How to get to the next level in 2024

‘Twixmas’, the time between Christmas and New Year, is a great time for me to catch up on assessments. ?

With a short break before restarting the Diploma programme in January, it’s also a time to step back and review where I am personally and professionally. You can read some of the important questions I ask myself (and my clients) at the year end to set intentions for the coming 12 months. I hope you find it helpful. ?

Fusion integrated coach-counsellor training ?

When learners start the Therapeutic Coaching Skills certificate (a distance learner programme which is an NCFE Award) I generally ask them to submit a sample of responses for formative assessment. This is to give reassurance to myself and my learners early on that there are no problems with the formatting of responses or additional support needed. ?

A sample of those formative assessments, and also summative assessments on completion of the programme, are then sent to my Internal Verifier (a retired head mistress who is now a practicing counsellor) and a further sample sent to the NCFE External Verifier as a further quality check. ?

NCFE are themselves regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) in England, Qualification Wales and CCEA regulations. ? Ofqual is the regulator of qualifications, examinations and assessments in England and is the non-ministerial government department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.

Details are on the GOV.UK site here . In brief, it was set up in 2010 with its main objectives:

• To ensure that assessments give a reliable indication of skills, knowledge and understanding and that the attainment level is consistent over time.
• To promote public confidence in regulated qualifications and assessments.
• To promote awareness of the range of qualifications and the benefits of regulated qualifications to the public.
• To ensure efficiency and value for money in regulated qualifications.

Ofqual recognises awarding organisations.

Only recognised awarding organisations can offer regulated qualifications. In this way, Ofqual makes sure only those organisations that have the appropriate resources, capability and expertise can award regulated qualifications.?? Fusion Therapeutic Coaching is a recognised training organisation within this regulating hierarchy. ?

A recent assessment ?

Having completed one formative assessment recently, I asked permission to reproduce it here, anonymised of course. My learner, a senior accredited BACP counsellor looking to integrate coaching skills into their working practice, generously agreed. I hope it gives an insight into the thoroughness of the assessment process and the ongoing quality control in place for the programme.

? Charlie, ?

Many thanks for the submission of a sample of your portfolio for formative feedback. ?

In TASK 1 you give some insight into your personal and professional journey and it is clear you have been highly motivated to continue to seek out the interventions, tools and techniques to build on your skills and expertise. ? I hope the Fusion model will provide the safe, ethical framework and clear structure for your practice to develop further into the integrative and growing arena of therapeutic coaching. ?

TASK 2 gives a clear outline of your goal and your strategy to complete the Fusion programme. ? Integrating coaching tools with counselling skills will certainly allow you to offer work that is tailored to your client’s needs wherever they are in the continuum of wellbeing and is likely to accelerate client outcomes. Clients and practitioners often benefit from the sense of direction and focus it provides. ?

A well-structured SMART goals exercise sets intention and can also help gather internal resources by generating a picture of what future success looks and feels like in the here and now. This will trigger the Reticular Activating System (which is covered later in the programme) and helps with ongoing motivation. ? Underpinned by visualisation (also covered in the programme) the outcome can be further embedded psychologically, enhancing the potential for success by reinforcing positive patterns of behaviour. ?

For background, see also the Rider, the Elephant and the Path ; a behavioural model originally presented by?psychologist Jonathan Haidt. In his book “The Happiness Hypothesis” he outlines how emotion is the secret sauce to goal achievement. ? The elephant symbolizes our emotional, intuitive, and subconscious side—the powerful force that often guides our actions. Haidt uses this metaphor?to explain how the rider (conscious mind) can struggle to control the elephant (subconscious/emotional mind) when making decisions or trying to change behaviour. ?

TASK 3 asks for a story to be narrated of a personal event or interaction. You have listed your personal reflections but, without the story, it is difficult to establish context? I wonder if you could add this to your final submission. ? You might find the ‘communicating difficult feelings’ exercise below useful as a template for authentic communication as it engages with a range of emotions so can be a useful way to structure thoughts and feelings. ?

Many clients find it helpful within any relationship, whether family, friend or colleague. I will send you the template document as a potential intervention for use with your own clients. ?

Dear… ? ?

These are the things I love about you… ? ? ?

But it makes me angry when… ? ? ?

And I feel so sad when… ? ? ?

I am frightened that… ? ?

I regret… ? ?

There is something I need from you now… ? ?

TASK 5 illustrates your ability to connect your somatic experience with emotions and also to note potential triggers and pattern matches. ?

We are hard wired to approach pleasant feelings and move away from uncomfortable ones. They do all, however, have their purpose in prompting and guiding us towards getting our innate needs met. Our emotions are our very best friends and always have our best interests at heart. ?

The ability to sit alongside them for long enough to hear the important messages they are trying to convey is a skill of emotional intelligence. Fortunately, like all skills, it can be developed and improved with practise. ?

Charlie, you have made an excellent start on the NCFE Fusion Therapeutic Coaching Skills certificate and do not need to submit further samples unless there is something with which you need additional help or support. ? Lots of good luck with completion… ? ?

Frances Masters MBACP accred GHGI AC (Fellow) ? Principal course tutor ? ? ?

New Year Resolutions don’t work.

Do this instead... ?

Many people start the New Year with good intentions and a host of resolutions they are destined to have broken by February. It’s fair to say good intentions are generally just not enough. ?

But when you set your intention and back it up with a plan, good things are likely to happen. ?

The words ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there’ are generally attributed to the Cheshire cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland but are actually lyrics from the song Any Road by George Harrison. The exchange between Alice and the cat goes like this: ?

‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’

‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.

‘I don’t much care where—’ said Alice.

‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.

‘—so long as I get somewhere,’ Alice added as an explanation.

‘Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, ‘if you only walk long enough.’ ?

Will you be jay-walking your way through the year? ?

Let’s face it; many of us go through life without a clear idea of where we are heading or where we want to be. ?

That’s a bit like jumping into a car and driving around without a destination in mind and without a map either. We will end up somewhere, that’s for sure, but it might not be where we really want, or need, to be and we’ll probably have used up a lot of precious time and fuel to get there. ?

It makes sense to have a plan, despite what, to continue the Beatles theme, John Lennon famously wrote, ‘Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans’ into the lyrics of his song ‘Beautiful Boy’ which was actually a quote he drew on from a 1957 Reader's Digest article by Allen Saunders. ?

Some believe our lives are pre-ordained. They share a fatalistic view that destiny holds the key to their future. ? A more scientific view is that we have powerful brain filters, such as my favourite (apart from the ventral vagal pathway) the reticular activating system (RAS) which come into play when we set our intention and really focus on the things we want. ?

Painting a picture with your imagination brush ?

Truth is, when we create a detailed picture of the future we want to live, and tag it with emotion and desire (the secret sauce) the brain registers it as significant, allowing through information it may previously have filtered out. A series of seemingly serendipitous events will then gently pull us in the direction of our dreams and goals. ?

But you have to get the detail right and, for most people, the open question ‘What would make you happy?’ is sometimes too overwhelming. It will either elicit the response ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I just want to win the lottery’. ?

My answer to this is ‘Well, if you did win the lottery, what is the life you would choose to live?’ ? The right question posed at the right time and asked in the right way, will invite the recipient to go on an inner search and to paint pictures in their imagination. The more vivid and detailed those pictures are the better, because RAS loves all that detail. ?

In all my years of therapeutic coaching, the questions outlined here are some of the most powerful and will super-fast track you to getting to where you want to be. ?

So, put your running shoes on, prepare for action, and do what author of ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ author Steve Covey suggested, ‘Start with the end in mind!’ ?

The best questions ?

Choose your area for development from work, money, health, partner, family, friends, learning or home environment. Then ask: ?

What do I want? ? ?

Why do I want that? ? ?

How will I know when I have got it? ? ?

What will that feel like? ? ?

What will others notice? ? ?

Imagine a ladder. If 10 is where i want to be, where am I now? ? ?

What have I done to get this far? ? ?

What do I have to do to get you up just one more step? ? ?

What are my resources? ? ?

What skills have I used so far? ? ?

What challenges have I met and overcome? ? ?

What can I do to take this forward? ? ?

What else? ? ?

What else? ? ?

What could stop me? ? ?

When do I want to achieve this by? ? ?

When will I take the first step? ? ?

When will I take the next step? ?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

?

Elevate your skills

If you want to raise your skills to the next level, take a look at the Fusion Therapeutic Coaching programmes here

There is a waiting list for?the?2024 Diploma. Please confirm if you would like to go on it.?

There is no waiting list?for the NCFE customised distance learning Therapeutic Coaching Skills Certificate and you can follow this?link ?for immediate?purchase of your Skills Workbook.