ABSTRACT
The most important element of psychodynamic coaching, and that which most clearly distinguishes it from other coaching approaches, is the use of oneself in the coaching relationship as an instrument in service of the client. The work with and within the relationship is crucial, since most of the coaching themes concern relational patterns – whether they are unconscious, or visible and behavioural. In other words, the coach has one foot in the situation and relationship and the other foot remains, at least temporarily, outside of the relationship. The client projects their expectations of social interaction onto the coach in behaving as if the coach were one of his or her caregivers or another important relationship. Defensive reactions such as rejecting a proposition or hypothesis can be interpreted as the client seeing in the coach an authority figure, such as a parent, which precipitates an urge to resist.
