Conversely, the anticipation in a counselling relationship is that this will more closely resemble a friendship than an intimate relationship. Our body prepares for friendship, much as it does when we meet with a colleague for lunch. What about the coaching relationship? Is it more like a friendship than an intimate relationship? What if coaching, like therapy, releases neurochemicals that replicate intimate relationships? What are the implications for the profession of coaching? I have already mentioned that we must remind ourselves as professional coaches that we are not psychotherapists; yet our neurobiological system might be declaring that we are doing therapy and are “in love” with our client. Boundaries are suddenly important.
Emotions not only provide us with feelings about the world in which we live, they also provide us with the “get-up-and-go” that we need when getting out of bed in the morning or taking decisive action regarding a pressing matter at our worksite. Apparently, one of the most difficult things for human beings to do (concerning neuro-processing) is to move from thought to action. A large portion of our brain “lights up” when we decide to do something (what in the old days we would call “will power.”)
I suspect from a polystatic perspective that the assemblage of multiple parts of the brain to produce action is often (if not always) experienced as an anticipatory emotion (such as “looking forward” to breakfast or receiving praise for taking “courageous” action). It would seem, given these neuroscience findings, that some of the most difficult (and perhaps most important) work that coaches do is assist their clients in moving from thought to action—in helping them “fire up” these multiple portions of their brain.
Empathy, Mirror Neurons, and Coaching
Another major finding that may hold major implications for the field of professional coaching concerns the apparent presence of mirror neurons in our neurophysiological system. Certain neurons will fire when a person is observing someone else doing a task. These neurons tend to mimic the neuronal firings of the person being observed. Thus, when we watch someone performing a physical act, mirror neurons will fire that mimic the neuronal firings in the person being observed. Some of these mirror neurons seem to teach us how to carry out actions by simulating an observed action and creating a neural template/map for how it’s done.
But much more than this, many scientists believe that mirror neurons help us develop our “theory of mind” regarding other people. This is a theory we develop over time during our youth that enables us to understand the intentions behind the actions of others, and possibly the social meaning of their behaviors and emotions. Our mirror neurons may be activating our appreciation of other people and the culture we have created together because we have observed other people appreciating one another and the artistic productions of our culture.
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