Coaching at relational depth: a case study

Purpose – This paper aims to describe how organisation coaches can work at relational depth with their clients by exploring the unconscious relational dynamics of the coaching relationship and their links to unconscious dynamics in the client's organisation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on relational psychoanalytic theory of the individual and system psychodynamic theories of organisations to argue that unconscious dynamics that emerge between the coach and client can be understood as: a complex unconscious interaction between how the client and coach organise their relationships; a repetition of how the client participates in unconscious organisation dynamics; and shaping the coach's subjective experience in the work, including their emotional and embodied responses to the client. These propositions are explored through an in‐depth qualitative case study of the author's work with a client. Findings – The case illustrates how unconscious organisation dynamics shaped the client's experience of his role, evoking in him feelings of powerlessness and anger. The coach initially identified with these feelings because of his own relational past. As a result, the relationship became stuck in a repetitive dynamic which could be understood as an expression of the stuck dynamics in the organisation around the unconscious management of anxieties within its management structures. A shift in the coaching relationship was brought about through the coach's disclosure of his own experience and naming of feelings and emotions that were previously implicit and out of awareness in the coaching relationship. The subsequent exploration of the dynamics of the coaching relationship helped the client to understand at a deeper level his struggle in the organisation and to take up a different position in the organisation dynamics. The case study highlights how the dynamics of the coaching relationship can be understood as a repetition of unconscious processes by the client in the organisation. Practical implications – The paper highlights how coaches can understand and work with unconscious dynamics in the coaching relationship. This requires coaches not only to be self‐aware, but also to possess the emotional maturity and confidence to work with difficult emotional material. Originality/value – The paper demonstrates how psychoanalytic theory of individuals and organisations can be integrated into a relational approach to coaching which facilitates the exploration of the client's experience of their work in an organisation context.