Perspectives of personal growth: A little coaching narrative

By Corina Wyler

The book project "Perspectives of personal growth. A small coaching narrative" is a non-fiction book about personal growth and about the own perspective of Swiss professionals in the field of coaching, therapy and mediation regarding professional help in this area.

What is personal growth?

Every person defines it differently. However, many desire to be a better person and/or find fulfillment in certain areas of life.

Yet, what many people forget or do not know is that some difficulties in our lives are shaped by situations in the past or present. In order to grow personally, one must go on a journey of discovery. Sometimes traumas come to light that then need to be dealt with, sometimes they are simply additional intrinsic resources that need to be uncovered.

This book is intended to encourage people to embark on their journey of discovery. It is divided into two parts: The first part is a "fable for adults about personal growth and coaching", and the second part contains thoughts from various professionals on the topic of personal growth and the given disciplines.

The reader should be surprised to read with the eyes of an adult and the heart of a child. The story is deliberately kept as a fable, so as not to trigger the reader too much and to allow a safe discovery of the subject matter.

In the second part, the reader can then get an idea of how coaching, psychotherapy or mediation are lived in Switzerland.

The co-authors in the second part are all qualified professionals in their fields and all work in Switzerland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Release date: Jun 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9783756284016

Corina Wyler

Als gebürtige Schweizerin wurde ich 1976 in Sorengo im Tessin geboren. Ich bin mit verschiedenen Kulturen aufgewachsen (südländischer, Deutschschweizer und norddeutscher Kultur). Mein Vater stammt aus Winterthur, meine Mutter wurde in Danzig während des Zweiten Weltkrieges geboren. Ich bin vielseitig interessiert und würde mich selber als tiefgründige, wohlwollende und intuitive Denkerin bezeichnen. Mit der Eidgenössischen Matura in Neusprachen (FR, IT, DE und EN) bin ich in vielen Sprachkulturen zu Hause, obwohl die Muttersprache für mich Italienisch ist. Auch Wasser ist für mich ein wichtiges Element. Ich bin Dipl.-Mikrobiologin mit Spezialisierung in Meeresmikrobiologie an der Universität Zürich. Meine Diplomarbeit fand am Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Meeres- und Polarforschung in Bremerhaven (Deutschland) statt. Seit fast 20 Jahren bin ich in der Pharmabranche tätig. Als Aussendienst, Projekt- und Produkt-Managerin habe ich für bekannte und erfolgreiche Pharmafirmen gearbeitet wie Roche, Schering Plough, Menarini und Novartis. Ich besitze ein MBA in Personal Leadership und Management seit 2015. 2018 habe ich mich zum Dipl. Syst. Coach und «MAS Systemisches Coaching und Organisationsberatung» weitergebildet. Seit 2021 bin ich akkreditierter PCC Coach (ICF International Coaching Federation) und IHK personenorientierte Maltherapeutin. Meine Passion für das Coaching beruht auf meinem Interesse an Menschen aus verschiedenen Kulturen und ihrer individuellen resilienten Art, mit Veränderungen zurechtzukommen. Mein Leben war ebenfalls stets von Veränderungen und Traumata geprägt. Deswegen liegen mir Themen wie Lösungsorientiertheit, Resilienz und Diversität so am Herzen. Als Coach ist mir eine achtsame, respektvolle und lösungsorientierte Prozessbegleitung meiner Coachees sehr wichtig. Mein Profil ist abgerundet durch meine absolvierten lösungsorientierten Traumatologie-Kurse, die es mir ermöglichen, meine Klienten noch sicherer zu begleiten. Meine Coaching-Ausbildung beinhaltet diverse Ansätze: Organisationsberatung und systemisches Coaching (vor allem für Leadership, Change Management und organisationskulturelle Aspekte) am Institut für Kommunikation und Führung in Luzern. Lösungsfokussierte systemische Strukturaufstellungsarbeit nach Prof. Dr. Matthias Varga von Kibéd und Dipl.-Psych. Insa Sparrer, SySt-Institut, München, (herkommend unter anderem von der «solution oriented brief family therapy» von Steve de Shazer). Gelernt in der Schweiz bei WissensWert GmbH. Verschiedene Weiterbildungen im Bereich Traumatologie (Dr. Hélène Dellucci, Dipl.-Psych., PhD, systemische Familientherapeutin, EMDR Europa Supervisorin für Erwachsene und Kinder/Jugendliche).

Book preview

To my little angel ...fly into the light.

Love you too,

your daughter Corina

Table of contents

Foreword by the author

PART 1

The fable. Milou, the kitten who wished to be a cat

1. Purring and attentive little ears

2. My family

3. The girl who feared she had no heart

4. A cat can’t be a dog, no matter how hard she tries

5. The stray dog who longed for a home

6. The meeting with the architect. The beginning of how I found out who I was

7. The leopard in me

8. The farmer who wanted to become a street musician

9. The meerkat lady

10. Apple Time

11. The past, the present and the future

12. Vanilla and lavender scented soap and the gardens of the heart

13. Dreaming about your own life

14. You and I are two sides of the same coin, Milou

PART 2

Thoughts from various professionals on the topic of personal growth and how coaching, mediation, and psychotherapy can help us achieve it

I. Thoughts by Corina Wyler, author of this small book, ICF PCC and ECA coach, IHK person-oriented painting therapist

II. Charles and Doris Meyer, systemic coaches with solution-oriented trauma therapy approach

III. Giuseppe Cassata, certified mediator and systemic coach

Acknowledgement

Further reading

Small glossary

The author

Foreword by the author

I started writing this modern fable partly for fun and partly for my own personal growth during the second lockdown of COVID-19, and I’m glad to see that some of the readers now have it in their hands.

It is written in a very simple way to inspire an audience of diverse people to daydream, think, and feel.

I would like to preface this book by saying that I am not a professional writer. However, every line in this book has been written from my heart until the very end.

In prefacing this, I do not want to go into my motives and intentions, nor do I want to spoil the plot. My wish is for you to remain curious and open to discovery throughout the reading of this book... perhaps even beyond the book.

Allow yourself to be surprised as you read with the eyes of an adult and the heart of a child.

One last point of a logistical nature. This little book is divided into several sections. On one side you will find the fable (Part 1), on the other side you will find a section with some views of some of my colleagues and myself on the subject (Part 2). Finally, at the end of the book is a glossary section with some of the technical terms used in the book.

Now it only remains for me to wish you a good and hopefully entertaining read.

Yours Corina Wyler

PART 1

The fable.

Milou, the kitten

who wished to be

a cat...

1. Purring and attentive little ears

As the door opened, the fall sun caressed the fur of my outstretched paw on the windowsill.

The fresh breeze that entered made me tremble for a moment and I was about to curse the person who had dared to disturb my peaceful slumber when I saw her eyes.

They reminded me of a cat’s eyes ... alert and aware of its surroundings, an animal ready to flee or fight when faced with danger. But it was just a human. To be precise, a human of female nature. She looked at me with a mixture of affection and wistfulness, and she was still a young girl.

She slowly walked up to me, knelt down to look me straight in the eye, and without saying a word, she began to caress me. Her touch was soft and knowing. She knew that we cats generally like to have our chins scratched!

I couldn’t resist and started purring at her, but I could sense that something was making her sad.

Mrs. Veronica looked out from the back of the room. In a firm, loving voice she said:

Good morning, how can I help you?

Good morning, I am Annalisa Pelardi. You are Mrs. Veronica? We had talked on the phone about the appointment. Excuse me for being 30 minutes early.

It’s all right, miss. Please take a seat. Would you like a glass of water or coffee?

The ritual was always the same. My human, Veronica, tried to make the newcomers feel at home and listened to them attentively. They would tell stories about their lives, and sometimes they would cry or their voices would sound angry. The strangers would continue to talk about themselves, and Veronica would ask a few questions. After an hour or two, they would leave the room.

I mostly dozed and listened to their stories with one ear. I rarely interfered.

Occasionally, a human would interact with me, or I with them, and it tended to be those I found most intriguing because I perceived something that was hidden at first sight.

Excuse me. I forgot to introduce myself: I am Milou., a middle-aged cat. My fur is semi-long and soft, cream with black spots. I am an ordinary house cat, moderately cute, but people are often impressed by my expressive eyes.

I have been living together with Mrs. Veronica for the last two years. We got to know each other through a little stuffed leopard-shaped toy she kept on her windowsill. But I’ll tell you later how I met her.

I am a very special cat by nature and it took me a long time to understand that I am really a cat... just as it takes many humans, Veronica’s visitors, a long time to understand who they are.

Let’s take it one step at a time. I grew up in a family with chameleons, jellyfish, robins, rabbits and Dobermans ... Logically, as a cat, I did not know who I was.

2. My family

Yes, you read that correctly: My family does not consist of cats like myself. How can that be? Well, I don’t know for sure. Perhaps a freak of nature, perhaps a karmic fact, perhaps magic? Well, believe it or not, I am the daughter of a chameleon and a jellyfish. My dad, a chameleon who knows how to take on the appearance of his surroundings, likes to be warm, slow to move, and even though he’s not able to purr, I love him a lot. From time to time he gives me some of the flies he has caught, and often, when I was a little kitten, he would walk for hours between the trees in search of food. My mother was a tentacled jellyfish that enjoyed swimming in the sea and dancing in the waves to music. She liked to pull us towards her as a gesture of affection, but her tentacles would squeeze and prevent me from roaming freely.

In spite of the fact that I am a cat, I am very fond of water, but I am also in love with my freedom. Unfortunately, my mother, the jellyfish, died at a young age. One day, the tide came in early and surprised her, she stayed on the beach in the sun. Papa Chameleon was up in the tree and couldn’t save her in time, while I was out playing with my friends, oblivious to the drama that was unfolding. Then there was Grandma Robin, Aunt Rabbit and my cousin Doberman in the family. My maternal grandmother was Grandma Robin. She loved to fly around the gardens. She chirped and was busy building nests. I spent much of my young feline life with her and it was she who, in a way, brought me to my human, Veronica. My aunt, a rabbit, was always afraid of nearby predators and often would not play