How it works
Coaching as an attentive conversation — with yourself, and with another.
On this page I explain what coaching with me looks like: my view on the craft, and the approaches I bring into practice.
About coaching
To me, coaching is about depth, slowing down, and genuine human connection. Three things that sound obvious, yet lose out first in most people's daily lives.
We live in a fast, digital, fragmented world. Our attention is chopped up all day, our schedules are packed, and much of our contact happens behind a screen. Even our thoughts move faster than we can follow.
Meanwhile, the very human need to understand yourself — to know what's going on inside you, what you need, where you want to go — asks for exactly the opposite: time and quiet. Moving forward starts with standing still for a moment.
Coaching is the place where that's allowed again. Where you slow down without it feeling unproductive. Where you have a conversation that isn't interrupted by notifications, calendars, or the next agenda item. Where someone truly listens — and through that, you start to hear yourself better too.
That's the heart of it, for me. Coaching as a counter-movement against the rush and the fragmentation. A space where depth and humanity get to come first again.
Michael de Jong as a coach
In my practice I work eclectically: drawing on several traditions and choosing what fits you and what you're working through at that moment. Four threads keep returning in my work.
Mindfulness
The foundation. Attention to what's here now — in your body, your thoughts, your feelings — without needing to judge it right away. Slowing down and noticing, so you regain choice instead of reflex.
Psychodynamic coaching
Attention to the patterns underneath your behaviour — often shaped by earlier experiences. We look at recurring movements, beliefs and assumptions, so you understand why you do what you do, and can start to shift it.
Systemic coaching
You never stand alone. Family, work, relationships, culture — they all work through you. A systemic view helps you see your place within the larger whole, and recognise the loyalties, dynamics and orderings that shape your room to move.
Solution-focused coaching
Alongside understanding comes movement. What's a small, concrete next step? What's already working? Solution-focused coaching brings the conversation back to what you can do today to move closer to the life you want.
Some sessions lean more on one thread than another. What stays the same: a conversation that's about you, at your pace, with the time to really get somewhere.
Curious whether it's a fit for you?
An introductory conversation is free of obligation. We'll feel together whether it clicks.