The Fertile Void

Book excerpt: A practical, accessible, and yet genuinely authoritative handbook on the application of Gestalt to the world of executive coaching. In The Fertile Void John Leary-Joyce, a pioneer of Gestalt coaching, distils a lifetime's experience of Gestalt psychotherapy, coaching and coach training. Starting with a down-to-earth examination of the psychological theory that underpins the Gestalt approach to coaching, the book then uses numerous examples and exercises to take you through Gestalt coaching in action. John then helps you develop practitioner skills through Active Experimentation, Bodywork, and Team coaching. He concludes with guidance on how you can develop your Signature Presence - essential to effective coaching, then examines the role of Supervision in a Gestalt coaching context. An invaluable handbook for both experienced executive coaches seeking to extend their range of interventions and impact, and those new coaches developing a coaching skill set. "A highly practical book, it provides transparent step by step guidance and numerous useful experiments all of which make it a great learning experience for internal coaches because it directly addresses the complexity of their context." "A great and very readable book for any coach who wants to increase their ability to work with emergent change in their individual or team coaching relationships." "Highly accessible, fluidly and expertly written, this book is beautiful.... It gave me a highly informative and deeply interesting entry point to using Gestalt in my practice."