Dr Julia Kukard: finding joy and fluidity in stuckness
Is being stuck a hellhole of despair or a friend enabling our growth? Psychotherapist and coach Dr Julia Kukard explains why stuckness indicates a disconnect between our inner and outer world, 3 losses we suffer and can recover, and the 5 stages of the stuckness cycle. Citing memorable case studies, she invites us to get stuck often - and develop the skills to recover quickly. Sponsored content.
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In ep. 200 of the weekly podcast series Calm, Clear and Helpful, Dr Julia Kukard - leadership coach, existential psychotherapist and personal & professional expert on stuckness - touches on:
what existential psychotherapy involves and its focus on freedom, death, isolation and meaninglessness
stuckness: when our inner world doesn’t connect with our outer world and our actions have no traction
how individuals, couples, groups, organisations or countries can get stuck
why “stuckness is very joyful” ” (everyone does it)
the 3 layers of Julia’s model for using stuckness as a growth point: the healing cycle, losing and gaining 3 things, and an incomplete wound coming up for healing
the 5 stages of the stuckness cycle
the 3 losses: loss of self through amputation, becoming bewitched, or dying to oneself; loss of engaged relationships; and loss of meaning, for instance by having a ‘donut world’
why being in a developmental impasse and experiencing emotional pain can be useful
how shame can lock stuckness in place
why grief, for instance grieving one’s unlived lives, is ‘brilliant’
building engaged relationships and finding meaning that’s appropriate
getting stuck in fluidity by not ‘taking the learning’
a case study from Julia’s book: Paula and the Sexy Panty
how coaches and psychotherapists can (also) get stuck
Julia’s 3 tips around stuckness and fluidity.
In this episode, Julia mentions Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir, Steve Biko, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Donald Winnicott, David A. Kolb, the Karpman Triangle, Victor Frankl, and Esther Perel.
Please scroll down for more information on Julia, including her contact details and new book, ‘The Art and Joy of Stuckness for Coaches and their Clients’.
Also read Julia’s answers to 8 personal questions.
The Art and Joy of Stuckness for Coaches and their Clients by Dr Julia Kukard (Routledge, 2024) - including case studies from around the world - can be found at Loot, Amazon and (soon) Exclusive Books.
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About Julia
Dr Julia Kukard is a leadership coach, coach trainer, existential psychotherapist and personal & professional expert on stuckness, based in Cape Town.
Aephoria Partners - the business Julia co-owns with Dr Simon Kettleborough and Lucille Greeff - has developed an assessment of vertical and horisontal development (the Enneagram and maturity) which provides a baseline and pathway for individual and group development. More recently, Julia has been working in the area of governance, particularly sustainability governance.
Julia’s doctorate in existential psychotherapy from Middlesex University London focuses on leadership stuckness, using the work of Steve Biko and other African liberation writers.
Website: www.jkukard.com
Email address: drjuliakukard@gmailcom
Aephoria: https://aephoriagroup.com/dr-julia-kukard/
YouTube: Aephoria
LinkedIn: Dr Julia Kukard
Original music by Mart-Marie Snyman
Thumbnail image: Pexels
Photograph of Dr Julia Kukard: supplied