Boldly Going Where Most Don't Want...

Yet Someday all Will

Article adapted from the work of Dr Don Eisenhauer PCC

Using 'The Coach Approach' at End of life is a process of being with people who are dying and those who are grieving.  This process recognises the person (the one who is dying or the one who is grieving) as the expert of his/her life.  

A person using "The Coach Approach" at End of Life is responsible for creating a ‘safe place’ in which the person feels free to share without self-censorship. person using "The Coach Approach" at End of Life asks powerful questions: questions that are born out of the person’s deep listening.  These questions invite the person to look within to find the answers that are already there, yet have gone unacknowledged. 

The Person using "The Coach Approach" affirms the normalcy of the process of dying and the process of grieving. This particular form of being with another offers a person someone to walk alongside them without offering advice, fixing them, or assuming to know what is right for them.  The Coach Approach honours the person’s wisdom and explores ways for them to live from it.  Transformation occurs when the person is seen and heard in this deep way.

The role of person sharing an End of Life experience with another is one of honour and privilege.  It demands self-awareness in the presence of emotionally uncomfortable circumstances.  It is a role that every healthcare professional, every coach and every person facing at some time or other.  However, like parenthood (at the other end of the life spectrum), it is a role for which many of us have little preparation or training.  

This month, Dr Eisenhauer leads members of the Medical Coaching Learning Community through a powerful training focused on Using the Coach Approach with the Dying and the Grieving.  

If this is an area that particularly resonates with you, find out more about joining the Medical Coaching Learning Community by clicking the link below.  

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