Episode #32: Mike Toller – This Work, Coaching and Psychotherapy, is an Act of Care

Having achieved success running a popular clubnight in London and living his life by "trusting serendipity", Mike Toller wondered whether he could make more of a difference in people's lives. That thought was the beginning of his journey to becoming a professional coach and a psychodynamic psychotherapist.

The world of coaching opened up to him through conversations with Phil Bolton, who trained both Mike and I at the very start of our coaching careers, and through some remarkable discussions with his flying instructor that Mike talks about in this episode.

Our journeys have remained intertwined ever since, and recently we have been working together to train new coaches for a consultancy called Curve, who are doing amazing work in the world.

That experience has given us the opportunity to refocus on the essence of our coaching practices, and in this episode we explore what we have learned and shared, both together and separately, over the course of an enduring friendship and a hugely productive working relationship.

In this episode, we talk about:

Using physical space symbolically to shift perspectives in coaching sessions

Mike's role in the world's only indie air guitar band

Getting back to the fundamentals of coaching and how, as coaches, we can model healthy relationships

The vital importance of intentionality and how to create it in coaching relationships

What happens when we make coaching sessions an embodied experience

Mike is also a practising psychodynamic psychotherapist, and he offers valuable insight into both worlds, comparing and contrasting them from his unique vantage point.

For more information about Mike, visit https://www.michaeltollercoaching.co.uk/ or email him at michaeltollercoaching@gmail.com.

For information about Robbie’s wider work and writing, visit www.robbieswale.com.

Music by My Good Man William: listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4KmeQUcTbeE31uFynHQLQg

To support the Coach's Journey, visit www.patreon.com/thecoachsjourney and to join the Coach's Journey Community visit www.thecoachsjourney.com/community

Things and people we mentioned (that you might be interested in):

- Phil Bolton http://www.phil-bolton.com/

- Vegard Olsen https://coachingpartner.net/cp/en/

- Introduction to Counselling at Birkbeck https://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/2021/short-courses/modules/SSPA/SSPA116N0/

- What a Girl Wants https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286788/

- Feeling Gloomy https://feelinggloomy.com/

- Club de Fromage https://clubdefromage.com/

- The Coaching School https://www.michaeltollercoaching.co.uk/training

- Episode #2 with Phil Bolton https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-2-phil-bolton-from-forensic-accountant-to-the-go-to-career-coach-in-london-and-on-to-work-with-ceos-mds-and-founders

- Curve https://www.curve.cc/

- Episode #15 with Toku McCree https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-15-toku-mccree-sales-with-honour-and-love-on-the-end-of-a-sword

- Kim Morgan and Barefoot Coaching https://www.barefootcoaching.co.uk/about-us/kim-morgan

- Robert Stephenson https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-27-robert-stephenson-animas-how-to-say-yes-and-become-a-conduit-for-change

- Animas https://www.animascoaching.com/creating-space/

- Closer Apart, the book on designing and facilitating workshops by Curve https://www.closerapartbook.com/

- The interview with Inga Umblija from Curve and Phil Bolton about their work on abundance https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-28-inga-umblija-phil-bolton-abundance-formula

- John Monks https://www.thnk.org/community/people/john-monks/

- Katie Harvey https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/coaching-during-coronavirus-katie-harvey