How do you help someone move forward when fear is holding them back?

In this episode, we explore how to recognise, name, and coach fear in a way that empowers clients to navigate their emotions and achieve meaningful progress.

Fear often shows up in coaching sessions, sometimes explicitly but often disguised as procrastination, indecision, or avoidance.

We dive into practical strategies to coach fear, starting with helping clients name their emotions and connect them to the gap between where they are and where they want to be.

We share real-life examples of how fear shows up, like hesitation about applying for a promotion or anxiety about a major life decision, and how we’ve guided clients through these moments using exploratory questions, visioning, and emotional sequencing.

Coaching fear isn’t just about solving a problem; it’s about unlocking self-awareness and building emotional agility. We discuss how to engage with emotions as allies rather than obstacles and explore ways to help clients see fear as a guide rather than a barrier.

Whether you're a coach or someone looking to understand fear better, this episode will provide you with practical tools to deepen your emotional exploration.

 

Steps to Coach Fear and Emotions

1. Recognise and Name the Emotion
   • Ask questions like, What are you feeling about this? or share observations: I sense there may be fear here—does that resonate?
2. Explore the Gap Between Current and Desired States
   • Help clients identify the emotional gap between where they are and where they want to be.
3. Unpack Emotional Layers
   • Ask deeper questions: What’s beneath this fear? or What happens if you move past it?
4. Use Visioning Techniques
   • Guide clients to imagine the best-case scenario. What will you see, hear, or feel when you achieve this?
5. Examine Emotional Sequences
   • Explore what emotions follow fear. What do you typically feel after fear, and what would you prefer to feel instead?
6. Give the Emotion a Voice
   • Encourage clients to dialogue with their fear: If this fear could talk, what would it say? What does it need?
7. Reframe Fear as a Friend
   • Ask, What if fear is here to guide you? How could it help you achieve your goal?
8. Check for Alignment
   • Ensure the goal aligns with the client’s values, resources, and readiness to act.

 

Key Lessons Learned

1. Fear often masks deeper emotions, like insecurity or doubt.
2. Recognising and naming emotions is the first step to transformation.
3. Emotions are not obstacles—they are guides that reveal what’s truly important.
4. Exploring emotional sequences can help clients build self-awareness and resilience.
5. Aligning goals with emotions and values creates a roadmap for progress.

 

Key Takeaways

• Use curiosity to explore fear as a gateway to deeper self-awareness.
• Guide clients to see fear not as a blocker but as a source of valuable information.
• Engage emotions in a structured way, using tools like emotional sequencing or visioning.
• Create a safe space for clients to unpack their emotions without judgment.
• Apply these steps to your own fears for personal growth and clarity.

 

Timestamps

• 00:13 – 00:46: Introduction—Why fear is central to coaching conversations
• 01:44 – 02:34: The role of fear in the coaching gap
• 03:04 – 04:01: Recognising how fear manifests as indecision or procrastination
• 05:26 – 06:50: Using exploratory questions to uncover hidden emotions
• 07:20 – 08:19: Emotional sequences—what comes after fear?
• 09:40 – 10:34: Giving emotions a voice: engaging with fear as a guide
• 11:47 – 12:45: Why coaching emotions is foundational to growth
• 14:03 – 14:33: Using your own intuition as a coach to sense fear in clients
• 16:25 – 17:50: Practical tools like the emotions wheel to deepen client awareness
• 19:15 – 20:39: Reframing fear as a friend, not an enemy
• 20:47 – 21:17: Final reflections—applying these techniques to your own coaching practice

 

Keywords:

How to coach fear, Coaching emotional awareness, Emotional exploration in coaching, Coaching emotions wheel, Emotional agility for clients, Neuro-Linguistic Programming coaching tools, Reframing fear in coaching, Fear and goal setting, Coaching techniques for fear and emotions, Emotional sequences in coaching,

 

Links:

Emotions Coaching Practitioner Training: www.igcompany.co.uk/emotionscoaching

 

COACHING TRAINING LEVEL 5 https://www.igcompany.co.uk/l5-diploma

COACHING TRAINING LEVEL 7 https://www.igcompany.co.uk/l7-diploma

 

Purchase our bestselling book ”Deciding to Coach”: https://amzn.to/3UvUe9r

Neurodivergent inclusive coaching programme: http://www.igcompany.co.uk/nd

Resources:

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Work with Jo Wheatley as your Emotions Coach https://www.jowheatley.com

Connect with Jo Wheatley on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jo_wheatley_coaching/ 

Connect with Jo Wheatley on LinkedIn https://uk.linkedin.com/in/joannewheatley

Work with Zoe Hawkins as your Courageous Leadership Coach https://www.zoe-hawkins.com 

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Connect with Zoe Hawkins on LinkedIn https://uk.linkedin.com/in/zoehawkinscoach

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