Hosted by APECS.
Hosted by Frances White who qualified as a Mediator in response to requests from clients where relationships had broken down, which felt beyond the coaching boundaries. Rather as we might refer clients on when we suspect they might need counselling or psychotherapy, she felt that a good grounding in the practice of mediation would be important.
She has since built a practice which combines these approaches with team coaching, bringing a mediative coaching practice to clients, such as the NHS, where there are systems, groups and teams who are experiencing conflict. This might have resulted in “toxic culture”, sometimes combative responses, defences which make coaching difficult, drama that needs careful boundaries and supervision, and where parties are often raising grievances against each other or are have created cliques or support groups that divide the system.
In this divisive environment, HR often instigate “investigations”, which often trigger more defence, feelings of being persecuted and victimised and well-defended Stories emerge, which are hard to untangle. What everyone really wants is for the system to return to productivity, preferably without losing anyone and without tribunals and legal process. What happens is often the opposite.
Frances’ approach supports a team and individual dynamic inquiry process, gradually bringing everyone together to witness and experience each others’ stories, some light naming of what might be occurring in the room, in the relationships and support and process to ease the drama and the tensions. then the process works to restore some kind of alliance, in service of the purpose of the organisation.
If this approach feels useful for your clients, come along and hear more about the process, principles and ask the questions that would enable you to see the systems in which you are coaching from a new perspective. Use this as a resourcing space for APECS members to share with each other something of what works, in service of better client systems.