In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila Ainge delves into the themes of human behavior, accountability, and personal growth. She reflects on her experiences with goal setting and introduces a new pod feature, a book review, looking at Neurodiversity Coaching, emphasizing the importance of clean language interviewing in coaching practices. The episode encourages listeners to explore their past selves and consider how they can apply those insights to their current challenges.
Transcripts
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Hi, I'm Leila Ainge and this is a podcast and blog all about human behaviour, bringing
together fascinating research, insights and real life experiences.
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As a psychologist, I'll share how the spaces we live and work in shape who we are.
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This season, we're diving into the fascinating gap between intentions and actions, a
liminal space where plans meet spontaneity.
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and we'll be exploring what it reveals about our identity.
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I'm excited to delve into accountability as a helping hand between intention and making
things happen.
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What's deeply satisfying about accountability for me is how it fits into the fabric of our
social spaces and networks.
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Today's episode is the January review.
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Each month I'll be looking back on podcast episodes with a mix of self-reflection coaching
prompts while sharing thoughts on a psychology book that I've enjoyed reading.
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On the Psychologically Speaking podcast this month, we've explored fresh starts and goal
setting through the lens of seasonality and experience.
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The coaching prompt I've asked you to use is, what has worked for you previously?
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And I shared my own experience of this reflection around running goals in the episode
Ripples of Accountability.
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In doing this, I've been able to recreate some of the accountability I had in place, and
I'm delighted to share that I've consistently increased my running mileage from three
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miles to five this month.
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I've shared my intentions and actions more often with my wider social circle, which has
really worked for my motivation.
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Today, I want you to build on this idea that you have the answers or rather had the
answers.
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As part of my research into imposter phenomenon, I expected to hear about comparison,
especially how women entrepreneurs might compare themselves against others.
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But intriguingly, it was the comparisons that women made against a younger versions of
themselves that showed up more.
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A couple of things could explain why we psychologically reminisce about a younger self.
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There's a smoothing effect that takes place where we create a rose tinted version for
nostalgic purposes.
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Or it could be that we admire our former risk taking.
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because as we get older, we're thought to get more risk averse.
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So today's prompt is, what would a younger you do?
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And how might you bring that person to a problem next month?
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Something new for the podcast.
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Now for something new for the podcast.
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I'm introducing the psychologically
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Now for something new for this podcast, I'm introducing a book review.
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Today we look at the book Neurodiversity Coaching by Nancy Doyle and Almuth McDowell.
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You'll like this book if you feel uncomfortable with the fixing culture of coaching.
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It is my most read book and reference book of 2024.
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I loved the way that the authors frame neurodiversity, that's the concept that brain
differences are natural variations, as potential in the coaching space.
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It steers clear of deficit and gifted language, which is really refreshing.
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And it's more realistic of that.
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unlocking expectation I've found my previous clients bring to the coach space.
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For example, they're more likely to question, how can I do this in a way that works for me
rather than how do I fix this or fix me?
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The section that deeply inspired me, though, was the clean language interviewing.
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This is where as a coach, we practice observing the structure.
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For example, metaphors.
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and how a coachee says something, not just the content of their response to a question.
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In some respects, it's quite close to the psychological and phenomenological interpretive
analysis I enjoy doing.
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And if you've listened to the podcast for a while, you'll know that that's a technique I
used for imposter phenomenon research.
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It places the experience of the participant at the centre of psychology.
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Psychologically speaking, we're very interested in participants' interpretation, not just
the psychologist's.
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And we call this interaction between the psychologist and the participant a double
hermeneutic.
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Doyle and McDowell describe how when we bring this to coach and coachee relationships, it
supports working to a more equal power dynamic.
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And I'm all for that.
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I think every coach should get a copy of this book.
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But...
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It's got potential for neurodivergent folk who are seeking coaching too.
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There's a scarcity of impartial advice for those who want to enter into coaching contracts
in general.
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And it's an unregulated landscape so that being...
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The coaching space is unregulated and it's both a gift and a challenge, but it creates
ambiguity.
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So the book chapters set the scene and provide information on the types of techniques and
context of coaching that I think clients would find helpful to know upfront.
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And if we question the balance of power, this info is usually kept for the coach to know
and the coachee to experience.
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There's no reason why we shouldn't challenge that to practice.
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Have you used or experienced clean language interviewing in your practice, coaching or
work?
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I'd love to hear about your experiences.
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I hope you found this book review helpful.
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I purchased my own copy, it was not gifted to me and I'm not affiliated with the authors
but I am a huge fan of their work.
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Thanks for listening to Psychologically Speaking with me, Leila Ainge, and my usual
reminder to rate, review and share this podcast as it really helps independent podcasters
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like me.
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I've opened up additional coaching slots for 2025.
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My specialities include tackling imposter phenomenon, of course, accountability and
supporting first time directors and business owners, balance growth with joy.
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I also offer one-to-one supervision and group supervision sessions for coaches.
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You can visit my website, www.leilaange.co.uk for pricing and package information and use
the inquiry form
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to book onto a no obligation call.
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That's all for now.
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Psychologically Speaking returns in February where we explore the space between intention
and...
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That's all for now.
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Psychologically Speaking returns next week, February, where we explore the space between
intention and action when it comes to personal and professional identities.
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I'll be joined by the wonderful Katie Cope of Keppel Leopard Creative Agency, where we're
