Anastasia, 28 years old, chemist

What challenge did you come to coaching with?

I came to coaching to find ways to work on myself in the area of self-esteem, self-acceptance and overcoming imposter syndrome. I came with fear of asking questions and appearing stupid, insecurity about my competence even in professional areas despite my experience and knowledge, lack of acceptance and fear of showing myself in my true emotionality, doubts and areas of ignorance.

How was the work in the session?

There was one group session, during which we worked with fellow academics to break down why each of us doubts and is afraid of sounding stupid, what fears are present and shared approaches that each of us use to help overcome them.

What challenges did you face during the session?

It was difficult to face those sides of myself that are difficult to go into and that require the deepest elaboration and evoke the strongest emotions.

On the one hand, it was unexpected for me not to be afraid and feel comfortable with the manifestation of these emotions despite the group meeting (and the area I didn't want to go into was just the manifestation of emotions in public), and on the other hand, it was pleasant after Eugenia's gentle guidance to go there and look for ways of acceptance.

What did you leave coaching with?

Probably the coolest realization during the group session was that I am not alone. That even those who I see as cool, confident, and accomplished just like me have doubts and worries. This will greatly reduce the degree of responsibility and excitement.

It was very important for me to confirm that the approaches I intuitively chose as a way of working on myself, accepting myself, fighting the fear of appearing as I am, are correct and workable. Plus I managed to find new ways, which I just need to try out in practice.

Plus in the process of discussion I managed to confirm to myself that I am on the right path and I am doing everything correctly (this is very important and valuable when you try to dig into yourself on your own and then come to a specialist), to find new tricks and approaches for further work on yourself.

What do you think of group coaching in general?

It has always seemed that group coaching is significantly less effective than individual coaching, but it offers a huge number of opportunities that you can't find in individual meetings. During group meetings you get more support, the feeling that you are not alone, due to the fact that several other people are working through the same problem together with you, you can find more new approaches to solving it.