Chronicles
17 November 2023
Life coaching embraces humanism
Life coaching embraces humanism, a dynamic philosophical current that drives its professional practice.
But what exactly does this term “humanism” mean in the context of life coaching?
What values underlie its central place in this discipline? What type of humanism does life coaching adhere to?
A type? Yes, first observation is necessary: humanism is plural. In the West, since Greek Antiquity, various currents have contributed to shaping a vision of man in harmony with his environment, thus reflecting the constraints, the questions, and the social, educational, and spiritual demands of the moment.
Humanism goes back as far as humans have sought to reflect on their condition and transcend it beyond their animality. This is how the idea of permanent self-questioning and an inner journey emerges.
Humanism favours man and human values
Humanist philosophy places men at the heart of its concerns, recognizing man as an essential value. However, far from any narcissism, it encourages the individual to adjust within themselves and face the impermanence of the living world around them, in all its forms.
Humanism is not just a thought or a concept. It is also an experience, a meeting of the body, the psyche and the soul within consciousness. It is a phenomenological encounter where the subject presents itself to consciousness as it is, where it is, here and now.
This experience is naturally part of a perspective of movement, evolution and transformation. It's a way of understanding the world, of meeting it and finding your place, your true place!
It is about affirming faith in human beings, in their resources, so that they can become more autonomous, more conscious and choose the existence that suits them. Humanism reminds us that everyone is the bearer of their own dignity and fulfillment.
Humanism encourages us to become aware of what is hitherto unknown, ignored and unexploited in oneself and in one's relationships with others and the surrounding world. It calls for movement, questioning, and everyone's capacity for exploration.
Humanism, as we understand it, does not reduce the individual to his existence. It naturally opens up to what is other, different, beyond the narrow contingencies of the individual. It encourages one to open oneself to interior and exterior experiences, to question and question oneself, to remain available to what emerges and presents itself within oneself and to oneself.
Humanism views human nature as potentially evolving, driven by a profound movement favourable to self-fulfillment and self-realization. It is to this vision that life coaching refers and to the values it engenders.
Humanism channels many values…
Humanism is a set of structuring and pervasive values from which life coaching is inspired. It doesn't just blindly believe in others. When integrated into a relational system such as life coaching, humanism contributes to the emergence of free will and personal accomplishment in harmony with its environment.
It teaches that human beings have not only the potential for self-realization, but also the capacity to rise in a manner favourable to themselves, to evolve towards increasingly righteous inner states and to become gradually what it can be.
The practice of support, inspired and impregnated by this humanist current, offers space and consideration to the relationship, time and attention given to a person, to the expression of strong values such as welcome. Unconditional, benevolence, dignity, free will, tolerance, listening, altruism, fraternity, compassion, joy…
Wouldn't humanism simply be a legitimate aspiration to become more human?
Humanism is believing in the possibility of reinventing a new existence at any moment and thus choosing what makes it up. It is a way of re-engaging one's life story, of rethinking it and embodying it. Life coaching, or humanist coaching, precisely supports this questioning, this evolution, this maturation, this possible transformation…
Is a life coach always humanist?
That would be presumptuous. On the other hand, the coach tries to put his practice, his support, his presence at the service of humanism. Humanism is a practical philosophy, anchored in daily reality, encouraging coached persons to discover themselves, to free themselves from constraints and sterile repetitions, to finally accomplish themselves freely, fully, with joy and awareness!