Trauma is defined as damage that has been done to the psyche. This happens when the psyche cannot withstand a high level of stress and has to split to survive; the individual dissociates from the experience, becomes numb, ‘plays dead’, withdrawing emotionally and cognitively from the reality of what is happening.

This could be anything from difficult births that impact the infant to sexual or emotional trauma.

While a good number of people are able to move past certain traumas with the help and support of those close to them, perhaps family or friends, teachers or care-workers … some are unable to do so.

It is something that sometimes is brought into a coaching space/dynamic and as coaches, we sometimes have a hesitation to work with clients who have psychological challenges as we feel it is out of our depth and potentially belongs within the realm of therapy. This may be due to our experience as a coach, or understanding of the boundaries of coaching

At what point do we as a coach decide we can work with a client and how challenging or deep does the coachee’s issues have to be for us to feel as though we should perhaps pass them over to a therapist? And furthermore, is this the only answer?

And might we as coaches work with clients who have experienced trauma without changing our profession?

Join us for this one-off course introduction to Coaching with Trauma.

This course ran by the author of Therapist into Coach (2006), Julia Vaughan-Smith, is an introduction to working around those trauma survival responses, by focusing on the healthy non-traumatised resources within individuals.

Aimed at trained or in-training coaches who are looking at taking the next step in their coaching practice and potentially coaching clients who have suffered trauma.

This course is uniquely designed as a taster as to what working with trauma could be like and whether it is for you.  

The course has been recognised by the International Coach Federation as providing 6 hours of Continuing Coach Education and so can be used for coaches renewing their ICF credentials.

Through a rich mix of trainer-led sessions, peer practice and experiential exercises, you’ll learn:

• What a trauma response is and how it can show up within the coaching space
• An understanding of the impact of early experience on the psyche (mind, body and emotions)
• What environmental causes of such responses in early life
• The risks involved with taking a clients account of trauma
• Professor Franz Ruppert model of the split in the psyche
• How to apply the model of the split in the psyche in coaching, including how to use it with clients
• How to identify trauma survival responses (survival strategies, survival identity and survival dynamics) in themselves and clients and what to do about them
• Personal grounding exercises to use with clients and yourself
• How to recognise if in an entangled relationship with clients and what to do
• How to navigate sensitively coaching a client with trauma
• Coaching boundaries and supervision/responsible practice

Julia Vaughan-Smith author of, Therapist into Coach, is a highly experienced coach and qualified integrative psychotherapist.

She has over 25 years of experience in the field of coaching and organisational development. 15 years of experience in private practice as a qualified and registered integrative and humanistic psychotherapist, 8 years training in Family & Systemic Constellations and in Identity Orientated Psycho-Traumatology and the Intention Method, as developed by Professor Franz Ruppert.

Julia is currently working towards becoming an independent author. Her upcoming book Coaching with Trauma will be released in August 2019 and available on Amazon.