Is Stream Work right for me?
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What is the Stream Work Method?
10 Things Stream Work can help with
What Coaches Can’t Do
How to Set Up a Free Consultation
What is Stream Work?
“Steam work” is the work you do both in a coaching session, and on an ongoing basis to increase flow, meaning, and purpose in your life. The method I prefer for stream work is Jungian coaching with a focus on dialogos.
Jungian Coaching uses principles from Carl Jung’s work, including respect for the unconscious elements of a person, an understanding of the influence of archetypes, and awareness of the power of non-rational experiences such as dreams and rituals, to facilitate individuation.
Dialogos is a dialogue that allows a kind of flow that is similar to the flow defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. During Jungian coaching the openness to “depth” and the intention to clarify and reveal the wishes of the client’s deepest callings reliably creates flow. This is because plumbing the depths of your psyche for wisdom is engaging and challenging, two of the factors needed for flow. I believe that finding that wisdom is both possible and likely for most people, fulfilling the third requirement for flow. Dialogos allows “collective intelligence” to emerge. In other words, dialogos opens up insight that neither participant could reach alone. This is why Jungian Coaching is described as a partnership.
The heart of this special type of dialogue is the practice of asking perceptive questions designed to help strip away unconscious avoidance and self-deception. It can be described as the practice of moving a dialogue from exploration and clarity into insight and a shifted perspective.
The key distinction is that ordinary conversation is based on an exchange of information. Dialogos is seeking to uncover information not known to either person consciously. It also tends to move people from having questions to living questions1. Dialogos is what happens when two people enter the state of unknowing together and something genuinely new emerges between them that neither knew consciously.
A Jungian coach is helpful in this as few people have the opportunity to practice depth work on their own. It is important to understand that the coach doesn’t deliver insight to you, but instead a coach will participate in dialogos with the specific intent to help you uncover hidden aspects of yourself and get in touch with the various parts of your psyche. In this way you get in touch with your own inner wisdom.
10 Things The Stream Work Method Can Help With:
Burnout -- One of the most common experiences in life today is burnout. It is a great time to have an empathetic coach on your side to help uncover the factors in your burnout and clarify what success looks like to your True Self. I can help you recover your energy, form a vision for returning to work, or seek new opportunities.
Career Changes -- (promotions, upgrading skills, retirement) – Coaching can help you find answer to questions like “what now?” or “what’s next?”
Ennui and Feeling Stuck -- Feelings of ennui and “stuckness” often involve a lack of flow and clarity. Tools like the “timeline” technique can clarify the usefulness of existing perspectives and motivate change.
Relationship Patterns -- A coach can help you examine repetitive, often unconscious, patterns in partnerships, family dynamics, or friendships (e.g., always attracting the same type of partner or friend) and find the vision and motivation to change or modify those patterns.
Navigating Major Decisions -- Using tools like dialogos can help you see your inner motivations more clearly and balance your fears, societal expectations, and the desires of your True Self. Then you can make a decision you feel confident about.
Shadow Work -- When old ways of doing things are no longer working, it might be time to look at the parts of yourself you have silenced, sidelined, or closed down. Uncovering and integrating rejected, denied, or unlived parts can reclaim trapped energy, reduce self-sabotage, and allow you to be a more centered and stable person.
Individuation – The process of embracing and becoming who you truly are can be deeply satisfying. Individuation involves seeing all your conscious and unconscious parts and bringing them into harmony with your deepest values, like an orchestra under the direction of the True Self.
Dreams -- Significant dreams contain messages from the unconscious. Freud called dreams the “royal road to the unconscious” and Jung said: “Dreams are the impartial, spontaneous products of the unconscious psyche, outside the control of the will. They are pure nature; they show us the unvarnished, natural truth.” As such they can be a trusted source of guidance when facing difficult people and situations.
Spiritual Questions -- I have been an Anglican, Evangelical, and Agnostic. I embrace my Christian tradition and believe God is “bigger than we think.” Read more about my faith position here. I am also somewhat knowledgeable about Buddhism and Stoicism. Whatever your faith or background, you can be reassured that I will neither try to convert you to my religious position, or try to lead you away from yours. I’m only interested in deepening your connections, and helping you find more clarity, freedom, and a better sense of what is true and real.
Sounding Board - Sometimes you just need someone to listen objectively to your thoughts and ideas and help you sort out the important ones from the ones that you can let go. As a published author and film maker I can help you with creative flow, clarification of topics and themes, and finding what in you needs a voice.
If any of the above fit your needs, or if you just want to have a Jungian perspective on any of your problems or projects, please reach out to me for a consultation.
Coaches Can’t:
Provide a diagnosis of a mental illness.
Provide coaching when a mental illness is complex or untreated.
Provide coaching when a clinician recommends against it.
Provide coaching during a time of active substance use (addiction).
Create a treatment plan or supervise treatment.
Provide clinical counseling or treatment advice.
In addition, I do not coach anyone with a history of violence, or anyone who’s needs are beyond my training. Clinicians can contact me directly to discuss. See e-mail below.
How to set up a Free Consultation
You can set up a free 15 min telephone call or video conference with me about your current situation and goals. It is also an opportunity to ask questions about the process and decide if it is right for you.
See the Fees and Services page for more information.
To set up a call, email me at streamworkcoachingatoutlook.com using the @ symbol instead of the word at. I didn’t use the @ symbol here to prevent spam and unwanted bot traffic.
To “live the questions” means to embrace uncertainty and accept the unresolved rather than rushing to find immediate answers, a concept popularized by poet Rainer Maria Rilke. It ultimately involves feeling questions motivate you on an ongoing basis to find better and more complete harmony with reality, rather than just “find an answer.”