From CEOs, to entrepreneurs or stay at home parents, speaking to someone who is caring and practical outside of our situation can be extremely helpful at enabling us to find the best way forward.
"Kathryn exudes, calm, kindness and gentle wisdom. She has been a brilliant support and a real encourager through both personal and professional challenges, going above and beyond to help me gain positive insight and confidence." (Katie, client)
My particular focus as a coach is on authentically listening to my clients in order to understand the perspective and experience of each individual I coach. I ask questions to help the client gain a fuller understanding of their own beliefs, values and motivations, to enable them to make more conscious and informed decisions. I am not authoritative in my approach, but gently bring challenge when I think it will be helpful to my client.
I usually coach in hourly sessions, online or in person. These can be pre-booked at whatever frequency you prefer – whether that is weekly, monthly, or ‘as and when needed’. I am based in East London, and am able to travel within London, but offer online sessions wherever you are in the world. My clients often comment on the benefit of receiving my optional email summaries after each session – finding them to be an accurate reflection of their situation which helps them take their next steps.
I am an accredited coach (EMCC) with a BSc in Psychology & Maths, accredited certificates in counselling & a diploma in Transformational Coaching (which is accredited by both the International Coach Federation & the Association for Coaching). I am insured and meet with an accredited ICF supervisor on a regular basis.
Leaving university in 2005, I spent the next 13 years of my life working in charities. Starting off my career in a drug & alcohol rehabilitation centre, where I undertook my counselling courses, I then moved to take on greater levels of responsibility in charities focussed on working with children & families. My husband and I shared time off to take care of our own 2 children (who are now both school-aged). I qualified as a coach in 2020 and am now enjoying the privilege of helping people to find the best way forward through coaching. I have experience in church leadership and coach coming from a Christian worldview, but work with individuals from all faiths and none.
I am passionate that no one is disqualified from coaching by their financial situation, so please don’t let this stop you getting in touch! If you would like to find out more; get in contact with me or book an online introductory session below.
Kathryn was a fantastic coach for me at a time when I wanted to unpack some important professional and personal questions. She is an exceptional listener and asks superb questions to help you find your own thoughts and solutions. I would definitely recommend her highly!"
Kathryn is a terrific life coach. She has encouraged me to take small, practical steps to change my line of work and how I feel about it. I highly recommend her!"
Kathryn has been my coach of choice for many reasons. She has tremendous listening skills and has a unique ability to come in at just the right time to dig deeper and explore possibilities. Her charming character and empathy make me feel totally relaxed and able to articulate and express myself in a comfortable and effective way. She has enabled me to move forward and because she creates the right connection. I continuously return to benefit from a skillful and wonderful coach."
Kathryn’s coaching has helped me so much. She has a real skill for listening, bringing clarity to my thoughts and identifying the issues underlying the things I’m struggling with. In this short space of time she’s helped me work out how to take proactive steps to further my career and given me the confidence to achieve my goals. I can’t recommend her highly enough!"
Kathryn asks the right questions that help you to arrive at a solution or re-thinking of a solution that may not have seemed so obvious.
I would highly recommend Kathryn."
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as ‘partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.’
There are ways in which coaching is similar to counselling or mentoring but they differ in a couple of key points:
Mentoring is about someone with more experience in a particular field guiding someone who is less experienced. Coaching is not about guiding or giving advice, but helping people to uncover and maximise their own potential and resources through listening, asking insightful questions and enabling the client to reach decisions or make changes.
Counselling is often focussed on the past and recovering from difficult experiences - and whilst the past certainly can come into coaching sessions - the main focus of coaching is on the present or moving forward into the future with purpose and clarity. Also, unlike counselling, coaching is not necessarily about overcoming difficulty - it can also be about achieving highly, reaching goals and becoming the best version of yourself possible. Whilst I do have training in counselling, and certainly use these skills in my practice, I enjoy the forward focus of coaching!
The individual coming for coaching will have something they are working towards (an aim) which might be for example: ‘Get my thoughts straight about x’, ‘become more confident’, 'work out what I want to do in my work' etc. As the coach I will listen to the client's thoughts, experiences and hopes - then enable the client to work towards their aim. This happens through asking helpful questions, looking at things from different perspectives, and perhaps other coaching tools if desired by the client. Talking to another person can be extremely helpful in enabling us to understand our own thoughts and feelings - and see a clear way forward. After each session I send the client an optional follow up email or voice note which summarises the session and the possible next steps discussed with the client....this may include possible exercises or further questions for them to explore if they wish. Some people prefer structure and exercises, whilst others just want a space to talk. I enjoy working with a range of clients.
No one needs a Life Coach, but my personal opinion is that most people can benefit from seeing one - which is why I myself also receive coaching. I find coaching to be extremely helpful at giving us the space, time and perspective needed to make good decisions and grow personally. Coaching increases self-awareness and understanding of our personality, strengths and values. It allows the time and focus to find the best way forward, instead of just acting out of habit on auto-pilot. The tools coaching offers can help us develop new perspectives, over come difficulties and move forward with purpose.
My particular focus as a coach is on authentically listening to my clients in order to understand the perspective and experience of each individual I coach. I ask questions to help the client gain a fuller understanding of their own beliefs, values and motivations, to enable them to make more conscious and informed decisions. I am not authoritative in my approach, but gently bring challenge when I think it will be helpful to my client.
One of the tools many of my clients choose to use at the start of our coaching relationship is my optional values questionnaire. This is useful in helping clarify to both the client and myself what values are most important to the client - and can form a firm foundation for our sessions.
I love the variety of people in the world and work uniquely with each of my clients. I ask individuals what they would like to do between sessions and suggest tasks, and follow up work if my clients want this, but this is always optional. I provide accountability where it's requested and offer a summary email after each meeting to allow clients to reflect on the main points of the session and any actions they decided they would like to take.
I don't publish my prices because I don't want anyone to be disqualified from coaching by their finances. To find out more, please contact me via phone or email; or book an introductory video call below.
– Degree in Psychology with Mathematics (BSc): The University of Birmingham
– Level 2 Certificate in Person-Centred Counselling: Spurgeon’s College
– Accredited Diploma in Transformational Coaching: Animas Centre for Coaching