Day One Conference Sessions

We brought together leading professionals in coaching, mental health, and wellbeing for a transformative conference that dives into the critical intersection of mental health and coaching.

Explore on-demand sessions featuring expert insights in coaching, mental health, and wellbeing. Dive into essential topics like understanding mental health, building confidence to navigate challenges, managing loss and grief, and integrating self-care for coaches and supervisors.

Access the sessions to equip yourself with practical guidance and valuable resources for effectively addressing mental health issues in your coaching conversations.

Opening Panel: What do we mean by Mental Health?

Anne Calleja, Carol Whitaker, Jeremy Lazarus, and Lisa de Rijk open the conversation by defining mental health and wellbeing and raising ethical considerations for coaches working in this space. With 46% of Executives seeking coaching to address their mental health issues in the workplace and one in four adults experiencing some form of anxiety, mental health challenges will inevitably show up in coaching or supervision.

Navigating Mental Health with Confidence

As coaches, how can we be confident in our own blend of competencies when clients show up with mental health challenges? Andrew Reeves and Lucy Myers present key findings and pose four essential practice questions that emerged from their research. They continue by offering recommendations to help coaches navigate dilemmas and risks confidently. Andrew further explores how coaches can choose a professional development path that fosters reflexivity and confidence in their practice.

Loss, Grief and Bereavement

Maggie João leads an insightful session exploring the many forms of loss, including loss of job, health, relationship, identity, etc. Participants examine common emotions tied to grief, learning to distinguish between “normal” grief and signs of more complex mental health issues. Coaches engage in an exercise to identify when they can safely coach clients experiencing grief and when they may need to refer to other professional help.

Self-Care for Coaches and Supervisors

Joanna Taylor emphasizes the critical importance of self-care for coaches and supervisors. She discusses the necessity of prioritizing our wellbeing and advocating for supervision, reflection, and self-awareness to maintain professionalism and safety in our work. By learning to listen to our own feelings and needs, we can avoid the pitfalls of compassion fatigue and burnout, ensuring that we can connect with clients with genuine empathy and kindness.

Closing Reflections

Joanna Taylor and Anne Calleja invite participants to reflect on their learning and key takeaways from day one. This session provided a space for discussion around the raised questions and allowed attendees to consolidate their thoughts.

Connect with our speakers

Anne Calleja, Carol Whitaker, Jeremy Lazarus, Lisa de Rijk, Andrew Reeves, Lucy Myers, Maggie João, Joanna Taylor