Expert Insights
Specialist terms from A to Z
Specialist terms from A to Z
Agile Management
An approach that emphasizes flexibility and adaptability. Agile management enables organizations to react quickly to change while keeping an eye on the needs and well-being of employees.
Balanced Scorecard
A performance measurement tool that takes into account financial and non-financial factors. It provides a holistic view of an organization’s performance and helps with strategy implementation.
Business Process Reengineering
A radical redesign of existing processes to improve the performance of an organization. This approach often involves an in-depth review and restructuring to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
Change Management
The art of not just managing change in organizations, but designing it in such a way that it is accepted and experienced positively by employees. It is about taking the emotional side of change into account and creating a space for dialog and understanding.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
A corporate strategy that integrates social, ecological and economic responsibility. CSR encompasses ethical behavior, sustainability and commitment to the community.
Digital Transformation
The process by which companies integrate digital technologies to improve their processes and offerings. This transformation is fundamentally changing how companies operate and create value.
Diversity & Inclusion
The creation of an inclusive and diverse work environment that recognizes and values the uniqueness of each employee. This fosters an environment of openness and respect where everyone feels comfortable.
Employer Branding
The process of building an attractive employer brand. This includes developing a strong corporate culture that attracts and retains talent.
Empowerment
The practice of giving employees more autonomy and responsibility. This strengthens self-confidence and initiative and creates a culture in which innovation and creativity can flourish.
Innovation Management
The process of promoting and implementing new ideas and approaches in an organization. Innovation management encourages employees to think creatively and develop new solutions.
Communication Management
The design and maintenance of effective communication channels both within the company and externally. This includes open and transparent communication, which is essential for building trust and understanding.
Conflict Management
The ability to handle conflict in a way that is constructive and leads to solutions that are acceptable to all parties. Good conflict management creates a climate of openness and respect.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
Measurable indicators that quantify the success of goals and strategies in an organization. KPIs are crucial for tracking progress and evaluating the effectiveness of measures.
Cultural Change
An initiative aimed at changing an organization’s core values and behaviors to create a more positive and effective work environment. This often requires deep reflection on existing norms and a willingness to break new ground.
Lean Management
A philosophy that aims to simplify processes and minimize waste by involving and encouraging employees to actively participate in creating efficient workflows. This promotes a sense of ownership and satisfaction in the workplace.
Organizational Culture
The heart of any organization that defines the way it interacts, decides and acts. A strong organizational culture promotes a positive working environment in which employees feel valued and understood.
Organizational Structure
The way in which an organization is structured, which includes the distribution of responsibilities, roles and hierarchies. A well-thought-out organizational structure promotes clarity, efficiency and effective collaboration.
Process Optimization
The process of continuously improving workflows to increase productivity while taking into account the well-being of employees. It is about finding the balance between efficiency and employee satisfaction.
Remote Leadership
Leading and managing teams across geographical distances. Remote leadership requires special skills in communication, building trust and team dynamics in order to lead effectively despite the physical separation.
Stakeholder Management
The practice of involving and working with all relevant groups affected by an organization’s activities. This creates an atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation.
Strategy Development
A careful process that ensures that an organization’s long-term goals are clearly defined and understood and supported by all employees. Effective strategy development involves the team and creates a shared understanding of the future.
Talent Management
The process of identifying, developing and retaining talented employees. Effective talent management focuses on getting the best out of each employee while supporting their individual development.
Team Development
A process that aims to improve collaboration within teams by strengthening communication skills, building trust and creating a sense of community. It is about creating an environment in which each individual can contribute to the collective success.
Knowledge Management
The process of collecting, sharing and using knowledge within an organization. Knowledge management supports learning and innovation and helps to maximize collective know-how.
Agile Leadership
Inspired by the Agile Manifesto (2001), this style promotes adaptability and quick decision-making. Teams work independently and iteratively, while the leader supports self-organization and responsiveness.
Authoritarian Leadership
Traditional and highly hierarchical. The leader makes decisions alone and issues clear instructions. While efficient for fast implementation, this style may limit ownership and creativity.
Charismatic Leadership
Coined by Max Weber, this approach describes a leader who inspires emotionally through vision and presence. Success is closely tied to the individual’s ability to motivate and lead others.
Democratic Leadership
Defined by Kurt Lewin, this style involves team members in decision-making. While the leader makes the final call, collective discussion is emphasized. It encourages engagement and innovation but may slow down processes.
Laissez-Faire Leadership
Also described by Kurt Lewin, this approach gives employees high autonomy to complete tasks without direct supervision. It fosters ownership but can lead to inefficiency if structure is lacking.
Relational Leadership
Focuses on interpersonal relationships. The leader promotes open communication and trust, with an emphasis on empathy and a supportive work environment that respects individual needs.
Servant Leadership
A term introduced by Robert K. Greenleaf. The leader places the team’s well-being and growth at the center, creating a supportive environment that prioritizes development and care.
Situational Leadership
Developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. The leader adjusts their style according to the situation and the maturity level of team members, ensuring leadership is context-sensitive and effective.
Transformational Leadership
Described by James MacGregor Burns and Bernard Bass. The leader inspires through a shared vision and supports individual development. Focus is placed on growth, motivation, and leading beyond the status quo.
Mindfulness
The practice of being present in the present moment and focusing non-judgmental attention on current experiences. Mindfulness helps to reduce stress, promotes clarity of thought and increases general well-being.
Emotional Awareness
The understanding and awareness of one’s own feelings and their impact on behavior. Emotional awareness is an important aspect of emotional intelligence and helps to communicate more effectively and strengthen relationships.
Emotional Intelligence
The ability to recognize, understand and effectively manage one’s own emotions and the emotions of others. Emotional intelligence is critical to building strong relationships, leadership and personal satisfaction.
Communication Skills
The ability to convey thoughts, feelings and information clearly and effectively. Good communication skills are critical to building strong relationships and success in many areas of life.
Conflict Resolution Skills
The ability to resolve conflicts effectively and constructively. Good conflict resolution skills are important for building strong relationships and avoiding unnecessary tension.
Creativity Techniques
Methods and exercises aimed at encouraging creative thinking and innovative problem solving. Creativity techniques are important for developing new perspectives and overcoming personal and professional challenges.
Critical Thinking Skills
The ability to accept, process and respond constructively to feedback. Well-developed critical thinking skills are important for personal growth and professional development.
Mindset Development
Working on your own mindset to cultivate a more positive and growth-oriented attitude. Developing a positive mindset is crucial for achieving goals and overcoming challenges.
Positive Affirmations
Self-affirming statements used to boost self-esteem and promote a positive mindset. Positive affirmations can help overcome negative thought patterns and improve overall attitude.
Resilience
The capacity to overcome setbacks and challenges and emerge stronger. Resilience is not only the ability to bounce back from difficulties, but also the ability to learn and develop from these experiences.
Self-confidence
The ability to believe in yourself and be aware of your own strengths. Self-confidence is a key to success in personal and professional relationships, as it forms the basis for self-assurance and assertiveness.
Self-management
The art of effectively managing your own resources, such as time and energy. Good self-management leads to increased productivity, better goal pursuit and a happier life.
Self-reflection
The process of critically examining one’s own thoughts, feelings and actions. Self-reflection is a key tool for personal growth as it helps to develop self-awareness and broaden perspectives.
Stress Management
Techniques and strategies for coping with stress. Effective stress management is crucial for maintaining health and well-being, both in professional and personal life.
Work-life Balance
Finding the right balance between professional and personal life. A good work-life balance is crucial for general wellbeing and avoiding burnout.
Time Management
The ability to plan and use your time effectively. Efficient time management is crucial for achieving goals, reducing stress and increasing life satisfaction.
Relationship Coaching
Helps clients to improve their interpersonal relationships. By understanding and improving communication as well as recognizing and changing relationship patterns, relationship coaching promotes more harmonious and fulfilling relationships.
Co-Active Coaching
A dynamic coaching approach that sees clients as active participants in the coaching process. This approach encourages initiative and creativity on the part of the client and supports them in finding their own solutions and paths for their personal and professional development.
Emotion-focused Coaching
Focuses on recognizing, understanding and expressing emotions. Helps to release emotional blockages and deepen emotional understanding.
Decision Coaching
Supports clients in clarifying and making important decisions. By exploring different options and weighing up their consequences, this coaching helps clients to make informed and reflective decisions.
Health and Wellness Coaching
Focuses on promoting a healthy lifestyle and overall well-being. This coaching works on topics such as nutrition, exercise, stress management and work-life balance.
GROW model
A coaching approach that is divided into four phases: Goal (goal setting), Reality (current state), Options (options) and Will (implementation). This model helps clients to set clear goals, assess their current situation, explore possible solutions and plan concrete steps to achieve their goals.
Career Coaching
A form of coaching that focuses on professional development and career planning. This approach supports clients in overcoming career obstacles, developing professional skills and navigating career transitions.
Communication Coaching
Improves clients’ ability to communicate clearly and effectively. By developing effective communication strategies, it helps to reduce misunderstandings and strengthen relationships.
Conflict Coaching
Focuses on developing conflict resolution skills. This approach helps clients to deal more effectively with conflict, whether in a professional or personal context, and encourages the development of constructive conflict resolution strategies.
Creative Coaching
An approach that uses creative methods to encourage creative expression and innovative thinking. Creative coaching helps clients to develop new perspectives, solve problems in unconventional ways and promote personal growth through creativity.
Life Coaching
A comprehensive coaching approach that focuses on supporting clients with personal challenges, goals and overall well-being. Life coaching aims to improve quality of life by working on personal growth, relationships and everyday goals.
Mindfulness-Based Coaching
This approach integrates mindfulness into the coaching process to develop a deeper awareness of thoughts, feelings and body sensations. It promotes emotional balance and improved self-awareness.
Motivational Coaching
A specialized coaching approach that aims to strengthen the client’s inner motivation and drive. It helps clients to identify and use their personal motivators to be more successful and engaged in different areas of life.
NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming)
An approach that uses language patterns to positively influence thinking and behavior. NLP is effective for boosting self-confidence, overcoming anxiety and developing better communication skills.
Personal (Development) Coaching
Focused on promoting the client’s personal development. By working on self-confidence, self-awareness and self-efficacy, it supports clients in achieving their personal goals and realizing their full potential.
Resilience Coaching
This approach supports clients in strengthening their ability to deal with stress and challenges. By developing resilience and coping strategies, resilience coaching helps clients to recover more quickly from difficulties and emerge stronger from them
Shadow Coaching
A method in which the coach observes the client in their real working or living environment. Through direct feedback and reflection, it enables profound insights into behavioral patterns and offers opportunities for targeted improvement and development.
Spiritual Coaching
An approach to coaching that integrates spiritual practices and perspectives to promote holistic personal development. This approach helps clients find their purpose in life and achieve deeper self-understanding and inner peace.
Strengths-based Coaching
An approach that focuses on identifying and promoting the client’s individual strengths. By focusing on what clients are already good at, it supports them in using their skills more effectively and boosting their self-confidence.
Systemic Coaching
An approach to coaching that looks at individuals in the context of their social systems. It focuses on understanding relationship dynamics and patterns in order to develop holistic solutions.
Transactional Analysis
A method that examines interactions and communication patterns based on the concepts of parent, adult and child ego states. It helps clients to understand and improve their communication.
Transformative Coaching
An intensive coaching process aimed at profound changes in the client’s holistic development. It focuses on overcoming existing limitations and unlocking the client’s full potential to enable significant and sustainable change.
Values-based Coaching
A coaching approach that focuses on identifying and strengthening the client’s personal values. This process supports clients in aligning their decisions and actions with their core values, leading to greater authenticity and satisfaction in life.
Goal-oriented Coaching
Supports clients in setting and pursuing specific, measurable and achievable goals. This approach helps clients stay focused and motivated and successfully achieve the goals they set.
Constellation Work
An interactive method that depicts relationships and dynamics in a system by physically positioning people or objects. It enables hidden patterns and conflicts to be made visible and new solutions to be discovered.
Genogram Work
Visualizes family patterns and relationships in a graphic family tree. This helps clients to recognize family influences and behavioral patterns in order to better understand and work on conflicts and behaviors.
Hypothesizing
In these methods, these assumptions about the client’s relationships and behaviors serve as the basis for understanding the situation and developing individual solutions. The process is flexible and adapts to new findings.
Context Analysis
Involves examining the client’s entire living and working environment, taking into account family, social, professional and cultural influences, which creates a deep understanding of individual challenges.
Solution-oriented Approach
Focuses on developing solutions by utilizing the client’s strengths. The method focuses on future possibilities and promotes the client’s own initiative in solving problems.
Multiple Perspectives
Looks at a problem from different angles and points of view. This technique broadens the understanding of the situation and makes it possible to see through complex relationships and develop a variety of solutions.
Pattern Recognition
Identifies recurring behaviors and relationship patterns in the client’s life history. This method makes it possible to become aware of unconscious behaviors and offers starting points for change and personal growth.
Reflection Processes
Promote deep reflection on one’s own experiences and actions. Through this self-reflection, clients gain insights into their behavioral patterns and motivations, which contributes to personal development and problem solving.
Reframing
Changes the perspective on a situation by finding new, positive interpretations and meanings. This technique helps clients to reinterpret challenges into opportunities and thus promotes a constructive perspective.
Resource Orientation
Focuses on the client’s strengths, abilities and positive aspects. This approach activates existing resources, supports self-confidence and promotes innovative solutions in the coaching process.
Role Clarification
Helps clients to identify and understand their various roles in a private and professional context. This enables them to consciously shape their own roles and strengthens their role competence.
Scaling Questions
Use a rating scale to quantify the client’s feelings and perceptions. They help to measure progress, set goals and sharpen self-awareness, which supports finding solutions.
Systemic Questions
Targeted, open questions that encourage you to look at your own situation from new perspectives. They help to gain deeper insights into interpersonal relationships and systemic connections.
Team Dynamics
Analyzes the interactions and relationships within a team. This helps to understand working methods, communication and conflicts, which promotes effective collaboration and a positive team culture.
Behavioral Patterns
Refers to recurring behaviors and reactions of an individual. In coaching, these patterns are analyzed in order to identify unconscious habits and initiate targeted changes.
Interaction Cycles
Describe the recurring patterns in the client’s communication and interaction with others. This insight helps to understand the dynamics in relationships and promotes more effective and healthier forms of communication.
Assertiveness
Describes the ability to communicate one’s own needs, opinions and boundaries clearly and respectfully. Assertiveness promotes self-confidence and respect in relationships and helps to resolve conflicts constructively.
Emotional Agility
Describes the ability to flexibly recognize, accept and consciously manage emotions. This competence makes it possible to respond effectively to changing emotional demands and promote personal growth.
Emotional resilience
Refers to the ability to deal with emotional challenges and recover quickly from setbacks. It strengthens the ability to adapt to change and promotes emotional well-being and stability.
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand and empathize with the feelings and perspectives of other people. It is an essential part of social awareness, but focuses specifically on emotional empathy.
External Locus of Control
Refers to the phenomenon when decisions and actions are shaped more by external influences and the expectations of others than by one’s own needs and values. This can restrict the development of emotional intelligence.
Self-determination
Refers to the ability to shape one’s own life according to personal values and goals. It includes making one’s own decisions and pursuing individual paths, independent of external influences
Self-management
Refers to the comprehensive management of one’s own person from a self-centered attitude. Self-management encompasses the ability to self-awareness, self-reflection, emotional self-regulation and the setting of personal goals
Self-regulation
Refers to the ability to consciously control emotions and impulses. It makes it possible to react calmly to challenges, manage stress and pursue long-term goals effectively.
Self-awareness
Refers to the awareness of one’s own feelings, thoughts, beliefs, motives, desires and physical sensations. It includes the ability to view oneself from an objective perspective and to develop a comprehensive understanding of one’s own personality and behavior.
Self-efficacy
Refers to confidence in one’s own ability to successfully master challenges. It strengthens motivation, promotes goal setting and is crucial for overcoming setbacks.
Social Awareness
This concept encompasses the understanding and perception of other people’s emotions and needs as well as awareness of social dynamics and norms. It refers to the ability to behave appropriately in social contexts and to respond to others.
Feedback
Provides clients with constructive feedback that encourages self-reflection and behavioral change. This technique reveals blind spots, supports personal development and promotes awareness of one’s own strengths and potential for improvement.
Bhastrika (Bellows Breath)
A dynamic yogic technique combining forceful inhales and exhales. It boosts energy, clears the respiratory system, and stimulates the nervous system. Originating from Hatha Yoga, it promotes physical and mental alertness.
Biodynamic Breathwork
Combines breathing, bodywork, and emotional release to address deep-seated tension and trauma. Based on Wilhelm Reich’s concept of body armoring, it’s used in somatic therapy to free emotional blocks through conscious movement and breath.
Box Breathing
A structured technique with equal-length inhales, holds, and exhales (e.g., 4–4–4–4 seconds). Originally from military training, it promotes stress reduction and mental clarity by calming the nervous system.
Buteyko Method
A breathing therapy developed by Dr. Konstantin Buteyko. It focuses on reducing breath volume to balance oxygen and CO₂ in the body, often used for asthma and hyperventilation.
Circular Breathing
A technique where one inhales through the nose while exhaling through the mouth continuously. Common in wind instrument practice, it’s also used therapeutically to enhance breath control and endurance.
Clarity Breathwork
A gentle form of conscious connected breathing with no pauses between inhale and exhale. It facilitates emotional healing and access to deeper awareness by releasing suppressed feelings.
Coherent Breathing
A slow, rhythmic breath (around 5 breaths per minute) designed to bring the autonomic nervous system into coherence. It supports emotional balance and cardiovascular regulation.
Holotropic Breathwork
Developed by Stanislav Grof, this intense method uses rapid breathing to enter altered states of consciousness and promote deep emotional release and healing. It’s used in therapeutic and transformational settings.
Kapalabhati (Skull-Shining Breath)
A yogic technique with rapid nasal exhalations and passive inhalations. It clears the airways and mind, enhances concentration, and energizes the body. A traditional practice in Hatha Yoga.
Kundalini Breathing
A set of techniques aimed at awakening kundalini energy along the spine. Combining breath, posture, and meditation, it aims to activate spiritual potential and dissolve energetic blockages.
Nadi Shodhana (Alternate Nostril Breathing)
A Hatha Yoga breathing technique where each nostril is alternately closed to balance energy channels (nadis). It calms the mind, harmonizes brain hemispheres, and supports inner balance.
Rebirthing Breathwork
A conscious connected breathing method developed by Leonard Orr. It helps release emotional trauma and unresolved experiences, offering a path to healing through the breath.
Resonance Breathing
Breathing in sync with the heartbeat to calm the nervous system. Used for emotional regulation and cardiovascular health, often in stress-reduction practices.
Sitali Pranayama (Cooling Breath)
A yogic technique where air is inhaled through a rolled tongue. Traditionally practiced to cool the body and reduce internal heat, especially in warm environments.
Shamanic Breathwork
Rooted in indigenous traditions, this practice uses rhythmic breathing and music to access altered states of consciousness. It’s used to gain insight, connect with inner wisdom, and support spiritual healing.
Somatic Breathing
A body-centered approach that uses breath to increase awareness of physical sensations. Common in somatic therapy to release tension and reconnect with the body’s emotional landscape.
Deep Breathing
A technique focused on diaphragmatic breathing to enhance relaxation and oxygenation. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system and is widely used for stress relief.
Transformational Breath
Developed by Dr. Judith Kravitz, this connected breathing method combines movement, sound, and affirmations to release emotional blocks and raise life energy.
Tummo Breathing
A Tibetan practice used to generate inner heat through strong breath control. Practiced by monks to withstand cold, it’s also used to build energy and inner strength.
Ujjayi Breathing (Ocean Breath)
A calming yogic breath technique that produces a soft ocean-like sound by slightly constricting the throat. Used during asana practice to deepen focus and generate internal heat.
Connected Breathing
A gentle, uninterrupted breath rhythm where inhale and exhale merge. Activates the parasympathetic nervous system, supports emotional release, and restores balance.
Wim Hof Method
Combines deep breathing, cold exposure, and meditation. Created by Wim Hof, this method strengthens the immune system, builds stress resilience, and sharpens mental clarity through intense breath cycles and conscious exhalation.
Asana
Are specific postures that promote flexibility, strength and balance. They have a harmonizing effect on body and mind, improve posture, increase concentration and support deep relaxation. Asanas are central to the practice of yoga.
Ahimsa
Ahimsa means non-violence and is one of the core ethical principles in yoga. It encourages a respectful and compassionate approach to oneself and all living beings—in thought, word, and action.
Atman
Atman refers to the true self or immortal soul that exists beyond body and mind. It is the eternal, unchanging essence within each person, meant to be realized through spiritual practice.
Body Scan
This is a technique that involves mindful awareness of every part of the body. This promotes relaxation and body awareness, reduces stress and helps to recognize and release physical and emotional tension.
Chakra
Chakras are energy centers along the spine, each associated with different physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life. Every chakra represents a specific theme—such as safety, love, or communication. When blocked, chakras can affect overall well-being.
Dharma
Dharma is the set of universal laws and guiding principles that govern life. It refers to the ethical and spiritual duties of each individual—to walk their own path and live in harmony with the world.
Jiva
Jiva describes the individual soul embodied in the material world. It gathers experiences and moves through the cycle of birth and rebirth until it reaches enlightenment.
Kundalini Yoga
Combines dynamic movements, breathing techniques and meditation. The aim is to awaken the Kundalini energy, which leads to increased awareness and spiritual awakening. It strengthens body and mind.
Loving-Kindness Meditation (Metta)
A practice in yoga and meditation based on the cultivation of compassion and love for oneself and others. Metta strengthens emotional balance and promotes positive interpersonal relationships.
Mantra
A mantra is a sacred sound, word, or phrase repeated during meditation to quiet the mind and deepen inner focus. Mantras are often used as tools for spiritual purification and healing.
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation, rooted in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, emphasizes the conscious experience of the moment. It encompasses thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations without judgment to promote mindfulness.
Prana
Prana is the life force that flows through all living beings. It is absorbed through the breath and fuels vitality. Yogic breathing techniques (pranayama) aim to regulate prana and support inner balance.
Pranayama
Is a practice of breath control that connects body and mind. Various breathing techniques are used to regulate the life energy (prana), which leads to greater serenity, mental clarity and improved physical well-being. Central to yoga and meditation.
Purusha
Purusha is pure, eternal consciousness—untouched by the physical world or change. It is the highest self, experienced in meditation as undisturbed awareness.
Samskara
Samskaras are mental and emotional imprints formed through repeated actions and experiences. These deep-rooted patterns shape behavior and can be transformed through spiritual practice.
Savasana
Savasana, or “corpse pose,” is a deeply relaxing yoga posture typically practiced at the end of a session. It brings the body into stillness, allowing for release of tension and calming of the mind.
Svadhyaya
Svadhyaya means self-study. It includes reading sacred texts and engaging in inner reflection as a path to self-knowledge.
Tapas
Tapas refers to inner discipline and the willingness to undergo conscious effort for transformation. It is the “inner fire” ignited through consistent practice that fuels spiritual growth.
Vipassana
A traditional form of meditation that focuses on mindfulness and self-observation. Vipassana promotes deep understanding of the body and mind through conscious awareness of thoughts, feelings and sensations, leading to clarity and inner peace.
Yoga Nidra
Is a deep relaxation technique in yoga that promotes mental clarity and physical relaxation. In a state between waking and sleeping, stress and tension are released, resulting in a state of inner peace.
Yoga Sutras
A fundamental text of yoga, written by Patanjali. It describes the philosophical principles of yoga and provides guidance on spiritual discipline. The sutras cover ethical resolutions, meditation and the path to spiritual enlightenment.
Zen-Meditation
Zen meditation combines mindfulness with letting go of thoughts. Often practiced in the lotus position, it concentrates on the breath or koans (riddles) and focusing on the present moment. This strengthens awareness and promotes clarity by overcoming analytical thinking.
Vayu
Vayu means “wind” or “air” and relates to the energetic currents in the body that govern the movement of prana. There are five primary vayus, each responsible for specific physical and mental functions.
3-minute Breathing Space
A short mindfulness exercise aimed at calming the mind and focusing awareness on the present moment. It consists of three steps: conscious awareness, concentration on breathing and expansion of attention.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the conscious perception of the present moment without judgment. It trains attention to thoughts, feelings and surroundings, promotes inner peace and clarity and supports well-being and stress management.
Acceptance
Refers to accepting the present reality without judging or resisting. This attitude promotes emotional balance by teaching us to accept experiences and feelings as they are.
Autopilot Mode
Refers to unconscious, routine actions in everyday life, with little attention paid to the present moment. This state often prevents us from fully perceiving and experiencing our surroundings and emotions.
Digital Detox
Refers to consciously reducing the use of digital media and technologies. The aim is to increase mindfulness in everyday life, reduce stress and strengthen the connection to the real world and to oneself.
Emotional Awareness
Is a sub-aspect of self-awareness and relates specifically to recognizing and understanding one’s own feelings. It includes the ability to identify and name emotions and to recognize their impact on one’s own behavior and thinking.
Focused Attention
This practice concentrates on a specific element, such as the breath or a sound. It trains the brain to focus on a task, minimize distractions and strengthen the connection to the present moment.
Present Experience
Means experiencing the present moment in its entirety without judgment. It involves the conscious awareness of thoughts, feelings and physical sensations happening in the now and promotes a deepened self-awareness.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
syn. Mindfulness-based stress reduction; a structured program for stress management that includes mindfulness meditation, body awareness exercises and yoga. MBSR promotes awareness of the present moment and helps to better understand and regulate stress reactions.
Curiosity
Is an open, unbiased attitude towards experiences and sensations. It promotes the exploration and acceptance of moments without judgment. This attitude allows deeper insights into one’s own inner self and the environment, which enriches the practice of mindfulness.
Stress Management
Includes techniques that help to reduce and regulate stress reactions. Through conscious awareness of the present, acceptance and deep breathing, stress triggers are recognized and defused. This practice improves emotional balance and promotes serenity.
Work-life Integration
Refers to the merging of professional and private life into a harmonious whole. Unlike work-life balance, where the two areas are kept separate, integration allows for flexible adaptation to personal and professional demands, with boundaries being fluid.
The Self
Is the central, peaceful core of a person. It has the eight qualities: Curiosity, Creativity, Calmness, Courage, Compassion, Confidence, Connectedness and Clarity. The self guides the harmonization of inner personality parts. In IFS therapy, the self is seen as a guide for healing and growth.
Firefighters
Protect the individual from pain and vulnerability. They often act (re)actively, directly and irrationally, e.g. in the form of outbursts of anger, addictive behavior, impulsiveness or self-harming actions. The aim is short-term protection. Over the long term, their strategies can create unhealthy patterns or problems. They can lead to conflicts in relationships, work problems or health difficulties.
IFS in the coaching process
By using IFS in the coaching process, clients learn to recognize, understand and communicate with their inner parts/facets. This promotes empathy and acceptance towards these parts and helps, among other things, to perceive and regulate automatic reactions and destructive behavior patterns in everyday life and thus to shape one’s own life in a self-determined way.
Integration
Promotes balanced, authentic personality development through recognition and appreciation of all inner parts. This process promotes communication between the self and inner parts in order to heal injuries and resolve inner conflicts. The result is the harmonious cooperation of inner parts, leading to greater inner peace, improved well-being and more effective behavior in the outside world.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Is an innovative approach to psychotherapy developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz. It is based on the idea that each person is made up of different sub-personalities or “parts”, each with their own perspectives, feelings and thoughts. These parts are divided into three categories: Managers, Firefighters and Exiles. At the center of the IFS model is the “self”, which is understood as the leader of the different parts.
Managers
Are inner parts that provide stability and protection by avoiding risks and controlling emotions. They plan and evaluate proactively, use defense mechanisms such as repression or perfectionism and interact with other inner parts to maintain inner balance. Their role is central to the healing process.
Polarization
Describes the state in which two or more inner parts use opposing strategies or reactions to an inner problem or trauma. One part may push for protection while another seeks freedom. This inner conflict can lead to stress, anxiety and indecision.
Positive Intention
In IFS, Protectors serve to protect more vulnerable parts of the personality. They act proactively (manager) or reactively (fire fighter) to ward off emotional pain or trauma and maintain inner stability by managing behavior patterns and reactions based on past experiences and learned coping strategies.
Self-leadership in the IFS context
Aims to use one’s “self” as a central guiding authority to lead inner parts with understanding and empathy. This practice fosters self-respect and enables one to act from a position of inner clarity and calm, which is crucial for harmonizing inner conflicts.
Shadow Work
Focuses on dealing with subconscious, often repressed aspects of the personality, the “shadows”. The aim is to integrate these parts in order to resolve inner conflicts and promote a holistic self-image. It supports personal growth and self-acceptance.
Protectors
Are those parts of the personality that are geared towards protecting the inner system from psychological pain and injury. They often react based on past experiences to protect emotional vulnerabilities and can adopt proactive and reactive behaviors. They are categorized into two groups: Managers and Firefighters.
Parts Work
Focuses on recognizing and understanding different inner personality parts. These “parts” represent different facets of our personality with their own emotions, beliefs and memories. Through IFS, conflicts between these parts are resolved and harmonized, leading to inner balance and healthy self-management.
Exiles
syn. vulnerable parts (exiles); are inner parts that carry painful or traumatic experiences and emotions. These parts are often held unconsciously in order to offer protection. Acceptance of their existence and their integration are central to emotional harmony and self-understanding.
Experiential Psychotherapy
syn. experiential psychotherapy; focuses on the client’s immediate experience to achieve deeper self-understanding. Through mindfulness and body awareness, unconscious patterns, beliefs and emotions are explored and processed, promoting self-understanding and significant change.
Hakomi
Offers an elegant, comprehensive and uniquely effective approach to psychotherapy and coaching for personal growth and change. Developed by Ron Kurtz in the early 1980s, Hakomi integrates Eastern principles of non-violence and mindfulness with a comprehensive and experiential body-centered methodology.
Core Principles
Hakomi is based on five principles: Mindfulness, Non-Violence, Mind-Body Integration, Unity and Organicity. They form a process-oriented framework that promotes deep insight, self-awareness and transformation through gentle and mindful exploration. This methodology uses body and mind to raise awareness and support growth.
Loving Presence
This is the central practice that incorporates the five principles of Hakomi. It invites us to enter into a state of appreciation for the beauty, humanity and inspiring qualities within each person. This practice supports people on the path to greater self-acceptance and self-love.
Mind-Body Integration
This principle affirms that the mind and body together manifest and reflect the beliefs we have about ourselves and the world. So-called somatic markers (e.g. habitual movements, gestures, posture and the structure of the body) can therefore help to uncover unconscious deep-seated core experiences and beliefs.
Mindfulness
Ron Kurtz says: “The principle of mindfulness refers to the understanding that real change happens through awareness, not effort.” Rather than guessing or interpreting, Hakomi uses mindfulness – a state of relaxed, non-judgmental awareness—to examine, activate and directly experience the source of our feelings, thoughts and behaviors.
Mindfulness-Centered Somatic Psychotherapy
syn. Mindfulness-Centered Somatic Psychotherapy; combines mental mindfulness with physical awareness. It aims to promote deep self-knowledge and transformation through conscious awareness of the body and feelings. The focus is on emotional balance and wholeness.
Non-violence
The principle of non-violence manifests itself on two levels. Firstly, the coach does not see themselves as an “expert” and respects the client’s autonomy. Secondly, potential inner defense mechanisms of the client are supported and accompanied instead of confronting them. This allows inner resistances to loosen naturally, revealing their wisdom.
Organicity
Assumes that we naturally have the ability to control, regulate and realize ourselves with our very own inner wisdom. Hakomi supports the organic and natural unfolding of our clients towards wholeness, trusting that this is the direction their system will naturally strive for.
Unity
syn. Integration; The Unity Principle views people as living, organic systems—integral wholes made up of parts. Transformation is seen as a process that supports the separate parts of one’s inner system to communicate with each other so that they can function as a harmonious whole.
Data-based Coaching
Uses objective data and metrics to support coaching processes. Through feedback tools, performance analysis and behavioral observations, this type of coaching enables precise insights into progress and development areas, which can lead to more targeted and effective coaching outcomes.
Digital tools for self-management & mindfulness
Includes apps and software that help you practice mindfulness, set goals and improve your wellbeing. They offer features such as meditation, journaling and habit tracking to support self-awareness and self-management.
E-Coaching
Refers to coaching that takes place electronically, i.e. via digital media. This can take place via e-mail, special coaching platforms, chat programs or even by telephone. The focus is on the use of electronic means of communication to carry out the coaching.
AI-supported Coaching
Uses artificial intelligence to create personalized coaching experiences. AI analyzes data and behavioral patterns to provide individual insights and recommendations. This technology supports coaches and clients with data-based, precise advice.
Neuroleadership
Combines neuroscientific findings with leadership skills. It explores how the brain makes decisions, motivates and cooperates. Neuroleadership aims to optimize leadership styles and techniques to foster effective, empathetic and innovative teams.
Resilience Training
Promotes the development of mental resilience to better cope with challenges and stress. Through techniques such as mindfulness exercises, problem-solving strategies and building social networks, it strengthens the ability to bounce back from setbacks and grow from them.
Virtual Coaching
Takes place in a virtual environment, usually using video calls or virtual venues that have an interactive and visual component. It is similar to traditional face-to-face coaching, but takes place in a virtual environment. It enables location-independent coaching and offers flexibility in appointments and accessibility.
Virtual Reality Training Methods
Not synonymous with virtual coaching, virtual reality training methods use immersive technologies for realistic learning experiences. They enable interactive training in simulated environments, improve learning processes and promote practical skills, regardless of physical limitations.