A Masterclass in Trauma-Informed Coaching
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?”
When talking about trauma with coaches over several years we have identified 5 common myths: ‘Successful people’, such as senior executives, are rarely traumatised Trauma only affects those who have had a horrific experience like a terrorist attack or serious car accident Trauma is an event that is remembered with mental images You can recognise …
I have become aware of how often I refer to ‘parts’ of our selves when working with coaches in supervision and with clients and how it is always met with ‘that is so helpful’. I thought I would share this approach and my thinking more widely. Examples include: A coach saying, “the client is very …
“I was rather taken aback, the client talked a lot about her current relationship difficulties and seemed to want to focus on that, is that coaching? It felt more like counselling”. The implied question seems to be that if this is the content, is that still coaching? For me, the answer is yes. I also …