1. How have you been using the Immunity-to-Change approach?

I have been using Immunity-to-Change quite extensively as I have taken a large number of individual clients on board for my practice period. But right from the beginning, my prime focus was on a self-exploring ITC journey which led me to conclude that continuous self-learning lies at the heart of effective ITC coaching.

The combination of significant self-learning together with a variety of client experience helped me familiarise with the method, understand each and every step in-depth and see it from different angles. It helped my self-awareness both as an individual and as a coach but it also gave me a lot of data about the many different challenges of the ITC journey.

I have also been using ITC for group coaching which proves to be very powerful when the group is open to new learning. What I observe is that when there is openness in the group the dynamics are different as the participants have a feeling of belonging while self-exploring.

2. What about this project was most exciting, gratifying, or illuminating for you as a facilitator/coach?

ITC is a solution-based approach with measurable results for both the client and the coach. The method proved to be practical and at the heart of organizational effectiveness. You need a clear goal, a diagnosis, tailor-made survey feedback and a destination with clear milestones. And you need to envision and define success measurement before you can start the real work. But defining the goal is critical for the end result and engaging the client to self-exploration that leads to the root of the problem is challenging. While practicing and trying and testing I realized that helping the client envision and define success is a key step not to be surpassed. And as I do so, I empower them to raise their expectations high.

What excites me furthermore is that althogh the method has been applied successfully within organizations for many years Bob and Lisa are constantly enhancing it with a learner's attitude.

3. If you could share one or two key lessons learned or best practices from this experience, what would they be?

My key lesson is that 'knowing' prevents us from seeing new possibilities and -as such- locks potential. This observation has changed my coaching approach tremendously. I now enter the relationship with an attitude to explore rather than offer solutions. This creates a containing environment for the client to discover by themself the real obstacles to not acheiving their goals. They then engage in self-learning that helps them overcome their obstacles and experience meaningful progress.

4. What feedback, if any, have you gotten from your client(s) or any relevant stakeholders (bosses of the client, their family, etc)? What kind of results did your client(s) experience from the coaching?

Clients often come to me eager to talk about their challenges and early in the discussion the focus goes on their colleagues, their peers, their boss, or the economy. That’s what they can’t solve. As we create an ITC map together, they begin to see how they actually become the main contributors to their own obstacles. Clients find the method very effective and realize that lasting change starts from the inside. Throughout our work they find out that the solutions to our complaints lie with just us. Overall the result is that understanding themselves better, they become more effective in addressing their own challenges but also in communicating with others.

Since my mission is to coach for lasting change, my focus is particularly on how my clients perform after we have concluded the programme. There is where I can measure whether meaningful change has been achieved. So I follow up for proven lasting change.

We continued and expanded our interview with Sonia- please click the video below.

If you have questions for Sonia or want to talk with her about her work, please feel free to contact her directly at contactme@soniageorgiadou.com.

Please check back here periodically to read about and see more ITC Practitioner stories!

1. How have you been using the Immunity-to-Change approach?

I offered an Immunity to Change workshop in Spring 2011 to 64 clients of the Los Angeles County Mental Health Department. Three groups participated in four day-long workshops over a three-month period. To qualify, they had to be fairly high functioning and have a strong desire to make a major change—from client to “client leader”—preparing to serve as leaders with peers, in the community, or with the mental health system itself.

Having passed the standards of the medical model (e.g., "Are you coping successfully with your health issue?"), they now took on the challenge of a developmental model (e.g. "So now that I’m healthier, what do I want to do with my life?"). For example, a Laotian woman whose family and church had stigmatized her when her bipolar disorder went out of control is now on a mission to help her community understand and support the recovery process. Her Column 1 improvement goal was to learn to be effective as a public speaker. At the graduation ceremony, she gave a powerful speech that met with wild applause.

2. What about this project was most exciting, gratifying, or illuminating for you as a facilitator/coach?

For me the most heartwarming aspect of this workshop experience was when clients started challenging and supporting each other, sharing their own life experiences in powerful ways. For instance, one woman who had lost custody of her children because of mental illness expressed how her own sense of self worth seemed tied to whether her children accepted her and were returned to her custody. Two other women replied passionately, “Yes, do everything in your power to regain custody, but don’t stake your own self worth on that or on their accepting you.” She began to question her Big Assumptions about the basis of her own self worth, which reframed the whole situation.

3. If you could share one or two key lessons learned or best practices from this experience, what would they be?

I had learned from Bob Kegan that growth requires a judicious blend of challenge and support, but I had no inkling that such a powerful connection with one another would develop in the three groups. The way they passionately challenged and supported each other became a kind of crucible for growth. I think many of them had learned to do this in support groups or 12-step groups, and having an extended period of time together (four workshops over a three month period) made it possible for them to really bond. Love is powerful.

4. What feedback, if any, have you gotten from your client(s) or any relevant stakeholders (bosses of the client, their family, etc)? What kind of results did your client(s) experience from the coaching?

The client evaluations were both qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative section used a scale of 0 to 5. Asked how much positive impact this program had on their lives, 90% rated it 4 or 5. By a score of 4 or 5, 97% recommended that the Department offer this program again.

Here are a few quotations from the qualitative section:

• I have learned to peel back the layers of the onion to discover [my] true inside goodness.

• I’m getting my swagger back.

• I broke with four years of passivity and abusive relationship.

• Dr. Silva has changed my life. He has given me a chance to identify my potential and to obtain all of my positive qualities.

• I have tapped into my self-confidence and self-esteem. I realize that I am a force to be reckoned with.

We continued and expanded our interview with Jim - please click the below video to see it.

If you have questions for Jim or want to talk to him about his work, please feel free to contact him directly at inbox4jim@gmail.com.

Please check back here periodically to read about and see more ITC Practitioner stories!