A Masterclass in Trauma-Informed Coaching
This article appeared in the July 2020 issue of Coaching Today, which is published by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (c) BACP. https://www.bacp.co.uk/bacp-journals/coaching-today/ The military metaphors have become so common in the pandemic that we stop paying attention: it’s a ‘fight’, a ‘battle’. If so, then it’s one where the ‘war’ involves …
Continue reading “Recovery: coaching in the aftermath of Covid-19”
I am an advocate for supervision as a space to reflect, learn and be encouraged in our work; and as a process for protecting me and my clients (from me). However, I received a paper recently from a colleague entitled ‘harmful supervision’, and while I like to think this is rare, I asked myself whether …
I am sorry to start this blog by being pedantic. Covid-19 isn’t a trauma, circumstances never are. The trauma, as many of you will know, is the lasting impact on our neuro-physiology of the flight, fight, freeze and collapse response of the nervous system to our life being in danger. It is a body based …
Continue reading “‘The trauma’ of Covid-19 and concerns about mental health”
I’m asked this question a lot so am capturing my response in this blog. To be able to know the boundary between coaching and therapy as a coach, you need to be clear about the focus and purpose of your practice. If you are not, then you run the risk of being all things to …
Continue reading “What’s the difference between coaching and therapy when working with trauma?”
Julia Vaughan Smith and Robert Stephenson, CEO Animas Coaching I had the pleasure of talking with Robert in a life webinar, about coaching, trauma, trauma-informed coaching, Covid-19, the importance of supervision, and the difference between coaching and therapy. This conversation is now available on Youtube: As a response I have written a blog on the …
It is the issues and circumstance of the coaching which have been changed by the pandemic, but not the principles and process of coaching. They remain the same. We, as coaches, are of course affected, too, and may bring that into our coaching. We need to be sure that what we bring is valuable to …
Continue reading “Coaching and the pandemic – a few thoughts”
Since the social isolation started three weeks ago, I have observed my own survival parts activating as my autonomy and freedom is limited and I am physically isolated from those I love and care about. For many of us this stimulates our early trauma emotions which switches quickly to survival behaviour. I noticed this morning …
Continue reading “Engaging with your healthy self during the pandemic”
The Drama Triangle, familiar to many, developed by Stephen Karpman, is Transactional-Analysis model. It describes what can happen in an interaction between two people. More of that a bit later after considering a few questions:- Are you a rescuer, or over-helper (just a different description for rescuer)? Do you find yourself sometimes in an ‘its …
Continue reading “The Drama Triangle and how it relates to trauma-informed coaching”
“ I’ve worked hard with this client, tried everything, but nothing seems to shift.” “ The client was clear what he wanted to change, and had the actions, but when he came back, nothing had happened” “I worked with this client a few years ago, and I thought we had done some good coaching. But …
Continue reading “Why coaching the survival parts in coaching doesn’t bring about change.”
The more I talk about trauma and coaching, and come across the myths or misunderstandings about it, the more I feel it is important to be clear about what trauma informed coaching is. Trauma-informed coaching happens when the coach understands what trauma is, how it presents in the coaching room and how to respond. All …
Continue reading “What is trauma-informed coaching and why is it important?”