Building moment by moment awareness in our client relationships and beyond
Dr Emma Donaldson-Feilder’s introduction to relational mindfulness for coaches received outstanding feedback at our recent Alumni event. This two-part masterclass is a wonderful opportunity to explore the benefits of this profound practice in more depth.
As coaches, our way of being in relationship will influence client outcomes perhaps as much as the tools, techniques and skills we deploy. Practising mindfulness and meditation can help us as coaches to be more present and aware. Relational mindfulness takes this a step further by bringing our practice of mindfulness right into the moment of interaction with others and providing guidelines to support us to engage in mindful dialogue.
Learning to engage in relational forms of mindfulness has the potential to help us be more present, aware and resourceful in each moment with our coaching clients. Over time, it can help us spot our relational patterns and habits and those of our clients – in order to support discernment and allow beneficial change. This session will offer the opportunity for participants to experience and explore relational mindfulness, and the potential it offers for their work.
The value of attending
This masterclass will enable you to experience relational mindfulness practice and how it can help us as coaches:
- Bring present moment, non-judgemental awareness to speaking and listening in our coaching work and beyond
- Build moment by moment awareness of our own and others’ relational habits and patterns
- Establish more resilient ways of being in relationship with our clients and others
- Develop supportive, collaborative relationships in order to enhance our coaching practice and what we embody for our clients.
While Emma will ground the masterclass sessions in relevant theory, the sessions will mainly be designed to generate experiential learning. They will combine guided individual mindfulness and relational mindfulness practices with reflection, exploration of how to apply the learning in coaching, and building understanding of relevant frameworks and models.
Between the two sessions, you will be invited to buddy up with at least one other participant in order to practice relational mindfulness, enhancing the learning opportunity.
Ways in which this work can be applied
- Becoming more present and aware when interacting with coachees and others
- Deepening your awareness of and choice over what you embody in your coaching
- Creating greater psychological safety in your coaching sessions, thereby supporting clients to explore openly and think generatively
- Enhancing your capacity to listen and your comfort with silence in coaching sessions
- Creating greater empathy, compassion and sense of common humanity in your coaching and beyond
- Building your resilience in the face of reactivity, challenge or difficulty in relationship
- Spotting your own relational habits and patterns, in order to have greater choice about whether to continue to engage in them or choose other ways of behaving
- Spotting your clients’ relational habits and patterns in order to support insight and change for them where appropriate
Who can attend this masterclass?
Individuals who are interested in how relational mindfulness can help them be more present in their coaching work and in all their relationships. It would be helpful, but is not essential, if you have some prior experience of mindfulness practice. The sessions will be aimed at coaches and those who use coaching as part of their role (in HR, Learning and Development or management/leadership).
What else will attendees get?
- Pre-masterclass reading and reflection materials
- Between-session and post-session reading
- Guidance on practising relational and individual mindfulness between and after the masterclass sessions
- Masterclass slides
- An audio recording to support mindful preparation for coaching sessions and other interactions
Fees and date
Part 1: 2022 date to be announced soon – 930 am – 1 pm (London time)
Part 2: 2022 date to be announced soon – 930 am – 1 pm (London time)
Both workshops will be run on Zoom.
The fee is £320 + VAT
Early-Bird Rate: £290 + VAT
To apply, please request an Application form from alex@career-counselling-services.co.uk
Course Facilitator
Dr Emma Donaldson-Feilder is a Registered Occupational Psychologist, Coaching Psychologist and Coach Supervisor. She is also a relational mindfulness teacher and has recently conducted research exploring the use of mindfulness and relational mindfulness in leadership development. She is particularly interested in the link between leadership/people management and employee health and wellbeing, together with the role of coaching and coach supervision in supporting positive change in these fields. In order to have the best possible evidence-base for her work, Emma is actively involved in research; conversely, her coaching, coach supervision and consultancy ensures that the research is of genuine practical use in real-world settings. She is an author, conference speaker and media commentator and the book she co-wrote with Jo Yarker and Rachel Lewis, “Preventing stress in organisations”, won the BPS Book Award. She is also active in public policy as a member of the Health and Safety Executive Workplace Health Expert committee.