Sue Phelan, Occupational Therapist and Kim Morseley, Psychologist, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust

Sue – Occupational therapist

Having worked as a clinician for many years, this was the type of training that felt like it could make a difference to all members of the team and how we engage our patients in self-management. We have now trained over 350 staff within our Trust in health coaching. Following a recent survey of the staff trained, we know that the vast majority continue to use the techniques and employ the mind-set developed in the course.

We structured it by running two day coaching courses, eLearning and half day packages to raise awareness and increase engagement. As leaders, we have supported various projects across the organisation to help embed the approach within different clinical areas. We have undertaken numerous presentations and discussions with the senior management team.

I believe that the coaching has significantly impacted my approach and my patient group. Colleagues have relayed to me that this is also the case for them.

Although there have been challenges, I am proud of what we have achieved in raising awareness of this method and engaging our staff community. The driver behind the project is the work we carry out with our patient group and the difference this has made to individuals' lives, this is what I am most proud of.

Tips for health coaching:

Be willing to see the potential
Be patient
It’s often about the process not the content
Less is more
It might take less time than you think

Kim - psychologist

Having worked in a multi-disciplinary team for many years I was initially struck by the impact that health coaching training had on my colleagues, and the impact it had clinically on people's ability to take responsibility for their health and make change.

Moving forward with health coaching I found it to be an invaluable tool in my supervision and management of staff and also found it had an enormous impact on my own resilience and wellbeing. The opportunity to train others and facilitate the growth of health coaching within my organisation therefore felt like an exciting opportunity.

As a coach I use the training in both individual and group work, and also utilise the skills in management and supervision of my team. Working with a colleague, I have run many two day coaching courses for staff and have also e-learning and half day training packages to raise awareness and engagement with this approach. We also offered Continuous Professional Development (CPD) sessions to build on the skills of staff who have completed the two day training.

Aside from my experience of using health coaching clinically with patients (group and individual) and in supervision with staff, we have trained over 350 staff within our Trust. Following a recent survey of all staff trained we know that the vast majority of staff continue to use the techniques and employ the skills and strategies learnt on the course to some degree.

I am proud of everything that we have achieved through the training but perhaps my proudest moments are the enormous differences that this approach has made to the people I work with - the patient stories.

Tagged in:

Community

Evidence

Health Coaching

Resources

Training

Kate Nash, Lead Respiratory Nurse Specialist, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust

December 17, 2018

I am using health coaching in my clinical practice and have been given eight days per year outside of my existing role to train others.

Nina Finlay, Trudi Dunn, Zoe Noble, West Suffolk Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

December 17, 2018

Each of us noted positive clinical experiences resulting from the application of health coaching skills following an initial two-day training course.

David Sweeting and Kieran Morling, Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapists, East Coast Community CIC

December 17, 2018

We both work with patients suffering with persistent musculoskeletal pain, many have maladaptive coping strategies that contribute to their symptoms.

Ross Joannides, Team Leader, Impact Health Coaching, West Sussex

December 17, 2018

Having previously worked with young adults with learning disabilities and mental health problems, I became very passionate about the opportunity to implement a new approach.

"Conversation doesn't just reshuffle the
cards. It creates new cards."

How talk can change our lives,
Theodore Zeldin

"I particularly valued the sense of presence I felt Penny had during the coaching sessions. She was able to think of ideas or tools to use in the moment. I was offered words of comfort or encouragement when I needed to hear them. I found Penny friendly and empathic, while professional, analytical and with appropriate boundaries and control of the sessions. I genuinely feel the coaching I have received has been exactly what I needed at this point in time."

"Penny is a great listener, empathetic and also has a good sense of humour so makes you feel very at ease. Penny also has an amazing ability to sum up what I have said and help me make sense of it, through discussion and use of different models. I have really enjoyed working with Penny and will miss our sessions!"

"Penny has a great attitude of being supportive but also being frank and honest. I really valued my coaching experience with Penny especially the space she gave me to develop a different, more constructive understanding and perspective of the environment in which I found myself."

"The sessions were hard work, but they provided me with clarity on my key strengths, gave me direction on what was important to me and focussed my attention on what to work on next. I was also able to explore internal barriers and unhelpful beliefs which may be holding me back and identify unwanted behaviours which could led to burn out if left unchecked.Penny was an excellent coach who not only used coaching techniques to help me secure my goal but also gave me time to focus on my wellbeing and work life balance."

"I have really loved Penny's style of coaching and found it a particularly good fit for me. Penny has been super-creative and used a wide range of prompts to help me think in different ways including drawing, meditation, breathing, talking to bits of myself etc. She generates clear and helpful hypotheses which move my thinking on and refuses to let me stagnate.

"Penny was excellent as a coach. I found Penny was able to achieve a lot through this in the short punchy sessions we had. She demonstrated high levels of empathy, compassion but did not collude. She was also able to challenge me when patterns of thinking or behaviour emerged in a way that was helpful. She was excellent at playing back my words to help me think more deeply.Above all her non-judgmental manner and approach and kindness with which she coached was inspirational to me as someone who works in this area – she really is holistic and has so much to offer to clients."

"Penny helped me to have a more positive focus to everyday problems, have a more helicopter view of my future and realise the impact of my NHS devotion on my personal health. While with other coaches sometimes I was ending the session confused and disoriented, Penny managed somehow to always create a direction. I could say that Penny inspirational and challenging at the same time – but knows when to stop challenging and offer focus."

"The coaching has made such a huge impact, not just professionally but on a personal level too. Penny is extremely intuitive, she gets me, and can read into situations things I wouldn't even see, and get straight to the point. I instantly felt at ease with Penny, she's an extraordinary coach who has boosted my confidence in ways that I don't think she can ever appreciate. I could not recommend her highly enough."

"I have thoroughly enjoyed working with my coach and I have found our time hugely beneficial. She has an exceptional ability to create a safe, non-judgmental and positive environment, which allowed me a deeper level of exploration and growth. She helped me acknowledge and process my emotions in the best interest for my future – for example she challenged my thinking in a way that deepened my thinking and opened my mind to alternative possibilities and realities. Penny is a brilliant coach and it has been an absolute pleasure working with her."

Join our growing community...

and together we can change the conversation

Join us

Note on language

Health coaching works with all health and care professionals and peers. Our primary audience is the NHS, therefore all of our resources use the term 'clinicians' in place of 'coaches'. Health coaching skills can be used equally by all health and care professionals and peer coaches.

Similarly, although we wish to avoid language which suggests dependency, for clarity we refer to the term 'patients' to refer to an individual who is seeking care and support.

Website designed and built by