply make some notes about the experience. Then explore further, asking them, for example, what the object symbolises, what their associations are with it, or how
their understanding might help them with a particular issue or question they had.
Free exercise
Ask the client to consider an image that represents, for example, the positive future they desire. It may be something from nature, daily life, a symbol, a shape or a character from a story or myth. Get them to note its tone, colour, how it feels. The client may want to note it down or even draw it, before you gently bring them back to the room.
In each case the exercise may help the person to discover that the solutions are within themselves and exploration is the key. For more exercises, Ferrucci’s and Macbeth’s books are both recommended.
One client’s experience
John is a middle manager torn between the practical demands of his daily operational role and his more strategic leadership role. He spends many hours at work and describes his life as out of balance and stuck. His high stress levels make it hard for him to deal with even minor setbacks and retain his perspective. He views coaching as potentially something that will help him either to transform his time at work or support him in finding a new career path and develop the confidence to leave.
With John’s agreement we used guided exercise 1. After he had finished the exercise I asked him to explore the pictures he had drawn, describing the content, shapes and colours that were significant for him.
Picture 1 revealed more than a couple of sessions of words might have achieved, showing a lot of distress. Even the colours were significant for him.
Picture 2 provided a vivid depiction of the contextual background and of the impact John was concerned he was having on those around him.
Picture 3 showed a positive view of how John’s future could be with a change in colours, background and mood (linked to appreciative inquiry, NLP and solution-focused coaching). Importantly, this came from the client and made explicit in symbolic form some of the values the client held dear.
Over the next couple of sessions we linked these images to specific areas of John’s life and work and what he aspired to, unlocking ways for him to achieve what was highlighted by the picture.
Learning points
- Judge the moment, the client and the best fit – is imagery the right tool?
- Listen to the client’s words and explore the imagery in their own language.
- Always value the client’s meaning – reinforcing that the solutions are within themselves.
- Practise the use of imagery in a situation where feedback is available, such as professional body co-coaching forums.
- Consider contra-indications: imagery may not always be appropriate.
- Use guided and free imagery.
- Have regular supervision – imagery is a powerful tool.
Further information
About the author
After many years at the BBC, Eve Turner left last autumn to work as a coach and consultant. She is currently completing her MSc dissertation at Portsmouth University Business School on the master’s course in coaching and development jointly run by Performance Consultants and The Performance Coach. She is an Association for Coaching and BBC accredited coach.
eve@eve-turner.com www.eve-turner.com 07768 070361
References
- E Turner, “Does a picture paint a thousand words? The use of imagery in coaching”, AC Bulletin, spring 2007 (11), pp6-9: www.associationforcoaching.com/pub/ACB0705.pdf
- Writers include R Assagioli (1975), P Ferrucci (1982), R F Hobson (1985), C Jung (1968) and B Somers (2002).
- S Palmer, A Grant and B O’Connell, “Lost and found”, Coaching at Work, vol 2, issue 4, July/August 2007, pp22-30.
- J Lawley and P Tompkins, Metaphors in Mind: Transformation Through Symbolic Modelling, The Developing Company Press, 2000.
- J M Watkins and B J Mohr, Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of Imagination, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001, pp134-5.
- R Assagioli, Psychosynthesis, Turnstone Press, 1975, p17.
- I Gordon-Brown, “Guided imaging and fantasy techniques”, 1975, p5. Unpublished article given to students at the Centre for Transpersonal Psychology, London. D Whitmore, Psychosynthesis Counselling in Action, Sage, 1991, p47.
- P Ferrucci, What We May Be, Turnstone Press, 1982, p36.
Further reading
- R Bly, Human Shadow, Element Books Limited, 1992.
- M Crampton, “The use of mental imagery In psychosynthesis”, Journal of Humanistic Psychology (9), 1969, pp139-153.
- A Dunbar, “Using metaphors with coaching”, AC Bulletin, autumn 2005 (6), pp1-6: www.associationforcoaching.com/pub/ACB0510.pdf
- R F Hobson, Forms of Feeling – The Heart of Psychotherapy, Tavistock Publications, 1985.
- R A Johnson, Inner Work, HarperCollins, 1986.
- C Jung, Man And His Symbols, Dell Publishing, 1968.
- J Macbeth, Sun Over Mountain, Gateway Books, 1991.
- B Somers, with I Gordon-Brown, Journey Into Depth – A Transpersonal Perspective, Archive Publishing, 2002.
Volume 3, Issue 1