Coaching to Change Lives: masterclasses and supervision in coaching and trauma
Suicide has been in the news recently, with the deaths of two high profile people and a series of deaths at the University of Bristol. Those who lose someone close through suicide often ask “why?”; “why now?”; “ “what signs were missed?”. Some feel guilty or angry, and all feel the empathetic pain of someone …
Continue reading “Talking about suicide: a survival strategy in response to psychological trauma”
The first masterclass was successful – here are some the comments from attendees, we’ve received. I wish I’d attended a class like this years ago. It freed me to give meaningful consideration to hitherto taboo elements of a client’s story. We’ve all developed as coaches knowing that we must rigidly observe therapeutic boundaries and therefore …
Even in my earliest days as a coach, I had the sense to ask clients about their experience of growing up. But often I found myself not knowing what on earth to make of what they told me. I had the impression that they spoke to me readily enough and frequently it shocked and surprised …
Continue reading “How it helps to apply trauma theory to coaching”
Here are some common coaching scenarios from my own practice as a supervisor in the last year, all client details disguised: Client A Is considering leaving his job abruptly with no alternative on the horizon. At their first session Client A describes a pattern of repeated sudden exits, sometimes triggered by him, sometimes by the …
Continue reading “Could trauma be the explanation for lack of coaching progress?”
Trauma may show up as chronic anxiety, as it does in this fascinating case study written by the London GP Dr Jonathon Tomlinson. Up until June 14th 2004 Joe was a consultant anaesthetist at a London teaching hospital. That day at work, during an operation he had a panic attack. He froze and as if …
Continue reading “Trauma and the self: A story from the NHS”
Can there be a coach anywhere in the world who does not know and use the Wheel of Life? Thank you Ms or Mr Anon-Coach-Therapist who invented it. Yes, it’s an oldie, but that does not mean it has lost its usefulness. As part of the first session, the Intake Session as coaches in the …
I’ve been engaged in several things this week. I am preparing for our two day workshop in June, writing a chapter of my book on Coaching/Therapy boundaries in relation to working with trauma, and writing up my notes from reading ‘In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts’ by Dr Gabor Maté. They are all interweaving in …
Continue reading “Coaching and Trauma – the shadows of the past in the present”
As I sit here, in the light of bigger skies in the south of France, where I have come to focus on a number of writing commitments, I am thinking of February and beyond. Imagining what might be helpful and interesting for the APECS session and how best to form a bridge between the world …
Integrative executive coaching: exploring the interplay between psyche, role and environment I have been involved in the Coaching explosion and fragmentation (life coaching, executive coaching, business coaching, health coaching, spiritual coaching) for 25 years. It has been interesting to see the rapid growth and appeal. I have also been a supervisor of coaches for some …
Continue reading “What has trauma got to do with coaching? Or coaching got to do with trauma?”