MasterClass with Dr. Elena Espinal PhD, MC, MCC
Seeing the Invisible: A Live Coaching Demonstration on Identity and Sensitivity
In a world where coaching is often reduced to tools and structured conversations, this session offers something different: a real-time experience of coaching at a deeper level.
Participants will witness a live coaching demonstration that moves beyond goals and problem-solving into the exploration of identity, sensitivity, and meaning-making. Rather than focusing on technique, this session reveals how a coach’s presence, listening, and interventions can bring to light what is not explicitly said—but deeply lived.
Through this experience, attendees will observe how patterns such as self-protection, identity preservation, and unspoken fear shape the client’s reality—and how coaching can gently and powerfully make these visible.
The session will conclude with a guided debrief, offering insight into what the coach was listening for, how interventions were chosen, and what made the conversation transformational.
Earn 1.5 Core Competency CCEU
Key Takeaways
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How to listen for what is not being said
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How identity manifests in language, emotion, and narrative
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How to recognize sensitivities without making the client defensive
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How presence—not technique—creates transformation
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How to intervene at a deeper level while maintaining trust and safety
1. Framing the Experience
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Setting expectations: this is not about models, but about observation
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Inviting participants to listen beyond words
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Introducing what to pay attention to: language, emotion, repetition, avoidance
2. Live Coaching Demonstration
A real coaching conversation focused on:
The intention is not to “solve” the client’s issue, but to make underlying structures visible.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Recognize identity patterns in real-time coaching
- How clients construct and protect their sense of self
- How identity shapes decisions and limitations
- Distinguish between content and underlying structure
- Moving from “what is happening” to “how meaning is created”
- Identify sensitivities through emotional and linguistic cues
- Recognizing what matters deeply to the client
- Detecting subtle emotional shifts and protective behaviors
- Expand their capacity for deep, multidimensional listening
- Listening beyond narrative into coherence between language, emotion, and perspective
- Use clean and courageous interventions
- Naming observations without imposing interpretation
- Inviting awareness without triggering resistance
ICF Core Competencies Addressed
Aligned with the International Coaching Federation Core Competencies:
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Maintains Presence
Demonstrating the ability to remain open, flexible, and grounded in an emergent conversation
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Listens Actively
Expanding listening beyond words to include patterns, emotions, and underlying meaning
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Evokes Awareness
Supporting the client in seeing what was previously outside their awareness
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Cultivates Trust and Safety
Creating a space where deeper exploration can occur without judgment
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Embodies a Coaching Mindset
Operating from awareness, curiosity, and continuous self-reflection rather than technique
About the Speaker: Dr. Elena Espinal PhD, MC, MCC
Dr. Elena Espinal (Ph.D.) is a Master Certified Coach (MCC) by the ICF, with 33 years of experience in leadership, coaching, and organizational development. She founded the first Coaching School in Argentina and has worked in over 30 countries with individuals, companies, and governments. An expert in Futures Design and Diversity & Inclusion, she created Coaching con Visión to train blind coaches. She leads the Master’s in Organizational Development and Coaching at the University of London (Mexico). She is also a Mentor and Supervisor acknowledged by EMCC. Author of Crafting the Future, she has received global recognition, including ICF’s Circle of Distinction Award 2022 and the list of the 50 most influential coaching thinkers, from Marshall Goldsmith.