Time for Change - New hopes, old aspirations and the chance to make it come true

A Message from the original founder, Julie Hewson.

In this current climate of uncertainty, many people are re-assessing their lives and directions and beginning to consider hopes and dreams that had been shelved for some indeterminate future date. It is believed that we all have three drives that we need to juggle throughout the course of our lives, one is the drive for survival, one is the drive for creativity and one is the need for quiescence (or serenity and peace).

The first involves, how we live our lives and provide for a roof over our head, food on the table and a career or role that determines our social and moral obligations and recognition. This drive is with us at most times and can lead to stress and anxiety as pensions disappear, mortgages and jobs become more difficult and costs of consumables become a worry. It is at these times many people re-assess from a fresh perspective, how to add to their earning capacity in a way that encompasses their creative abilities and background of accumulated wisdom.

People exercise their creativity in a number of different ways, by cooking, by gardening, by dreaming up new projects, by writing, by disseminating information in new and creative ways, by evolving into the person they were meant to be. It includes all the arts, and creation of spaces and relationships and making dreams come true for others, being a jazz singer or magician in your later years, taking up painting or wood sculpture. The creative drive exists for its own sake. It does not need to be marked or approved of by anyone other than ourselves. It is of itself liberating. It can be combined with the survival drive to set up a new and exciting string to our bow in business.

Quiescence is time to reflect, to be still, to enjoy solitude. This like all others is a private matter and can be achieved through many routes and byways, like meditation, contemplation, prayer.

It is usually the case that two of these drives are operating in the foreground at any one time and if one is neglected sooner or later it will emerge as a need and make itself known.

Coaching can provide a wonderful space for all three of these and Mary and I have watched people change and grow dramatically during the concentrated course, with such joy. We have a great deal of laughter together as well as times of gravitas.

It has been a privilege to hear of the inspiring success stories from those who have graduated from, after deciding  for themselves and for their career/earning power, to come on the Diploma in Life Business and Executive Coaching. This course has attracted people from Human Resources, Senior Management, The Financial Sector, including IFA's and Bank Managers, Criminal Justice, Education, The Theatre, Psychotherapy, Counselling, Social Work and Education, Lawyers, the Armed Services and Emergency Services, those working in Charities and the Voluntary sector, Business people and Artists. We have just had our first Olympian apply, so the range of people is exciting, rich and diverse.  This in itself leads to all kinds of unlikely meetings, combinations of skills and inspirational projects.

As a result of this training, people have changed career, got the deserved promotion, set up new organisations and consultancies both locally and nationally, delivered coaching to the Police, to Specialist Educators, to Actors, to Senior Executives in the NHS. Some have got together to create networks for running successful CPD trainings and applying Coaching for Couples.

The course itself enables participants to get high quality coaching throughout the training as well as the skills expertise and theoretical base from which to run a successful practice.  It also enables people to consider how to set up a business and how to promote their expertise and gifts. The difference in perspective between transformational coaching and counselling and psychotherapy is that the emphasis is on the current situation and where the person wishes to go. There is no remit to delve into the past, the work is done in the present, relationally and through a range of techniques and skills based on NLP, Solution focused and CBT approaches, Transactional Analysis and Gestalt among others. There is also an emphasis on Organisational Coaching and working with senior executives who often have a lonely time of it at the head of their organisations. The Coaching Diploma now also carries an MA, see www.ukcoaching.com. This is a very practical, cost effective and rare opportunity to achieve a Master's Degree in this subject area.

As with all professions the need for high quality supervision is paramount, and we are finding a range of professions are now  

represented on our supervision trainings, including lecturers from other organisations in counselling, from Relate, from complementary health Practitioners, from coaching and psychotherapy, in fact right across the board. Here also is another opportunity to add another string to the bow of suitably experienced practitioners, as the need out there is great.

Tutors - Life, Business & Executive Coaching

Julie Hewson and Mary O'Donoghue are both international trainers in Coaching, Mentoring and Supervision. Both have worked in Switzerland, and Julie has also worked for many years in Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain and even Jamaica. They are consultant psychotherapists, with a knowledge and skill base that underpins all the applied psychological techniques used in coaching. They both have developed successful businesses and work as consultants to a number of different organisations in both the public and private sectors. They are inspirational teachers, and have been referred to as the dream team, by a number of their graduates. They love what they do and inspire others to be successful. Their courses are full of laughter and fun as well full of information, skills and practical applications. This course is so highly thought of that a team of a board of accreditation have asked to participate in it..