Introduction
In the Co-Active Coaching model, the coach’s role is far more than problem-solving. The purpose is to create a transformational experience that reconnects the client with their inner wisdom, authenticity, and personal power. One of the most essential mechanisms enabling this transformation is Resonance. Resonance is one of the core communicative capacities in Co-Active Coaching—the moment when the coach reflects something so true, so aligned, and so deeply felt that it touches the client at the level of identity, values, and emotion.
In the Co-Active framework:
Resonance is the art of reflecting the deeper truth—spoken or unspoken—back to the client in a way that creates an emotional and cognitive “echo” within them.
It is not merely mirroring words. It is a reflection of energy, an attunement to the client’s essence.
In this moment:
Something “clicks” inside the client,
Something “moves,”
And a powerful insight emerges.
This is the signature moment of transformative coaching.
The Co-Active model is built on four foundational cornerstones:
Fulfillment – Balance – Process – Context.
Resonance plays a vital role in each dimension.
A. Fulfillment (Meaning & Purpose)
Resonance reveals the client’s deeper values. A powerful reflection helps them reconnect with what truly matters.
Example resonant question: “Your eyes light up when you talk about this goal. Which value is being activated here?”
B. Balance (Conscious Choice-Making)
Resonance helps the client shift from confusion to clarity. It supports moving from reactivity to intentional choice.
Example reflection: “One option seems like an obligation, while the other feels like an invitation. Do you sense that too?”
C. Process (Emotional Presence & Being with What Is)
Co-Active coaching emphasizes being with emotions, not rushing through them. Resonance helps name what the client can’t yet articulate.
Example: “Your voice just shook a little. It sounds like fear is present here.”
D. Context / Co-Active Relationship
Resonance deepens trust and connection. The client feels seen, heard, and fully accepted.
In Co-Active, this relationship itself becomes transformative.
Resonance is not a technique—it is a combination of advanced coach competencies:
1. Level 2 & Level 3 Listening
These levels form the foundation of resonance:
Level 2: Deep focus on the client—tone, emotions, intentions.
Level 3: Awareness of the entire energetic field—intuition, shifts, silence, body.
A Co-Active coach hears beyond the words.
2. Intuition
Co-Active Coaching honors intuition as a legitimate source of wisdom. The coach may share intuitive impressions that create immediate resonance.
Example: “It feels like you’re carrying a heavy weight on your shoulders when you talk about this.”
3. Reflecting Truth (Mirroring)
Not word-for-word mirroring but reflecting the underlying reality.
Example: “You’re smiling, but the energy behind your smile feels sad.”
This often triggers a profound shift.
4. Metaphors
Metaphor speaks directly to the subconscious mind. Co-Active coaches use spontaneous, intuitive metaphors to spark resonance.
Example: “It feels like you’re a bird standing on the edge of a branch—wings open but still hesitating to fly.”
5. Artful Naming
This is a signature Co-Active mastery: Giving elegant, precise language to what the client is experiencing.
Example: “This is not just exhaustion—it feels like homesickness for your true self.”
A well-crafted name almost always produces resonance.
6. Compassionate Challenge
The coach lovingly calls out the truth the client may be avoiding.
Example: “It sounds like you’re playing smaller than who you truly are.”
This evokes awareness at a deep level.
Emotional Signs
Silence
Tears
Sudden relief
A deep breath
Soft laughter
Verbal Signs
“,wow… that’s exactly what I feel”
“How did you know that”
“.This hits me so deeply”
Energetic Signs
Shift in tone
Increased clarity
A sudden rise in motivation
Relaxation or expansion in the body
In Co-Active terms:
When the client feels truly “seen,” resonance has occurred.
1. Reconnects the client with their whole, resourceful self
The moment of resonance activates empowerment.
2. Moves the client from the head to the heart
Insight becomes embodied and authentic.
3. Strengthens commitment and follow-through
Decisions rooted in resonance are deeply aligned.
4. Creates clarity and inner coherence
The client perceives what was previously hidden.
“Co-Active Presence” is the energetic posture from which resonance emerges.
It requires:
Curiosity
Non-judgment
Acceptance
Spaciousness
Allowing
Being with—not fixing
The deeper the coach’s presence → the deeper the resonance.
Rushing to solve problems
Judging or analyzing the client
Listening at Level 1
Fear of intuition
Staying in the head instead of the heart
Forcing outcomes
Asking shallow or agenda-driven questions
Resonance requires courage—courage to be authentic, spacious, and fully present.
Resonance in Co-Active Coaching is not merely a skill.
It is a relational quality, an energetic attunement that transforms ordinary conversation into a moment of awakening.
Through resonance, the client:
hears their own deeper truth
reconnects with their values
steps into their power
and meets the wiser version of themselves
This is the essence of the Co-Active approach:
Transformation through presence, truth, and human connection.
