Art also connects to our right brain and our unconscious. The right brain is the home of the ‘Ah Ha!’ moment and is where personal meaning resides. Through art we give our right brain a voice helping us to externalise what is hidden, complex and sometimes paradoxical. Being able to connect to our right brain world, understand and communicate its perceptions is crucial for transformational coaching. In the 1970’s Roger Sperry, in his research into the two hemispheres of the brain, said ‘modern society discriminates against the right hemisphere’ and current research shows that this is still very much the case – we very much value left brain perceptions over and above right brain perceptions.
For transformational change to occur Hawkins & Smith in their Four Levels of Engagement state that we need to be working at the fourth level of engagement; values, beliefs, behaviour patterns, personal stories and moral codes. This is all the domain of the right brain.