In this captivating episode of Coaching Uncaged, Animas Centre Director Robert Stephenson is joined by organisational development consultant, coach, author, prolific researcher and Director of Ashridge Centre for Coaching, Hult International Business School Erik de Haan as they explore Erik’s work around coaching research and what it tells us about the profession. Erik details the background and personal journey that led him to coaching and consulting, and shares what sits behind his passion for coaching research, offering various examples from his books, including the upcoming What Works in Executive Coaching, to illustrate the importance of academic research in gaining a better understanding of what makes coaching successful. As part of this exploration around coaching research, Erik and Robert dive into the relational aspects of coaching, and how the quality of the relationship between coach and coachee might affect the outcomes of a session. They speak on the biases that we all possess as coaches, and the importance of keeping an open mind as a coach that really wants what’s best for their client.  Erik and Robert also share their thoughts around organisational leadership, the role of the leader, why good leadership is so needed right now, and how we might create better leaders so that we are better able to tackle the various crises that we collectively face as human beings. Finally, Erik discusses the importance of being able to freely associate as a coach, for both coach and client, and not being too attached to our own hypotheses, shares some information around Rogerian counselling, as well as revealing what’s next in terms of his upcoming research projects.  You can find out more about Erik and his work here: http://www.erikdehaan.com/ We hope that you enjoy this episode!

In this thought-provoking episode of Coaching Uncaged, Animas Centre Director Robert Stephenson is joined by actor, coach and domestic violence and sexual harassment prevention trainer Andrew Macklin. Robert and Andrew thoughtfully explore the topic of domestic violence, and how it might show up in the coaching space, particularly for those coaches that work within a relationship coaching context.  Andrew draws on his experience as a domestic violence prevention trainer and coach as he shares this world from a coaching perspective, touching on patterns of behaviour, the notion of identifying what makes a relationship healthy or unhealthy, and the importance of building an awareness of the early signs that show up around domestic violence that can be key in its prevention. Andrew also touches on some of the common myths associated with domestic violence, as well as offering some resources, statistics, frameworks and models that can be useful in bringing a coachee’s awareness to what is considered a healthy or unhealthy relationship and how this may be showing up or affecting other areas of their life. Andrew also shares that while a recognition of when someone needs professional support is paramount, the held and heard space of a coaching session can be key in supporting those that are facing domestic violence by helping to rebuild feelings of agency and competence.  He highlights that while boundaries, self-awareness and comfort are key in this space, if as coaches we are able to avoid trying to cure or solve the issue for the client, and able to recognise that we are but one piece of the puzzle - a piece that might just be offering a space for the coachee to share and feel heard - coaches can play a crucial role in this incredibly important area.  You can find out more about Andrew and his work here: http://www.andrewmacklin.com/ Below are some useful helplines that offer support for those facing domestic violence: National Domestic Violence Helpline - 0808 2000 247 www.womensaid.org.uk You can freephone the 24-hour National Domestic Violence Helpline, calls to this number will not show up on BT landline phone bills. Galop – 0800 999 5428 www.galop.org.uk Galop is the only National LGBT+ Domestic Violence Helpline providing confidential support to all members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) communities, and their family and friends. Men’s Advice Line – 0808 801 0327  www.mensadviceline.org.uk A confidential helpline for male victims of domestic abuse and those supporting them.

In this episode, Animas Centre Director Robert Stephenson is joined by executive coach, supervisor, author, artist and art-based coach Anna Sheather as they explore art-based approaches to coaching. Anna shares the background that led her to employing art-based approaches in her coaching practice, touching on the executive and corporate spaces that she predominantly works in, and how she brings art into this work.  Anna talks about the importance of coaching from who you are, bringing the conversation back to the idea of authenticity as one of the keys to succeeding as a coach. Robert and Anna also delve into the pivotal element of building trust with our coachees, and how being confident in what we bring to the coaching space, can help that trust to flourish.  Touching on the somatic element of working with art in the coaching space, the similarities between art-based coaching and art-based therapy, as well as a fascinating exploration of the right and left hemispheres of the brain, Anna shares how she supports her coachees to tap into working with just the right hemisphere in her coaching sessions. Finally Anna walks us through her art-based coaching framework, sharing the stages that she takes her clients through, and offers resources for those that are looking to work with art in the coaching space, including her own book - Coaching Beyond Words: Using Art to Deepen and Enrich Our Conversations.  You can find out more about Anna, her work and her book here: https://www.artincoaching.co.uk/ We hope you enjoy this episode!

In this fascinating episode of Coaching Uncaged, Animas Centre Director Robert Stephenson is joined by educational innovator, psychotherapist, coach, author and Founder of the Adler Graduate Professional School, Linda J. Page. Robert and Linda delve into Adlerian Psychology, a psychotherapy approach based upon the work of pioneer Alfred Adler. They explore what it is, some of the historical background of the work, as well as some of the many crossovers that Adlerian psychology has with coaching - including being a systemic approach, as opposed to a mechanistic one, that looks at the relationships between things, not just the things themselves. Linda shares the background that piqued her interest in Adlerian psychology, and the journey that led to her founding of the Adler Graduate Professional School in Ontario, Canada. Linda touches on the idea of what Adler called ‘social interest’, and the notion of believing in yourself and others as the key to health and wellbeing, drawing similarities to the practice of coaching. Robert and Linda also explore the notion of working on the self as a coach, the benefits of reflection for both coach and client, as well as the importance of cultivating what she terms ‘appreciative curiosity’ when working with new clients. Touching on buddhism, diversity and inclusion as well as the politicalness of coaching, Linda shares case studies, historical references, personal anecdotes and even a short poem in this deeply interesting conversation that explores the similarities and crossovers between Adlerian Psychology and coaching. You can find out more about Linda and her work here: http://www.lindajpage.com/ We hope that you enjoy this episode!

In this episode of Coaching Uncaged, Animas Centre Director Robert Stephenson is joined by experienced executive coach, trainer and author Jenny Rogers. Jenny shares her impressive background in executive coaching, touching on some of the journey that has led her to the work that she is doing now: a combination of executive coaching, pro bono coaching for a charity called Smart Works which aims to get unemployed women back into work, as well as her role as one of the faculty on the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s coaching programme.  Jenny also touches on the work around trauma that she is currently doing with Julia Vaughan-Smith, and discusses how trauma can show up in the coaching space, and why it is important to consider how the past might be playing out in the present for our coaching clients.  Jenny shares her thoughts around how coaching, and particularly executive coaching, has shifted, changed and progressed over the past 30 years, and also discusses her take on psychometric tools such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and why tools like this can be useful, particularly when used in conjunction with other psychometric devices.  Finally, Jenny shares some insight into her background as a prolific writer, touching on where this desire to write comes from and why writing can be a great way to learn, as well as sharing some more information around her upcoming book ‘Coaching: What Really Works’ which is released in March this year.  We hope that you enjoy this episode! You can find out more about Jenny and her work here: https://jennyrogerscoaching.com/

In this episode, Animas Centre Director Robert Stephenson is joined by coach, trainer, supervisor, facilitator and trainer of the Animas Accredited Certificate in Group Coaching, Emma Dempsey.  Emma shares her background that brought her to coaching, touching on the previous work that she did with groups around community development, bringing people together and nurturing groups within communities.  Emma and Robert also share what it means to be a group coach, and coach a group, and what we mean when we talk about group coaching. Emma also touches on how coaching skills show up in the group coaching space and some of the differences between coaching and facilitation. Emma also shares how much we can learn when coaching happens as part of a group, and how when observing coaching in a group dynamic, it gives everyone a space to reflect, and think ‘what does it mean for me?’ ‘How does it impact me?’ ‘What’s my reflection around my goal, outcome or desire?’ And how powerful it can be to coach as a group, and create a space of sharing, and learning from one another. Emma also shares some of the key topics covered and takeaways that people can expect from the Accredited Certificate in Group coaching, including exploring how we bring groups together, what we might need to notice as coaches in that space, as well as delving into various group theories and group dynamics during a weekend that will include experiential practice sessions and lots of valuable reflection. We hope that you enjoy this discussion! You can find out more about Emma and her work here: https:www.emmadempseycoaching.com If you’re interested in coaching groups, the CPD course this weekend is actually fully booked… but fear not! The course is being run twice more this year, with the next one being in March. If you’re interested, you can find out more and book your spot here: https://www.animascoaching.com/blog/events/accredited-certificate-in-group-coaching-2021/

In this episode of Coaching Uncaged Animas Centre Director Robert Stephenson is joined by coach, consultant, supervisor, author and co-founder of the Climate Coaching Alliance, Dr. Alison Whybrow. Alison shares her journey, one which might be familiar for many listeners, that started with a realisation that the climate emergency isn’t under control and evolved into a questioning around what if coaching was reframed? And Instead of being about individual and organisational success, what if it was there to create a healthy biosphere? Alison shares how this thinking led to her co-founding the Climate Coaching Alliance with Eve Turner and Dr. Josie Mclean - A movement centred around bringing together coaches, coaching psychologists, and coaching supervisors, facilitators and other leadership professionals in order to co-create a space to share resources, explore practice, and hold dialogue around the climate emergency. Robert and Alison explore the many ways coaches might bring in either a wider lens or bigger sense of self into the space around climate and the wider ecology, with Alison sharing examples from her own coaching.  They also discuss how organisations and professional bodies can avoid making it feel as though coaches ‘must’ or ’should’ be part of this conversation, and instead open it up as an invitation to be part of the dialogue and resulting action should it feel aligned to their purpose. Finally, Alison shares what’s next for the Coaching Climate Alliance, including a 24 hour global conversation open to all, on the climate emergency which is taking place on the 4th March this year. You can find out more about Alison and the Coaching Climate Alliance here: https://www.climatecoachingalliance.org/ https://www.alisonwhybrow.com/about/ We hope that you enjoy this discussion!

In this fascinating episode of Coaching Uncaged Animas Centre Director Robert Stephenson is joined by neuroscientist, money mindset coach and founder of The Empowered Mind Academy, Sarah Asquith-Vallance as they delve into neuroscience, neuroplasticity and its relationship to changing habits, patterns and beliefs. Sarah shares her journey from studying neuroscience to working with special needs children, through to the coaching work that she is doing now around mindset and change, touching on how she came to coaching and why she loves what she does.  Sarah explains how neuroplasticity works, and how it can manifest around negative thought patterns, limiting beliefs and habits that hold us back from taking forward steps towards what we want. She reveals how she bring this into her work with her clients, as well as sharing her findings that it takes 67 days to break a habit and build a new one. Sarah also talks about cognitive dissonance, and the importance of getting comfortable with feeling uncomfortable at times, particularly when tackling new things. She also discusses the impact that fear can have on the brain when tackling new challenges, as well as revealing why our brain will automatically look for quick fixes that are unlikely to yield long-term results.  We hope that you enjoy this episode! You can find out more about Sarah and her work here: sarahasquithvallance.com

In this episode, the second instalment of our ‘behind the curtain’ conversations Animas Centre Director Robert Stephenson is joined by Founder and CEO Nick Bolton as they share what’s been happening behind the scenes at Animas, reflect back on 2020, and some of the exciting things that are in the plans for 2021. Nick and Robert recap on their last ‘behind the curtain’ conversation back in August and discuss how the business has grown and developed since then, touching on new additions to the team, new offerings for the community and new and exciting endeavours that are already in motion and expected to really take off in 2021. They also take a look back at 2020, and share their thoughts, reflections and learnings around the shift to virtual training, the addition of both a Community and Events Manager and Head of Social Impact to the Animas team and what it offers to the Animas community and wider world. Finally Nick and Robert share their key takeaways from this year, the pride that they both take in what the Animas team has achieved and the ways in which they’ve grown and evolved in the face of challenge,  as well as sharing some more detail around some of the exciting developments that you can expect to see in 2021 If you want to know more about what’s happening behind the scenes at Animas as we come to the end of 2020 and move full steam ahead for 2021 be sure to tune into this episode! Nick also founded the International Centre for Coaching Supervision whose mission is to enable coaches from across the world to access an exceptional coaching supervision course through accredited, virtual live-training. If you're interested in training as a coach supervisor you can find out more here: https://iccs.co/ For those of you that have tuned in this year, thanks for your support, we hope you’ve enjoyed listening to Coaching Uncaged as much as we have enjoyed being part of such brilliant conversations. Here’s to 2021!

In this fascinating episode of Coaching Uncaged, Animas Centre Director Robert Stephenson is joined by Author, global lecturer and Co-Founder of the Happiness Studies Academy, Potentialife, Maytiv and Happier.tv, Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar. Tal delves into the science of happiness, sharing his fascinating background around the subject, the scientific data that sits behind living happier, healthier and more meaningful lives, as well as how these ways of thinking about happiness show up in the coaching space and the role that coaching has in helping both self, and others to work towards greater meaning, fulfilment and better ways of living. Tal touches on the importance of not just finding the purpose of life but also the purpose in life. He also shares some of the reasons behind why systems thinking is so important in establishing leverage points with coachees, as well as the benefits of coaches really experimenting with truths in the coaching space. Whether it’s using Daryl Bem’s 'Self-Perception Theory' to illustrate the important two-way connection between thoughts and actions, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ‘Circles’ essay to highlight that the most impactful interactions are loops as opposed to a linear process, or Robert Greenleaf’s research that found that the characteristic most associated with great leaders is an ability to truly listen and be present; something that sits at the heart of every great coaching conversation, Tal offers so many insightful anecdotes, references and resources in his exploration of the science of happiness. We hope that you enjoy this conversation! You can find out more about Tal and his work here: http://www.talbenshahar.com/ And as always, don’t forget to subscribe for a fascinating new episode every Tuesday!