Coaching Without Memory or Desire: Applying Lessons From Bion and Freud

With Alan Rousso

Sigmund Freud was explicit in his guidance to practitioners: maintain an ‘evenly hovering attention’ in the face of all that one hears. Wilfred Bion went further, advising that ‘the purest form of listening is listening without memory or desire’. What could these two giants of psychoanalysis have meant by these statements, and how should we apply their admonitions as coaches? This webinar with Dr. Alan Rousso, a graduate of the Hult Ashridge Master's in Executive Coaching programme, will explore how memory and desire can inform the work of coaches. The webinar will connect these themes to others familiar to coaching practice, including concepts of containment, uncertainty, positive and negative capability, and ways of ‘knowing’. Drawing on his own experience as a coach, Alan will discuss how he has incorporated these ideas into his own work with clients and where he has faced limitations.

Alan Rousso is an executive and team coach. He works with senior leaders, high-potential mid-career professionals and teams. Alan draws on his 30 years of international professional experience as an academic, researcher, team leader and senior executive in development finance. Alan holds an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. He has trained as an individual Executive Coach at Hult Ashridge (MSc in Executive Coaching) and a Systemic Team Coach at the Academy of Executive Coaching. Alan is accredited by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council as a Senior Practitioner.

https://www.roussoconsulting.com/