When Clients “Get It” But Still Don’t Shift

If you’ve been coaching for a few years, you already know how to set goals, build accountability, and help clients take action. You’ve done the trainings, collected tools, and developed a solid practice.

And yet - if you’re honest - there are sessions where something feels… flat.

Your client has insight, but nothing changes. They logically understand what they need to do next, but still can’t move forward. You sense something deeper is in the room, but you’re not sure how to access it safely or skillfully

This is the moment many coaches find themselves in. Not underperforming, just aware that their coaching could be more transformational.

This is where coaching with depth becomes essential.

Why Surface-Level Coaching Stops Working for Your Clients

When coaching is only about goals and action plans, clients can become “high-functioning stuck.” They achieve things, but they don’t change.

Here are the patterns you’ve likely seen:

• Clients repeat the same issues in slightly different packaging.

• Insight doesn’t translate into action.

• They say “I know what I need to do” but don’t follow through.

• They experience resistance, procrastination, or overwhelm but can’t explain why.

• They feel disconnected from themselves even when they’re achieving externally.

It’s not that they need more motivation, clarity, or habits. It’s that their deeper system - their fears, parts, somatic imprints, protective strategies-is quietly running the show.

Without addressing these layers, coaching remains helpful… but not transformational.

What’s Actually Beneath the Surface (and Why It Matters)

Most clients are shaped by fear-based stories about:

• who they are

• what’s possible for them

• how others see them

• what is safe or unsafe in the world

These stories live beneath conscious awareness.

They’re held by parts that carry:

• long-standing beliefs (“I’m not enough.” “I don’t belong.” “It’s not safe to be seen.”)

• learned strategies

• emotional imprints

• somatic patterns

• assumptions formed early in life

Clients don’t need these parts to be analysed or pushed aside—they need them to be met.

When we slow down, attune to the body, work with parts, and coach what’s actually present in the nervous system… these protective parts feel safe enough to soften.

And when they soften, clients naturally become more:

• grounded

• confident

• authentic

• Courageous

• self-led

This is the kind of change experienced coaches feel compelled to facilitate—but aren’t always trained in how to do.

A Real Example

A client continually overlooked for promotion may appear to need confidence coaching. But underneath might be an unseen part holding the story: “It’s not safe to be seen.” If you coach the behaviour without meeting the part, you inadvertently reinforce the story.

Depth-oriented coaching:

• meets the part

• tracks the somatic cues

• holds space for softening

• co-regulates with the client

• supports a new way of being to naturally emerge

Only from here can sustainable change occur.

For coaches who want to begin working at this depth, I’ve put together a free practical guide with 10 presence-based practices you can bring into sessions straight away.

You can download it here: [Embodied Presence Toolkit]