About Coaching

Committed to Growth and Self-Development

My approach is based on finding your deep needs to move your life forward in the directions you choose and the style of coaching we engage in together will be tailored to those needs. This means that coaching can be extremely varied in how it looks from session to session. However, there are some basics that will apply to each session.

Confidentiality and safety - In all coaching aspects confidentiality will be held as sacred. Creating and upholding safety (physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual) within the session is paramount.
Non-judgemental approach - Listening without judgement, not trying to fix or rescue people or situations or changing attitudes by persuation, manipulation or collusion.
Trauma-Informed approach - Understanding the nature of trauma and how it is expressed through the body, language and beliefs, and respecting the impact this has on self image and safety. Therefore, not pushing past the aspects of ourselves that protects us from further trauma.
The Parts of us - Recognising the difference between aspects (parts) of ourselves and our self definition. Sometimes we identify with a belief or state of being which is in truth only a part of ourselves.
Growth through Relationship - All growth comes through changes in the way we relate, either with other people, places or situations, or with ourselves.
Anti-Othering - Acceptance of all experiences as valid, whether viewed through gender, heritage, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other factor.
Curiosity - Exploration of our own pain, suffering, joy, frustration, anger, fear, anxiety, sexuality, heritage, belonging, hope or longing can be challenging. If we can maintain a sense of curiosity when doing this then anything is possible.

Working Horizontally vs Vertically

Working either horizontally or vertically is a metaphoric way of explaining approaches to coaching:

Horizontal - This refers to working continually, building a relationship between myself and you and looking at what is coming up in your life on a weekly basis. This can be done with a focus on a specific issue or aim in your life or as an exploration of what may be preventing you from moving forward toward maturity.
Vertical - This refers to working on an adhoc basis, as and when you have needs to work on specific issues or aims that arise in your life.

I work in both formats, largely using coaching techniques in the horizontal format and Shadow Work® for the vertical format. The most common way I work with clients is to work horizontally, having an hour long weekly session and then bringing in the Shadow Work® sessions as and when needed. These Shadow Work® sessions can take 2-4 hours. For more information see the Services tab above.

Working Towards Maturity

All the work I undertake is based on working towards individual maturity, however this may look, and recognising that it looks very different for different people. One significant part of this is emotional literacy, meaning finding an understanding of our own emotions, how they express, how they are suppressed or respressed, exploring the range we are comfortable with and uncomfortable with or even disconnected from. This can involve practical techniques, internal exploration, body and posture curiosity, visualisation, meditations, relaxations and movement. Sometimes it involves expression of emotions in vivid ways. I believe that if we are able to practice our emotional responses in a safe and purposeful way then we can befriend our emotions, know them intimately and bring them into our lives and relationships in a healthy and mature way.

I also provide a year long coaching based on the work developed by Hugh Newton called the Sovereign's Journey. This is an opportunity to develop our archetypal self known as the Sovereign. In its healthy form this part of ourselves is our soulful, loving leader that embodies our individual maturity. To develop this healthy Sovereign we engage around 20 other archetypal parts of ourselves, get to know them intimately and welcome them and their own talents into our lives. You can read more about this in the Services tab above.