The Coach Inner Development with Dreams and Imagery class works with both dreaming and imagery to help coaches develop numerous capacities and ICF Core Competencies in the service of coaching others, including: intuition and self-awareness, hearing and working with metaphor and pattern in client dialogue, determining necessity among numerous challenges or blocks, and identifying self-perspectives that are brought into a coaching session and learning tools to gain additional or different perspectives.
We work on several ICF Core Competencies in the course; especially 2: Embodies a Coaching Mindset, 4: Cultivates Trust and Safety, 5: Maintains Presence, 6: Listens Actively, and 7: Evokes Awareness.
Dreamwork itself builds a capacity to listen beyond words because the unexpected material of dreams forces us to include emotional and energetic shifts when hearing an individual recounting their dream, as well as noticing body language and non-verbal expressions, gestures, and vocal intonations, among other aspects of communication. This same unexpected material also requires us to recognize, and set aside, personal background and contexts and to inquire about and understand the individual’s specific context, life experience and background, beliefs and points of view. This work, therefore, deeply develops Competencies 4,5, and 6.
Our approach to dreaming looks at night dreams as having four, progressive levels of inquiry and discovery, which are moved through in a specific sequence. These include story, pattern, resonance and meaning-making, and what opens out through questions. Moving through these levels also involves identifying conflicts and exploring possible resolutions. In addition, we categorize dreams as belonging to seven distinct categories that correspond to different life experiences, and which each call for specific types of engagement, particularly in overcoming inner blocks. Each of these skills further develops your capacities as a coach.
Dreaming and imagery exercises are based in body awareness and organization, and doing the work serves to reconnect with the body as well as to perceive more attentively the bodily reactions, postures, gestures, and other signals given by clients. Imagery exercises are short prompts given while the participant closes their eyes, and which take no longer than 1 minute.
Learning Objectives Participants will gain:
- Exercises for maintaining emotional regulation before and after client sessions (Competency 2, 4, 5) – a rubric for sifting through client dialogue to recognize deeper levels to what is being expressed and to direct questions toward identifying and opening out the true block presenting in the client (Competencies 6,7).
- Expanded, embodied listening skills that include understanding metaphor as well as non-verbal expressions.
- Self-reflective practices to continue your inner development beyond the class (Competency 2).
All students are welcome, whether or not you have prior experience with dreams, or even feel that you dream (we all dream, and we will provide tips so that your dream recall will increase upon joining the class). Classes are capped at 20 participants.
In addition to each class of 2 hours, participants will have approximately one hour/week (usually spread over several activities) of asynchronous work.
Winter 2025
Wednesdays | January 14 – April 1, 2025
7:00 am – 9:00 am Eastern US
Facilitator: Bonnie Buckner
Spring 2025
Tuesdays | April 29 – July 15, 2025
10am – 12pm Eastern US
Facilitator: Anna Nowicka
Fall 2025
Tuesdays | September 9 – December 15, 2025 **
6:00 am – 8:00 am Eastern US
Facilitator: Bonnie Buckner
**Note – no classes on September 23, October 7 or October 14
Via Zoom (live, synchronous classes)
Classes are capped at 20 participants per class.
Classes are two hours each, for twelve weeks – total 12 classes/24 hours synchronous work. They are held on Zoom, with students requested to arrive with camera on, as the work is experiential and participatory. We keep classes capped at 20 participants so that there is ample participation and individual attention.
Homework in between classes totals approximately one hour per week total, and consists of daily or one-time short, experiential noticing exercises or work around dreams, in addition to keeping a dream journal and recording nightly dreams.
Facilitators are available between classes via email (or Zoom/WhatsApp if needed) to answer questions and provide support. Because classes are experiential and include group work, we require each person to participate with camera on.
The first session will be didactic, organized around explaining our particular lens for working with dreams. Subsequent sessions will alternate between experiential learning sessions, wherein the group works with an actual night dream from one of the participants, and experiential sessions using imagery exercises (short, guided prompts) to explore topics around blocks and possibilities as they appear in the category of dream that the group explored the previous week.
While the class is centered around the coach’s inner development, emphasis is placed throughout on application to client sessions.
