A New Orientation
Experimenting with an experiential map as a learning and integration tool
Recently, a few clients asked me a similar question: “How can I best integrate the learning from the sessions?” At the time, in pure coach form, I spun that question around and asked them what worked best for them. “What works for you? Do you go on walks, journal, or something else?” I asked.
But the question and its repetition worked on me. Maybe there was something I was missing. The sessions of these clients had a few things in common. For example, the sessions were longer and incorporated combined approaches of systems sensing and Compassionate Inquiry (CI). (For more information on these approaches, please see the lab page.) Both systems sensing and CI work with our different ways of knowing including the felt senses. In the sessions, clients are invited to notice their present-moment experience. In this process, the mind can often take a ‘back seat’ while the felt senses are turned up. This can include exploring one’s inner or current emotional landscape, mental structures of constructed beliefs and assumptions, and different parts that make up one’s experience or narrative.
These journeys are guided with questions as we move from present-moment experience to present-moment experience, deepening our understanding of a given situation. Through the use of the felt senses, a client can often access greater information and sometimes unveil what is stored in the subconscious. Because of this, I wonder what effects these processes have on memory and recall. For example, at the end of the session, it’s common for a client to ask, “Can you give me a summary of what happened and how we got here?” I usually can share an overview of the main points and I often record the session for this purpose.
My general belief about this work has been that people will digest what they need but what if that belief is missing information? What if there is something else needed to support learning and integration? And if so, what format might be best for recording sensory information and logging key themes and concepts in a session? To answer these questions, I’ve been experimenting with visual maps and ways to record experiential information from sessions.
Here is my first mapping experiment.
The client’s overarching goal was to support the launch of the next phase in her career, particularly bringing her unique offering to the world. We began our work together with a systems sensing format of 2 hours. The approach includes designing a question and elements to explore using different ways of knowing and our felt senses. At the start of this session, there were strong emotions present, so I used Compassionate Inquiry (CI) to understand what was at the heart of them. The learning from the CI session informed the inquiry we used to guide the rest of the session. “How to cultivate trust and a way of orienting herself towards others and the world authentically.” The elements of the inquiry included: (1) Self, (2) a way of being or orienting, (3) connective tissue or heart-mind space, (4) resource, and (5) the unknown.
The images in the map came from her words and visual descriptions throughout the sessions. The sides of the map were more or less a current state of being or what she was transitioning away from and the center image became a representation of a new way of orienting. For example, on the right side of the map, she shared about a tension she experienced in her stomach as a solid mass. As we inquired into it, she realized that the tension was her stomach’s way of “controlling chaos” and “trying to keep everything the same.” We both chuckled when she recognized a pun. “Oh, the weight of duty/doodie.”
On the left side, we explored the “connective tissue,” a metaphor she was using for aspects of her work. What emerged in the session was a connection to a pattern and learned role she played from an early age to “take on the responsibility of others.” The resulting image was what it felt like in her childhood trying to manage the chaos of the household, including her sister who was diagnosed with a mental illness. Fear and love were both present.
A part of her felt stuck “in this position” and that experience was disorienting for her. After some failed attempts, we found a moment for this part of herself that was safe enough to try to move into “the space of the unknown.” From there, she was free to choose a new orientation and a space in the mind that connects to or shares space with the heart, and also to the cosmos or spirit. Once in this position, she could access a sense of belonging and rootedness.
Within these stories, there were artifacts of her journey— a salmon leaping in a river, emotions that surfaced to be released — illustrated by red, blue, and black colored splotches and fears that emerged, in the form of barking dogs. As she faced them, they became submissive and loving. In essence, the map tells a personal story of learning and transformation.
When I shared this map with the client, I did not know what to expect. My initial fear was that I would impose something they did not see or experience. I reiterated the intention that it was a form of written report, but using symbols of key themes rather than words. Luckily, it not only resonated deeply but she felt seen and witnessed in her experience and “in a way that was very healing.” She also liked the playfulness and accessibility of the image “like I used to make in grade school” and asked to take it home. I also enjoyed the process of creating it as my form of integration after a long session.