The Elusive “Aha”
The “aha” is a golden moment in coaching. Sometimes it’s quiet and subtle – a shift in tone, a drop in one’s voice, a powerful few seconds of silence. Sometimes it’s loud and blaring: “I can’t believe I didn’t see that!” “Of course I can!” Sometimes a client is surprised when he or she says something that takes his or her own breath away.
A U.K. researcher, Leigh Longhurst, explored the “aha” moment in the model of coaching I use, Co-Active coaching. From the abstract of the research paper:
Findings reveal that the ‘Aha’ moment is experienced somatically and emotionally as well as cognitively, with the striking of many chords across a spectrum of consciousness from body, to mind, to soul, to spirit (Wilber 1989). The more chords it strikes, the greater the resonance and degree of cognitive and behavioural change.
You can download the entire paper here, and read about the theory behind the “aha”.
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