The starting point is whatever works best for you
The best approaches engage all parts of the brain - conscious and unconscious, rational and emotional, mind and body. Good coaches start from what is easiest to engage with.
Left brain methods work directly with your conscious awareness / cognitive thinking, eg via:
- Listening with attention focused on emotions, unconscious assumptions and attitudes
- Using maps and models which help provide a new focus or perspective
(simple 2x2 grids, personality types eg NEO / MBTI / Centaur, Transactional Analysis etc)
- Working with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) based approaches
Right brain / experiential methods are often more powerful in enabling change and work directly with your unconscious awareness / sensory systems, eg via:
- Work with images, drawing, visualisation, and story telling
- Empty chair / two chair enactment (and other forms of "real play")
- Observing (and working with) the patterns of interaction between coach and client
- Physical mapping of systems (ultimately including "constellations")
Ongoing regular practices are what embed the learning and make changes permanent.