The Handbook of Knowledge-Based Coaching: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

SOMATIC COACHING AND THE PIONEERS

Somatics is from the Greek word soma, which literally translates as “the living body in its wholeness” (Strozzi-Heckler, 2007, p. 93). A somatic approach to coaching requires the coach to understand the body as fundamental to learning and to change. Strozzi-Heckler, a pioneer and expert in the fields of coaching and leadership, trains coaches in how to coach from this vantage point. The coach learns how to observe the movement of the individual and the shape of his or her physicality, and to recognize how these impact his or her thinking and responses to life. The coach transcends the traditional understanding that mind is separate from body, and works on the assumption that working with the “whole” can produce ...