For almost 30 years I have kept the two parts of my work separate as the Psychotherapist and the Coach – held apart by a boundary that became less and less necessary as the world became more and more complex. The pandemic, my clients’ feedback, and an MA in mindfulness-based practice changed that.

I felt that the coaching that firmly stayed within cognitive, non-directive, and linear frameworks was in danger of becoming part of the problem rather than the solution. Cognitive approaches offered a quick fix that was very seductive in our world of ‘hurry and worry’ but rarely sticks or sustains. Leaders needed to feel the deeper realities of our time and the impact of those realities on themselves, to elevate their leadership contributions in ever more meaningful ways.

We have long understood that in overwhelming and uncertain times such as these, our survival selves tend to kick in and run the show, taking us away from how we most want to meaningfully show up in our leadership.

As we cling to the familiarity of our knowing we can fall into the trap and become reluctant historians of our emotional past. Just as there has been an over-exploitation of the planet’s resources; there has been an over-exploitation of us.

Through years of being asked to give more, we become a frazzled self. Falling into our fixed views and reactivity – ‘doing what I’ve always done’, group think, and polarisation – all valid efforts to create peak performance and provide the seductive feelings of familiar safety. Yet this familiar safety is a false refuge driven by our early survival selves that can only lead us into unconscious repetitive behaviours.

comma is my revised contribution to the world of coaching. It is a fusion of leadership coaching and psychotherapeutic understanding that leaves behind an obsession with individualistic growth and reunites with solidarity for those we affect through our leadership and the deeper parts of ourselves. I have seen time and time again how we ignore this work at our peril and get stuck in historical patterns that no longer serve us.

These patterns can be hard to shift. We are all creatures of habit. Even clever habit hacks are hard to sustain. It is here that something deeper is required. To work at depth requires a therapeutic understanding of systems and dyads, developmental psychology, and trauma-informed practice. We skillfully combine that with all the forward momentum that coaching and commitment to meaningful change require. Progress is the only currency here.

Depth Coaching supports those leaders and organisations truly committed to deeper change, to bravely do our inner work in a way that most powerfully and positively shapes our outer selves.