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Impactful Coach
Episode 53Interview57 min

The Neuroscience of Emotions and Images with Sue Langley

with Sue Langley

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Show notes

A coaching podcast with Sue Langley and Tobias Weghorn about coaching skills you can use to read emotional cues, expand emotional vocabulary, and work more intentionally with emotions in sessions. Starting with a simple picture-based check-in, Sue explains why using picture cards in coaching can help clients talk about what’s going on “behind the words” and access richer insights than a standard “How do you feel?” question. You’ll also hear the neuroscience angle behind emotion cards and emotional vocabulary, including how the limbic system vs prefrontal cortex in coaching can shape empathy, clarity, and progress. Along the way, Sue shares practical ways to notice body language and physiology (interoception) so you can learn coaching that’s both human and evidence-informed.


Key Learnings:

  • Use picture cards in coaching as a “third object” to help clients talk more openly: ask them to pick an image that matches how they feel, then explore the story behind it (this strengthens coaching skills and often reveals what words alone hide).
  • Build emotion cards and emotional vocabulary into your sessions: have clients label more precise emotions (e.g., disappointed, embarrassed, guilty vs ashamed) to support emotional intelligence (perceive-connect-understand-manage) and make next steps clearer.
  • Practice reading emotional cues and body language in real time: notice mismatches between words and physiology (jaw tension, staccato gestures, foot tapping) and choose whether to name it overtly or regulate your own energy to help the client shift state.


Resources:


Episode Chapters:

00:00 Reading Emotional Cues As A Coach

01:00 Why Picture Cards Make Feelings Easier To Express

04:00 Picture-Based Check-In: Two Images And What They Reveal

08:45 Using Picture Cards In Coaching For Feedback And Strengths

14:40 Limbic System vs Prefrontal Cortex in Coaching (What’s Happening In The Brain)

19:45 Compassion vs Empathy: Staying Warm Without Losing Clarity

23:20 Interoception: Using Physiology To Read Emotions (Foot Tapping Example)

32:00 In-Session Techniques To Shift A Client’s State

37:20 Emotion Cards And Emotional Vocabulary: Labeling For Better Management

40:10 Shame vs Guilt: Why The Distinction Changes What Clients Do Next

47:45 Strengths, Values, And Choosing The Right Tool In The Moment

54:10 How To Learn More And Connect With Sue Langley

Transcript

Full transcript, edited for readability. Every timestamp jumps the video to that moment.

Sue Langley: Whatever language you use, you need to be good as a coach at picking up the emotional cues in your person. Sue Langley: You ask them a question, they give you an answer, but you're seeing something emotionally different. You're seeing something in their body language that indicates they may not be fully in agreement with it, or you get the sense that they're putting the barriers down or covering something up. A good coach is going to be able to see and pick up on those emotional cues. And there's a particular area of the brain, sitting almost where the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex join, called the fusiform face area or the fusiform expert area, and it's specifically designed to read emotions in faces. So as a coach, we need to be using all of our brain to pick up on those cues. But we also don't want to get so caught up in the limbic system and emotional empathy that we stop thinking clearly to help our client move forward. Tobi: How come talking about our feelings is so difficult? And how come expressing my feelings becomes so much easier if I can talk about a picture that I can hold here and that describes me today, rather than just talking about myself? If you're listening to this podcast, chances are not so bad that you have already tried this sort of picture-based check-in before. But do you know how it actually works, which regions of the brain are active in this process? I've used pictures and emotion cards in client work a million times, but on the biology part, I was always quite clueless. So for today's episode, I got myself one of the leading educators from the other side of

Read the full transcript

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