Anxious feelings coaching involves various techniques and approaches tailored to help individuals manage and reduce anxiety. These methods focus on fostering positive emotions, identifying strengths, and promoting acceptance and mindfulness to improve overall well-being.
Here are some elements of anxious feelings coaching, As would be used by an anxiety coach:
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT): This approach aims to increase positive emotions, helping clients improve their lives. Instead of dwelling on negative affect, SFBT uses techniques to create a positive atmosphere where problems can be transformed. It involves:
- Future-oriented questions: Asking how clients will feel when their best hopes are met or what will be different when they are moving in the right direction.
- Identifying past successes: Exploring previous successes and competences to trigger positive emotions.
- Using imagination: Employing techniques like the miracle question to expand ideas and activities.
- Compliments and competence questions: Noticing and complimenting clients’ competence and resources.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT focuses on accepting anxious thoughts and feelings rather than trying to control them. The goal is to change the relationship with these experiences, allowing clients to live according to their values.
- Mindfulness: Encouraging clients to pay attention to the present moment and observe their thoughts and sensations without judgment. Mindfulness is used as a defusion strategy to help clients experience their experiences fully.
- Experiential exercises: Using exercises to help clients make contact with feared and avoided thoughts, feelings, memories, and physical sensations. This helps clients to recontextualise and accept these private events.
- Values-driven behaviour: Encouraging clients to behave in ways aligned with their values, despite their anxiety.
- Emotional willingness: Choosing to experience anxiety without trying to change it, being open and accepting of the experience.
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP): NLP techniques aim to reprogramme the brain to eliminate stress and fear. This involves altering perceptions and responses to triggers.
- Timeline Therapy: Addressing past memories and learned behaviours stored in the subconscious mind to alter anxiety.
- Language of Suggestion: Using suggestive language to influence and establish credibility with clients.
- Embracing Anxiety: This approach views anxiety as a vital emotion that helps individuals get things done. It involves:
- Conscious Questioning: Supports the work anxiety is already doing, channeling it in appropriate directions.
- Defining Boundaries: Setting clear boundaries around tasks and deadlines to manage anxiety effectively.
- Grounding and Focusing: Using techniques to stay present and manage anxiety.
- Rejuvenation: Practices for emotional and physical well-being to balance anxiety.
- Solution-Focused Questions: Solution-focused coaching involves the use of specific questions to help clients move forward. Examples include:
- “How can you comfort yourself? Who can comfort you, even if only a little bit?”.
- “How will you celebrate your victory over anxiety?”.
- Moving problems from internal to external using language: for example, shifting from “I am anxious” to “Anxiety has been visiting me for a while”.
Summary: Anxious Feelings Coaching
Anxious feelings coaching uses various approaches including solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and embracing anxiety, to foster positive emotions, encourage acceptance, and manage anxiety effectively, enabling individuals to lead more fulfilling lives.
Tags:
Anxious feelings coaching, SFBT, ACT, NLP, mindfulness, acceptance, solution-focused, emotional regulation, values-driven behaviour, embrace anxiety.