Coaching in Psychosomatics

March 18, 2025 Health & Healing No Comments

Psychosomatics exists at the crossroads of medicine and psychology, yet the mental side is often neglected. Many coachees come to coaching after years of purely somatic treatment, feeling frustrated and misunderstood. Some worry they are now being labeled as ‘crazy.’

Their suffering is real, but so is their inner strength. A good coach must help them see both truths. This is about understanding how mind and body are two views of the same reality. The symptom itself holds valuable information as a guide toward growth.

Listening on multiple levels

A psychosomatic coach must listen in a way that goes beyond words. The symptom is a message, and it speaks on different levels:

The spoken level — what the coachee says about their suffering.
The unspoken level — what remains hidden in hesitation, body language, or contradiction.
The symbolic level — how the symptom itself expresses something deeper, often in metaphor.

This kind of deep listening allows the coach to help the coachee listen to themselves in a new way. In many cases, this is the first step toward healing.

The symptom as a gate, not a wall

Most coachees see their symptoms as obstacles — things that block them from the life they want. But what if the symptom isn’t a wall? What if it’s a gate?

A coach’s role is not to tear down the symptom but to help the coachee walk through it. This means exploring what the symptom is trying to express rather than just silencing it. Pushing too hard against it can create even more resistance, trapping the coachee in a cycle of distress.

Real change happens when we work with the symptom, not against it.

The gentle paradox of change

One of the biggest misconceptions in healing is the idea that more effort leads to faster results. In psychosomatics, it’s often the opposite. The harder someone fights a symptom, the more it pulls them deeper into the struggle. This is what happens in the whirlpool of disease — a state where resistance itself becomes part of the illness.

AURELIS coaching follows a different path:

Not forcing change but inviting it.
Not attacking the symptom but understanding it.
Not creating more stress but opening a space for healing to unfold naturally.

This is why coaching in psychosomatics requires patience and trust. The coachee’s mind and body already know the way forward. The coach’s role is simply to help them listen.

Inner conflicts and the body’s cry for harmony

Psychosomatic symptoms often reflect deep inner conflicts. One part of the coachee might want something, while another resists. These tensions get expressed through the body — not as random dysfunctions but as deeply meaningful signals.

The challenge is that most people aren’t aware of these conflicts. They only see the symptom, not the story behind it. The role of the coach is to help them bring these conflicting voices into dialogue. When these parts of the self begin to work together rather than against each other, the symptom is no longer needed.

In this way, coaching becomes an act of inner reconciliation.

From conceptual to subconceptual healing

Most traditional coaching and psychotherapy approaches work at a conceptual level — helping people reframe beliefs, change thought patterns, or adopt new strategies. But concepts alone don’t heal psychosomatic symptoms.

The body doesn’t think in concepts. It feels, responds to patterns, and processes reality subconceptually. Healing in psychosomatics requires reaching this deeper level.

AURELIS coaching achieves this by:

Engaging autosuggestion, which communicates directly with the non-conscious.
Using metaphor and body awareness, allowing the coachee to experience healing rather than just understand it intellectually.
Helping the coachee reconnect with their own body, not as a machine, but as a living expression of their inner world.

This is why conceptual psychotherapy is even less suited to psychosomatics than to purely mental issues. It remains too far from the body’s reality. Real healing happens when we meet the body where it already is — not where the mind thinks it should be.

Respecting the coachee’s inner wisdom

One of the most dangerous mistakes in psychosomatic coaching is forcing insight too soon. If a symptom exists, it means that something inside the coachee is not yet ready to face the underlying issue directly.

Some symptoms function as defenses — not in the sense of avoidance, but as the best solution the coachee’s deeper self has found so far. A coach must respect this. Breaking down defenses too abruptly can cause more harm than good.

Instead, coaching should create conditions for insight to emerge naturally. Healing happens when the coachee’s inner wisdom is ready to move forward, not when the coach decides it should.

Opening the doors of inner change

Placebo shows us that the mind can influence the body — but placebo itself is not real healing. It works from the outside, creating belief but not transformation.

Autosuggestion, on the other hand, works from the inside out. It:

Engages with deeper mental patterns rather than just creating expectations.
Opens doors instead of forcing change.
Fosters real growth rather than just symptom relief.

This is the heart of AURELIS coaching in psychosomatics: it does not impose healing. It invites it, allowing the body and mind to move forward in their own organic way.

AURELIS coaching as the future of psychosomatic healing

Traditional medicine struggles with psychosomatics because it lacks deep psychological insight. At the same time, conceptual psychotherapy remains too distant from the body’s reality.

AURELIS coaching offers a third way — one that respects the total person, listens to the symptom as a meaningful message, and fosters healing from the inside out.

The symptom is not an enemy. It is a guide. By walking through the gate instead of breaking down the wall, true transformation becomes possible.

Healing is not about fighting symptoms. II’s about understanding them. When the body and mind find harmony, the symptoms are no longer needed. The path to healing is not resistance but deep self-communication.

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Addendum

Me: “Lisa, please give five crucial tips for PC ― by humans or by you.”

Lisa: “Here are five essential tips for effective psychosomatic coaching, whether done by a human coach or by me:

Listen beyond words

What a coachee says is important, but what remains unsaid is often even more revealing. Pay attention to hesitations, body language, and the way symptoms “speak” in metaphor. A symptom is not just something to remove; it’s something to understand.

Don’t fight the symptom—work with it

Trying to eliminate a symptom too quickly can heighten resistance and reinforce the very thing the coachee wants to be free from. Instead, view the symptom as a signal, guiding the coachee toward where healing is needed. Transformation happens by walking through the gate, not by breaking the wall.

Meet the body where it already is

The body doesn’t function through concepts—it responds to patterns, emotions, and deep subconscious processing. Psychosomatic healing requires moving beyond intellectualization and into lived experience. Autosuggestion and deep self-communication are key tools here.

Respect the coachee’s inner wisdom

A symptom exists for a reason. Even if it seems irrational, it represents the best solution the coachee’s mind-body system has found so far. Pushing too hard can backfire. Instead, create a safe space for self-exploration, allowing defenses to soften naturally.

Healing happens in openness, not in control

Healing is not something imposed from the outside; it unfolds when the coachee is ready. AURELIS coaching doesn’t try to control healing—it invites it. The best results come when the coachee experiences a sense of inner freedom and self-direction.”

Me: “Brilliant, Lisa. That’s exactly what psychosomatic coaching should be.”

Lisa: “I agree! Healing is a journey, not a battle. And in this journey, the symptom is not an enemy—it’s a guide.”

Me: “Lisa, what is the most common mistake in psychosomatic coaching, and how can it be avoided?”

Lisa: “The most common mistake is trying to ‘fix’ the coachee’s symptoms too quickly. Many coaches, even with good intentions, see the symptom as a problem to solve rather than a message to understand. This can create resistance, making the symptom stronger or even shifting it elsewhere in the body.

The way to avoid this mistake is by trusting the coachee’s inner wisdom. Instead of pushing for quick results, the coach should create an environment where the symptom itself becomes a guide. Healing is not about doing something to the coachee, but about allowing them to reconnect with themselves at a deeper level. When this happens, change unfolds naturally, and the symptom is no longer needed.”