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Our experience takes place at the contact boundary. Contact boundary is a psychological place of energy, material and information exchange that can be found inside or outside the body (Dreitzel 2010). For example, we can be in contact with our headache or in contact with another person during deep and inspiring conversation regarding an ongoing project.

How does contact happen? To put it very simply, first the organism gets excited by a stimulus or need, after which it senses and becomes aware of it. Energy is released and the figure starts to form. He orients himself in the environment; the figure of his interest becomes sharply defined. At the top of the energy level he takes action and establishes contact: the goal has been reached. Gradually he experiences integration and fulfilment, thus becoming ready for letting go or withdrawing. In the literature, this process is usually referred to as contact cycle or cycle of experience or contact-withdrawal cycle (Critchley & Casey 1989) as represented in Figure 1.

On the more complex level, the contact cycle can be seen as a model for the previously explained change process, incorporating the described notions and principles. For example, the client, engaged in coaching as part of his leadership development, comes to the session. He talks about his current job and his particular career plans, but somehow seems uninterested and distanced. The same continues during the second session. The coach observes the client’s low energy and engagement and shares this observation with the client. The client becomes aware that he has recently been feeling very tired. The coach invites the client to explore, imagine and describe this sensation inside his body. The client focuses on the pain sensation in his upper spine imagining it as a bag pack filed with different things. During the dialogue with the coach he realizes that these belongings are related to the high demands of the current project. In continuation, he discusses delegating strategies in order to free up more capacity for his personal development.

Figure 1: Contact-withdrawal cycle (Critchley & Casey 1989)

As we see in this example, sometimes it takes time for a figure to be formed. The client might be unwilling to open the subject or simply be not aware of what is going on with him. As already mentioned in previous chapters, it is very important to stay as long as it takes in this phase and to tolerate the anxiety that might rise due to confusion. As we see in this example, sometimes we need to change the »modus« and explore some body sensations or emotions that are being raised.

Figure formation – when the right topic has been revealed – is usually accompanied with an »Aha!«-Moment or Eureka effect, leading again to the client’s increased engagement in the process. Now the activity, whether dialogue or experiment (see an example with empty chair experiment), will lead to clarification and hopefully a natural closure of the issue being raised.