Testimonial of 20 coaching sessions

I have just got a testimonial from a client who has received 20 coaching sessions over the past almost two years. I am happy to share it with you below. Please note that the original is in Japanese. This is its English version, translated by me.

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I have just had the 20th session of personal coaching that I have had on an ongoing basis over the past almost two years. I want to reflect a little on what the sessions have been like for me during this time.

I decided to have a coach because I was going to be leading a team at work in six months at that time. A psychiatrist friend of mine recommended coaching when I asked him what activities I could consider as my preparation. The friend, who had a coach himself, told me how effective it was. My main concern was whom I would choose for my coach. My friend advised that the coach-client relationship needed to be at a reasonable distance and that it would only be effective if I respected and trusted the coach enough myself. I was wondering who would be a good match for me. It was exactly then that I had synchronicity. I received an invitation from an acquaintance of mine, Chizu-san, to a coaching experience. That was really a moment of "Watari-ni-fune「渡りに船」", a Japanese saying for "the right tool that appears exactly when you are needing one". I responded immediately that I wanted to be coached by her.

For me, coaching is an opportunity to illuminate my inner self, identify and delve into challenges/issues and explore actions for resolution and improvement. When I thought about how to describe coaching, what came to mind was the Buddha of Kamakura. For me, coaching means physically going inside the Buddha statue, lighting all over it with a flashlight from the inside to check its condition, and if I find something that needs to be repaired, I plan and implement the plan. The coach is the one who takes care of the batteries in the torch, tells me if there are areas that are not fully illuminated, and brings me a bottle of water in case I am thirsty.

The coach helps me look at myself, but that is literally a help or support, which means she does not lead the process or offer a specific tip. It is solely up to me to decide what issues I want to address and how I want to delve into them. On the flip side, depending on my approach, I may not get any fruit from the coaching. Then I, as the client, start to wonder what preparations I should make to make the coaching session fruitful, but I have come to the conclusion that it is better not to make any preparations, except for being mindful of not making it a session for a session's sake.

I am writing about what coaching is, as I have experienced, but some people may still wonder how effective coaching can be in reality. In fact, the impacts are far greater than you might imagine. The issues and challenges that you may be feeling latently will be brought to the surface in a coaching session. I believe that the success of this process depends on the collaboration and partnership between the coach and client. Even a relatively sensitive person like me has been able to sit face-to-face with myself during the sessions and identify challenges and even the solutions to these challenges despite the presence of another person (coach). That is not just thanks to the coaching space made available for me. I think that really depends on the coaching method, the qualities of the coach who controls it and the compatibility between the coach and me.

There are values and behaviours in my life that I have discovered in coaching sessions. Some of these have become habits and have changed my life in no small way. All of these achievements were difficult to find on my own. From the smallest realisation to a life-expanding transformation, discovering the unilluminated parts of my inner self is almost like exploring the unknown. Placing myself in the driving seat, I intend to continue expanding my life possibilities with the support of Chizu-san and her coaching.