alan chapman

Because of my experience in suicide, and my own recovery and rebirth, having lived through and survived many years’ of life-threatening traumas, and understanding many different perspectives and educational models for navigating life, including to death and whatever follows (some call the ‘journey of the soul’), I am a very good listener, and often simply ‘being listened to’ is fundamental to the healing and growth process. It is a virtual ‘holding’ of someone (is how I imagine it). I reflect, like a mirror and I do not project myself or judge or prescribe. My approach is wholly client-focused, unless I am asked for my views or feedback, and even then I am extremely careful to avoid projecting my own self into someone else’s life and self-view. Necessarily I take a different approach when coaching organisational leaders, in which I have several decades’ experience, and this entails a bigger more sophisticated process, due to the scale and systemic complexities. Whatever, therefore, I am mainly just a mirror: I cannot, nor do I need to, ‘get inside’ someone else’s head/feelings/soul, nor can I ‘get inside’ the systems and ‘corporate souls’ of vast corporations. I can best reflect. Each of us is unique, while also we are each part of the nature of everything as one. To me time and space and other beliefs about energies are human constructs that are used by humans to explain the inexplicable, and so I prefer to wonder about ancient wisdoms and the beauty of now – the present moment. I can adapt according to what people want, and according to their views of what life is and what their personal meaning is. If I know of someone or a resource better able to help (than me) then I will signpost and refer accordingly. I always coach people, and organisational leaders and organisations of people, so that they discover for themselves in their own ways, so that dependency (on me) does not happen; instead so that there is a beautiful cascade of transcendent new leaders. In many ways I am a coach and educationalist and enabler in cascading transcendence.