Our Unitive® coaching workshop provides a real oasis right in the heart of London where a group forms for a weekend and explores being in the here and now. Being more present than in our usual busy lives, I found that we were able to have honest and open exchanges in this safe environment.

I find it fascinating that members of the group build a rapport with each other without much, if any, of the usual small-talk information about each other. It is refreshing not to dwell on the life histories or CVs of other group members, but simply to meet another human being in the here and now.

Facilitated by Dr Charles Bentley, founder of the Unitive® Coaching approach to personal and professional development, the group finds its own unique dynamic and we see each other as we present ourselves in that moment, without all the stereotypes that might otherwise get in the way after giving a brief personal biography.  Our masks, at least for a day or two, can be allowed to fall away – they aren’t needed in this environment as there is nothing to protect ourselves from.

That, for me at least, is one of the main messages of the Unitive® coaching approach, that being more authentic, being more ourselves, is about letting go of the masks that we’ve been used to wearing and letting go of the outmoded ways of operating that we’ve picked up. We don’t learn to be authentic – we unlearn to be unauthentic! It is about letting go of stuff, not acquiring something new.

Letting go of our favourite strategies for a day or two in a Unitive® coaching workshop can give us a glimpse of what it is to be more authentically ourselves and gives me the enthusiasm to continue on the journey back to the real me.

Andy Turnbull
Unitive® Coaching Team