A reflection on the unseen connections that emerge when people engage in creative coaching together using the Collage Coaching Technique™ (CCT).
As each person shared their individual stories, the others listened attentively, and gradually a common thread began to emerge. Four different collages, reflecting four different lives, yet the stories they told quietly wove together into one; a woman navigating loss of identity and uncertainty, yet hopeful and determined to reclaim her sense of self.
I’ve witnessed this kind of connection many times, but after my last in-person group collage coaching workshop I found myself pausing to really consider, ‘what is actually happening in the room?’ And what might that mean for the work, the group and its members?
A question you may well have asked yourself if you facilitate creative group coaching sessions.
The Collective Unconscious and Creative Coaching
Carl Jung spoke of the collective unconscious, a shared psychic layer beneath our individual experiences, where symbols, archetypes and meaning live beyond personal biography.
After reflecting on this, I’ve been wondering what shifts when a group of people share a physical space and, within that space, engage in the same creative activity, while intentionally seeking to work with their intuitive unconscious wisdom and connect inwards.
Even taking into account the different depths at which people engage with the process, I still find myself noticing that something collective begins to emerge. A connection that forms not because people are talking to one another, but because they are tuning into a deeper layer of knowing at the same time.
What Happens in a Group Collage Coaching Session?
When people work with the Collage Coaching Technique™ (CCT) together, there are moments when images echo across different collages and universal patterns of what it means to be human emerge. Stories interconnect in unexpected ways, and one person’s image unlocks insight for another.
I see these as signals that something is happening in the room that is bigger than one person or their personal collage and am reminded of Gestalt psychology’s principle that: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. An idea that perfectly captures the fundamental nature of collage, Where the curated collection of images, in relationship, forms a whole that offers greater insight than any individual fragment.
The Group as a Human Collage
It could be said that at that time, and in that space, the participants themselves become a living, breathing human collage. As they go deeper into the creative, intuitive coaching process, it’s as if something moves between and connects them, rather than remaining contained within each individual.
This is powerful. It allows participants to access understanding and knowledge beyond themselves, instead drawing on the collective wisdom present in the room.
The energy of that connection is palpable and undeniable.
Can Deep Connections Occur Online Too?
I often hear coaches say they prefer in-person group coaching because you can connect more deeply. This is not my experience. I haven’t noticed less of a connection in online group coaching settings.
In these sessions, after storytelling in pairs we gather back together, and I ask this question: ‘What do you know now?’ What’s usually shared reflects individual insight expressed as deep-seated wisdom:
- I now know I can trust my intuition
- I don’t have to be afraid to speak my truth
- I know I’m good enough already
The responses are always strikingly similar across the group, despite people being in different breakout rooms and only seeing their partner’s collage.
So, if the collective unconscious transcends time and geography, as Jung suggested, then physical proximity isn’t the deciding factor. This is evident, because even online, when people gather around the same creative process, work with the CCT, slow down together and allow the intuitive unconscious to lead, there still seems to be a meeting of minds. A synergy and sense of being connected beyond the limitations of location.
Looking Inward, Expanding Outward
I don’t yet have the research to fully explain what’s happening. But when I reflect on the recurring connections between clients’ collages, and the shared insight that continually emerges through coaching at depth in group settings, I can’t help thinking that we’re witnessing a form of collective knowing.
It is interesting that in the process of looking inwards to connect to self, individuals working with the CCT in a group setting are simultaneously expanding outwards into the collective. As though the deeper each person goes into their own inner world, the more they touch something universal. This feels like a living expression of what Jung was pointing to with the shared psychic layer.
It’s a thought I’m now very conscious of and would like to research one day. In the meantime, I remain curious and aware, allowing myself to simply be with, and enjoy these profound moments of connection. Moments that remind me why the CCT is so powerful in group settings.
Pause to Ponder: When you work creatively with clients in a group, what do you notice shifting in the room that goes beyond words?