Methods & Techniques

Acceptatie & Commitment Therapy

When employees learn effective strategies for navigating challenges, managing difficult interactions with colleagues, and handling workplace dynamics, it leads to a more resilient workforce and helps prevent burnout and unnecessary absences.

In our 7-session Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) program, participants acquire six essential skills for dealing with distressing thoughts, emotions, and sensations in a transformative way. Our focus is not on immediate problem-solving or resistance.

ACT is a recognized and evidence-based therapeutic approach. It emphasizes that attempting to evade challenging thoughts or feelings through distractions, procrastination, complaining, or self-sacrifice often amplifies their impact, ultimately resulting in increased stress.

An alternative approach is embracing acceptance, allowing these difficult thoughts to exist without necessarily embracing them. The goal is to prevent them from gaining more control over your life. By conserving your mental energy, you can redirect your focus towards genuinely significant pursuits. Our core aim is to enhance individuals’ “psychological flexibility.”

This translates to having the adaptability to navigate situations, thoughts, and emotions adeptly, even when they are arduous or distressing. Simultaneously, it empowers you to make purposeful choices that align with your life’s meaningful objectives.

Dutch class in Hoorn or online:

All sessions are from 9-11 AM at Lepelaar 2 in Hoorn, or you can participate online via Zoom.

Benefits of ACT

• You experience greater “ease” in your life
• You respond more resiliently to setbacks and disappointments
• You possess practical tools to take concrete action
• You feel a heightened sense of self-control

Solution-Focused Coaching

Solution-Focused Coaching is a method we utilize when there is a need for change. For instance, learning to say ‘no’ when you mean ‘no’ or saying ‘yes’ when you mean ‘yes’. We operate under the belief that individuals already possess the necessary tools within themselves, and our role is to connect you with them. We focus on identifying what is effective, enabling you to regain control over the situation.

Engaging in the process of solution-focused coaching involves embracing several key principles that can facilitate personal growth and positive change. These principles aim to empower individuals by encouraging them to take active control of their lives and make meaningful transformations. Let’s explore these principles in more detail:

1. Amplify What Works: A central tenet of solution-focused coaching is to identify and amplify the behaviors, actions, and strategies that are already yielding positive outcomes in an individual’s life. By recognizing and building upon these strengths, individuals can enhance their sense of self-efficacy and create a foundation for further success. This approach involves acknowledging achievements and replicating effective approaches across different aspects of life.
2. Shift Focus to Success: Shifting the focus from problems to successes is pivotal in solution-focused coaching. Instead of dwelling on challenges and obstacles, individuals are encouraged to explore instances when they have achieved their desired outcomes or experienced progress. By analyzing these exceptional moments, individuals can gain insights into their own capabilities and begin to understand how they can replicate success in other areas.
3. Identify Personal Strengths: Solution-focused coaching highlights the importance of self-awareness and self-discovery. It involves recognizing and harnessing one’s unique strengths, skills, and abilities. Through introspection and guided reflection, individuals gain a deeper understanding of their competencies, which can then be harnessed to overcome challenges and attain their goals.
4. Future-Oriented Perspective: Solution-focused coaching places a strong emphasis on envisioning a positive future. By directing attention toward what an individual aspires to achieve and the positive changes they want to make, the coaching process becomes forward-looking and inspiring. This future-oriented approach helps individuals set clear intentions, make informed choices, and take purposeful actions aligned with their goals.
5. Focus on Influence: A key element of solution-focused coaching is directing attention toward factors that individuals have the ability to influence. This involves recognizing that while some circumstances may be beyond one’s control, there are aspects of life where personal agency and decision-making can make a significant impact. By channeling energy and efforts toward areas of influence, individuals can create meaningful changes and progress.
6. Embrace Exceptions: Solution-focused coaching invites individuals to explore exceptions to their challenges. This means looking at moments when the problem or issue was not present or was less severe. Analyzing these exceptions provides valuable insights into the conditions and actions that contribute to positive outcomes. By understanding the factors that lead to success, individuals can replicate these conditions and behaviors to achieve their goals.

Incorporating these principles into solution-focused coaching can empower individuals to take charge of their personal development journey. By amplifying strengths, shifting focus to successes, recognizing personal abilities, adopting a future-oriented perspective, concentrating on areas of influence, and embracing exceptions, individuals can navigate challenges, make meaningful changes, and cultivate a more fulfilling and purposeful life.

Benefits

• Practical Tools at Your Disposal
• Brief and Swift Utilization of Your Own Resources
• Empowerment to Navigate on Your Own

Focusing involves learning to listen to the body’s signals, thereby bringing genuine feelings and needs to the surface. Focusing is a form of self-inquiry, an attentive ‘listening’ to inner signals—gestures, bodily sensations, emotions, images, thoughts, or metaphors.

In Focusing, you pause to explore your inner world in a kind, inviting, and open manner. The sensation or ‘something’ within you is gently encouraged to share its story or convey its message. Often, this process coincides with a shift in the experienced feeling. This creates space for unprocessed experiences, opening the door to potential movement and change in situations where you feel stuck. Focusing is a self-guided practice and can be effectively done alone in various scenarios. It has been observed that Focusing becomes more accessible and yields deeper insights when practiced in the presence of another.