Do coaching psychology explanations need to be ‘true’ to have value in our coaching work?

This article lead me to reflect on what this means within the field of coaching psychology. We often offer psycho-education to clients to help them understand how they respond to different experiences in their life. For example, some of our emotions or thoughts are difficult or frightening. In these instances, we tend to avoid those experiences or feelings. Acceptance and Commitment Theory (ACT) suggests that this very normal process of avoiding difficult or unpleasant experiences is totally normal; but is often also where we get ‘stuck’.

Something that always intrigues me about ACT is that it doesn’t try to explain the mechanics of the brain or physiology. Instead it presents a metaphorical explanation that describes how our minds work and how we can get unstuck through being more psychologically flexible. It’s helpful to clients to explain that story to them - even though we don’t yet fully understand the mechanics of how ‘the brain’ and ‘our mind’ are connected. This approach avoids needing a ‘true’ physiological explanation, and instead offers a functional explanation (i.e. this is the impact of the way our minds work based on what we know about how minds work).

What does this mean for evidence based coaching practice?

The article on PVT was a reminder that the connection between our body and mind is complex - probably too complex for our current theories to have it right. There’s more to learn, and more challenges in gaining that knowledge than we’ve had the chance to overcome yet. We just don’t know enough yet. However, I agree with the author that we can still use that knowledge in an evidence based way if we don’t make explanations overly reductionist to physiological mechanics. Instead we can explain psychological experiences with honest uncertainty - that this is our best current understanding but we still don’t know enough.

As evidence based coaching practitioners we can sit in that uncomfortable space of not knowing enough yet. Where we can provide useful metaphors, whether that’s about our mind or our body, we should do so, to help clients build a better relationship with themselves and others. We can embrace this period of exciting scientific discovery that we are living through as we explore more about the very complex mind and body connection, without reducing it to overly simplistic and mechanistic explanations that may not be true.

You can read the full article on PVT here:

The Performance Heretic

RIP Polyvagal Theory?

There is a particular kind of discomfort that comes from discovering that a framework you’ve been using – one that genuinely helped people, that gave language to experiences previously without language – may be built on foundations that don’t hold…

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2 months ago · 38 likes · 11 comments · Dr Aura Goldman

Inspired by the drama ‘Riot Women’, Hazel and I talk about the impact that strong emotions like anger have on us and how we can best respond to them.

This is something we don’t often talk about openly, but anger is something we can get hijacked by as it is a strong emotion that shows up when we feel vulnerable or when there’s something we care deeply about. It can often be an emotion with an important message - and we miss that message if we are unwilling to notice and name our anger, and ask ourselves where it’s coming from.

In this episode of the podcast, Hazel and I tackle this tricky emotion, and other similar strong emotions, by asking what does anger do? Where does it come from, and how can we best respond to it?

This episode of the podcast is great if your curious about emotions; and how you can harness strong emotions like anger to understand the vital message they contain, and be able to respond to them in a more workable way.

The Coaching UnpACT Podcast

Episode 18: I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore

In this episode, Rachael and Hazel start by thinking about what emotions are, where they come from, and how we might respond to them in the most helpful way…

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5 months ago · Rachael Skews

If you know me, then you’ll know my passion for supporting evidence-based coaching, and Acceptance and Commitment Coaching specifically.

If you’re looking to develop your coaching practice in 2026, then here are some ways I might be able to help:

• Supervision for practice: As an accredited supervisor with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the International Society for Coaching Psychology (ISCP), I can support coaches and coaching psychologists with supervision. Book a chemistry call to chat about what you need and how I might be able to help.

• Supervision for Chartership: If you’re starting or continuing on the path to becoming a Chartered Coaching Psychologist with the BPS, as a RAPPS registered supervisor then I can support you on that journey. Book a chemistry call to chat about what you need and how I might be able to help.

• Training in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching: If you’d like to learn about how to use ACT in your practice then you can join one of my online courses. There is an Introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Coaching course for those new to ACT, and an Advanced Acceptance and Commitment Coaching course for those looking to deepen their skills and knowledge. Both offer self-paced learning, a live skills workshop and a personalised supervision session to embed your learning. Find out more here -

  https://www.cognuscoach.com/

• Short course in Evidence-Based Coaching: This brief course offers an introduction to evidence based practice for coaches and coaching psychologists. It offers self-paced online learning which you can complete in your own time. Find out more here - https://www.cognuscoach.com/course/evidence-based-coaching

• Supervision for research: If you’re looking for support in conducting research, either as an independent practitioner or as a PhD candidate, I can support you. Book a chemistry call to chat about what you need and how I might be able to help.

To be clear on my position, I’ve done some research into AI in psychological contexts. I’ve worked with people who have deep expertise in AI and machine learning, who I learned a lot from.

I think there is a meaningful and useful application of AI, but we need to regulate the use - and possibly the development of - AI. The history and development of psychology as a field has shown us that we need to be ethical in how we move science forward. That benefits not just the people involved, but we’ll also have better science as a result of being thoughtful in how we develop AI applications.

Shaping AI for Good: ProSocial hybrid intelligence for a thriving future

In this recording from Prosocial World, humanitarian leader Cornelia Walther and evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson explore how we can build AI systems that truly serve people and the planet.

They dive into the concept of Prosocial AI, technology that’s designed to support human connection, equity, and environmental sustainability — and the emerging field of hybrid intelligence, where human empathy and creativity team up with AI’s speed and precision.

It is a fascinating exploration of whether AI can be prosocial - I highly recommend it!

Designing Effective and Safe Digital Coaching Interventions: A Contextual Behavioural Science Perspective

If you’re wondering what this means for coaching, I summarised some of my thoughts in a recent paper for the Coaching Psychologist journal. The argument I make is that digital interventions and those that use AI can be effective and safe but that they need to have an impact that is as good as, or better than, a traditional coaching intervention to justify the climate impact of AI and technology. We also need to ensure they are safe to use and we should know what they are activating to ensure they are safe. We still need more research to show how most coaching approaches work.

This section of the paper outlines some of the key considerations:

‘We know that the advances in technology and AI happening in our world at the moment have both the power for good but can also have a negative impact on the world. This is especially true of digital coaching interventions that aim to have a direct psychological impact on individuals. It’s important that we ensure ethical and safe development of effective digital coaching interventions. This paper aimed to provide a helpful summary of both the value and ethical issues related to digital coaching interventions, with the goal of making these more readily accessible to coaching psychologists.

To make the climate cost of digital coaching interventions worthwhile, they need to offer comparable efficacy and safety to traditionally delivered coaching interventions. To show how we can improve the precision of digital coaching interventions, this paper outlined CBS theory and research that can inform the design of effective digital coaching interventions. It is hoped that this understanding will inspire coaching psychology researchers to explore additional processes of change from a variety of coaching psychology approaches that can underpin effective and safe digital coaching interventions.

Finally, by exploring various ethical issues in relation to the BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct (2021), it is hoped that coaching psychologists see the role they can play in mitigating risks and ensuring digital coaching interventions are delivered with competence, integrity, respect and responsibility at their core. There are no simple answers to these ethical issues and often the best way to move forward is not clear.’

You can access the full paper through the Coaching Psychologist journal, which is free for BPS members, using the link below.

Skews, R. (2025). Designing effective and safe digital coaching interventions: A Contextual Behavioural Science perspective. Coaching Psychologist, 20(3).

If your interested in deepening your ACC skills, then I have one final workshop date this year for the Advanced Acceptance and Commitment Coaching course on Monday 10 November 5:00 – 8:00pm UK time.

This course is a mix of self-paced online learning, followed by the live workshop and then a personalised supervision session so you can embed all the learning into your practice.

This course is aimed at practitioners who already have some knowledge and experience of ACC or ACT. The course outlines how to use Relational Frame Theory (RFT) in coaching practice - hopefully making RFT accessible and bring to life what this theory offers coaching practitioners in creating change with their clients.

Find out more and sign up here - https://www.cognuscoach.com/course/advanced-acceptance-and-commitment-coaching

Developing sustainable leadership

I was delighted to deliver a keynote for the British Psychological Society’s (BPS) Division of Coaching Psychology and a masterclass for the International Society for Coaching Psychology (ISCP) on Sustainable Leadership in the last few months.

Sustainable Leadership is an evidence-based approach I’ve been working on for a while and hope to publish soon. Sustainability, in its broadest sense, implies a focus on how resources are sourced and utilised, and requires a concern for the impact of this activity on the wider environment. Sustainable leadership is about the impact leaders have on their own performance and wellbeing, the performance and wellbeing of others, and the impact on the organisation, and society more broadly.

Sustainable leadership is not a new model of leadership. Instead, it brings together contextual behavioural science, evidence-based management and evolutionary science to share the principles of successful leadership that can be generalised across contexts (i.e. the ‘what’ of successful leadership) and develop the leadership skills to successfully adapt those principles to any specific context (i.e. the ‘how’ of successful leadership).

In sustainable leadership, the focus is on the behaviours that lead to better long term impact. Psychological flexibility in sustainable leadership relates to the ability to intentionally notice internal and external experiences, and adapt to a context based on what is purposeful or important in that context. We can summarise it as:

• Being purposeful - focusing on meaningful actions and doing more of what matters

• Being intentional - noticing the context and doing what will work best

• Being adaptable - evaluating impact on self, others, the organisation, and the wider community.

More on this soon!

Coaching for sustainable development

My second focus for the summer has been in my role as a representative for the ISCP on the Sustainability Coaching Coalition (SCC). The SCC is a coalition of coaching accreditation bodies who all share a concern for and desire to support sustainable development globally.

The Joint Statement of the SCC has been updated, and represents the collective commitment of the signatories to addressing the sustainability needs of the world through our shared profession of coaching.

You can read the Joint Statement on the SCC website here - https://www.sustainabilitycoachingcoalition.org/joint-global-statement/

The SCC held a number of workshops talking about the coalition and it’s collective focus and goals (available to watch on the SCC website). One of the key things the SCC tries to achieve is creating spaces across the coaching industry and practice for conversations, learning and support for sustainable development in coaching.

The first round table event of the SCC will be on 18th and 19th November 2025 on Active Hope: How Coaches can Support the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change.

In this SCC Roundtable session, you will learn about the significance of the United Nations ICJ (International Court of Justice) Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and the potential positive impact it has on people and planet. We will then discuss how coaching and mentoring can help support the intention of the Advisory Opinion and support the concept of Active Hope.

SCC Roundtables are 90-minute sessions designed to provide a collaborative learning space where practitioners from the SCC Signatory professional bodies gather to discuss topics that are timely and important in the global coaching and mentoring community. Anyone with interest in the topic is invited to freely attend.

Further details and sign up for this event are on the SCC website here - https://www.sustainabilitycoachingcoalition.org/events/

If you’re a coach or other practitioner interested in coaching for sustainable development, I’d also recommend joining the Climate Coaching Alliance, who provide lots of resources, events and other ways of getting involved in coaching for positive climate behaviours - find out more at https://www.climatecoachingalliance.org/

Hazel and I also unpack climate and sustainability coaching in the most recent episode of The Coaching UnpACT Podcast which you can find here https://www.coachingunpact.com/podcast

Hazel and I talk about how in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching we might use normalisation, psycho-education and skill development with our clients. We also discuss what coaches might want to think about when they are being more directive with their clients.

This is the perfect listen for anyone interested in how we create coaching spaces.

The Coaching UnpACT Podcast

Episode 13: Should coaching always be non-directive?

This episode is all about the spaces we create in coaching and how we use them. Hazel and Rachael explore a myth of good coaching practice - that coaching should always be non-directive. They talk about the different approaches to coaching and how those approaches might see non-directiveness differently. They also explore how this relates to the develop…

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10 months ago · Rachael Skews

I am lucky enough to directly contribute to a couple of these, and, of course, there are many more great podcasts out there! These are just a few I think are especially useful for learning more about Acceptance and Commitment Coaching, and psychological flexibility.

If you like to get your CPD via your ears, then these might be some great podcasts to try!

The Coaching UnpACT Podcast

Hazel Anderson-Turner and I started this last year as a way to share more of our learning and experience using Acceptance and Commitment Coaching. Episodes cover topics related to ACC specifically, and coaching more generally.

Take me to the podcast!

My Pocket Psych

This fortnightly podcast is all about the psychology of the workplace. Each episode, looks at how to boost and maintain your wellbeing, productivity and interpersonal effectiveness at work. The host, Richard MacKinnon explores many aspects of coaching and psychological flexibility - it offers a wealth of insight and learning for practitioners.

Take me to the podcast!

People Soup

Ross McIntosh who hosts People Soup describes it as the ‘ingredients for a better work-life from behavioural science and beyond’. It brings listeners a mix of people, behaviour, events and challenges in behavioural science & psychology. Ross often interviews people who use Acceptance and Commitment Theory in a variety of interesting and unusual ways.

Take me to the podcast!

On International Day of Living Together in Peace, here’s some of my reflections on how the skills of acceptance, listening and having good relationships with others can have real impact in the workplace and our wider experience.

Acceptance

In the work that I do, acceptance is defined as our willingness to take action towards the things that are meaningful and important to us, even if that brings up difficult thoughts, feelings and emotions. It’s a difficult but worthwhile skill to develop. Acceptance is the skill that empowers us to choose what we do in an given situation, or decide who we want to be as a leader, or as a person, in the world.

This skill is critical to making good decisions about how to act, when often our minds hijack us because we feel fearful, vulnerable or angry. This skill of acceptance is needed for peace because that requires us to be willing to accept differences - often when that feels very challenging.

This same skill is part of being an effective leader or colleague, or in being the person you want to be in your life. It is a valuable skill for everyone in my opinion - but it’s harder than it sounds. We can practice this skill by choosing to turn towards the things that are meaningful and important to us, whilst choosing to have our fear and discomfort there too.

Listening

Being in the present moment and giving someone your full attention also sounds easy, but again when we feel fearful, vulnerable or angry, our minds can hijack us. We start to time-travel into the future and think about all the terrible things that might happen; or into the past and think about the things that have already happened to us. This time-travelling is a fairly normal response so it’s difficult to remain in a place of really listening.

Listening well is a skill, and one we can develop. It requires us to be in the present moment, even when that is hard. Coaches and leaders are two of many roles that benefit hugely from active listening skills. We can use silence to give space to others to share their experience, views or thinking with us. That shared knowledge is powerful and is the foundation for meaningful change - both within and between us. When most of the work or personal things we do are based on having good relationships with other people, listening is the key to unlocking shared knowledge and understanding.

Relationships

Being able to recognise, respect and appreciate others is a core skill for peace - but it is also how leaders can be most effective. There are some myths about what makes a great leader that seem to persevere despite being very unhelpful (see Haslam, Alvesson, & Reicher, 2024, for a great summary of these myths).

Leadership is a process where people motivate one or more other people towards achieving collective goals. Great leaders are great because they work with others and collaborate. This is often because the inter-personal skills they have which make people feel recognised, respected and appreciated are well developed and they use them well.

Most of the leadership development work I do is focused on raising someone’s awareness of how they interact with others (and perhaps the relationship they have with themselves as well). In my experience, leaders who are more purposeful, intentional, and adaptable generate better performance and wellbeing, both for themselves and their teams. Evidence from contextual behavioural science and evolutionary science supports this view too.

However, we can all benefit from being purposeful, intentional, respectful and appreciative in our relationships. Feel free to take that as an invitation to experiment with your behaviour and see if you can bring more of those things in your relationships with others - even when you feel fearful, vulnerable or angry. You might learn something new or useful about yourself and who you want to be in the world.

Prosociality

Most of the skills I’ve described above relate to being prosocial. Prosociality can be defined as ‘the act of getting along and cooperating with others’ (Atkins, Wilson, & Hayes, 2019). Prosociality is not a soft, fluffy way of describing human life but a set of behaviours that evidence shows results in more productive, equitable and collaborative groups. Its based on Noble Prize-winning work by economist Elinor Ostrom.

If you’re interested in how prosocial behaviours can lead to real business impact - both behaviourally and financially - here’s a great discussion with senior leaders Rhonda Spencer, Brian Wellinghof, and David Pickersgill at Barry-Wehmiller. This organisation has developed a culture of conscious capitalism, and it has replicated its culture in over 140 other companies that it has acquired. This fascinating discussion advocates for prosocial behaviours across an organisation. Hope you enjoy it!

https://www.un.org/en/observances/living-in-peace-day

Atkins, P. W., Wilson, D. S., & Hayes, S. C. (2019). Prosocial: Using evolutionary science to build productive, equitable, and collaborative groups. New Harbinger Publications.

Haslam, S. A., Alvesson, M., & Reicher, S. D. (2024). Zombie leadership: Dead ideas that still walk among us. The Leadership Quarterly, 35(3), 101770

We talk about why sometimes goal setting isn’t enough and how psychology can help coaches do their best work. We also chat about the role coaching psychologists can play in the wider coaching community, especially in supporting the development of evidence-based coaching.

This episode is perfect for anyone who wants to know more about coaching psychology, or coaches reflecting on the role of coaching psychology in their practice.

The Coaching UnpACT Podcast

Episode 12: What is coaching psychology?

In this episode, Rachael and Hazel explore coaching psychology and what it means to be a coaching psychologist…

Listen now

a year ago · Rachael Skews

If you’re looking for an introductory level course to develop your knowledge, skills and abilities in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching then this is the course for you. It assumes no prior knowledge of Acceptance and Commitment Theory (ACT) and is perfect for coaches and practitioners who are looking to develop their knowledge and skills in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching.

The course consists of 6 hours of self-paced e-learning, a 3-hour live online workshop and a 60-minute 1:1 practice supervision session. The next workshop is on Friday 13th June 2025: 8am to 11am UK time.

Find out more here

Advanced Acceptance and Commitment Coaching

This course is a deeper-dive into the science of communication and learning that underpins Acceptance and Commitment Coaching. It is suited to coaches and practitioners who already have some knowledge of the ACC and the psychological flexibility model, and are looking to develop their knowledge and skills in ACC.

The course consists of 5 hours of self-paced e-learning, a 3-hour live online workshop and a 60-minute 1:1 practice supervision session. The next workshop is on Tuesday 13th May 2025: 5pm to 8pm UK time.

Find out more here

Sustainable Leadership

I’m doing two events on sustainable leadership over the next few months.

Sustainable leadership describes a set of skills and behaviours that leaders can develop that allow them to be purposeful, intentional, and adapt their leadership behaviours to any organisational situation.

The first event is a free webinar on why leaders need to be psychologically flexible on Wednesday 7th May 2025 12:00 - 12:45 UK time.

I’ll be joining Dr. Richard MacKinnon to discuss the benefits of including Psychological Flexibility in leadership development. This includes:

• How leaders can benefit from building their present moment awareness

• How leaders can learn to step back from self-limiting beliefs

• Why acceptance of discomfort unlocks leadership potential

• The role personal values play when it comes to effective leadership

• Why leaders need to develop a flexible perspective when it comes to their identity

Find out more here

The second event is a keynote at the Division of Coaching Psychology Conference on Thursday 12th June 2025.

I’ll be talking about sustainable leadership and how we develop it in coaching. I will introducing this fresh perspective on leadership that’s anchored in contextual behavioural science and evidence based management.

Give me a shout if you are coming to the conference!

Find out more here

After speaking at the Health and Wellbeing at Work conference in March, we reflect on health and wellbeing at work - and what organisations can do to improve it. We talk about the challenges and systemic factors, and how important both organisational context and scientific evidence are.

Areas we touch on include managing demands and resources, burnout and biometrics, self coaching, safety culture, and just how tricky this wellbeing stuff can be for organisations and leaders to get right.

If you're looking to address health and wellbeing issues in the workplace, this reflective discussion may provide valuable insights and new perspectives

Listen via Spotify here

Listen via Apple Podcasts here

This was brilliant to hear, as it’s exactly how I imagined the course experience to be. When I sat down to design the Acceptance and Commitment Coaching courses, I wanted to use what I knew about human learning to make the learning experience as effective as possible.

Learning at your own pace online

Humans don’t learn well in long sessions - we are much better with shorter pieces of learning, especially if we can control when and where we complete that learning. For the knowledge component of the course, I wanted to have flexible and bite-size content.

So, for both the Introductory and Advanced courses, learners get access to a series of videos and downloadable materials. The videos are no more than 20mins in length. You can make your way through this content at your own pace, at a time that suits you, and in the way that suits you. Ideally, this also gives you the opportunity to play with your new knowledge, skills and tools that you’ll learn on the course, making it easier to gradually bring this new knowledge into your practice.

Building your skills in an online workshop

In addition to gaining new knowledge, I wanted the courses to provide the opportunity for practitioners to put their new skills into practice, ask questions, and meet other practitioners. Each course includes one three-hour live online workshop. Each workshop runs on at least four dates over the year, at times that are hopefully timezone friendly for coaching practitioners worldwide.

In these sessions, the focus is on discussion and interaction much more than gaining knowledge. To get the most out of the workshop, you should have already completed as much of the online content as possible. The workshop packs quite a lot in; with skills practice, reflective discussions, and lots of opportunity for questions.

Getting one-to-one support for your practice

The final component of the Acceptance and Commitment Coaching courses is a one-to-one online 60-minute supervision session for personalised support at the end of the course. Since each practitioner has their own context for their practice and their own developmental goals, this one-to-one session offers the chance to get personalised support in applying the learning and skills covered in the course.

Examples of how practitioners have used this time include:

• Discussion of how to develop skills in using Acceptance and Commitment Coaching after the course

• How to work with a specific population or in a specific practice context. For example, one practitioner wanted to discuss how to use ACC skills in their organisational transformation work

Find out more about these courses

You can find out more about this these training course on the Cognus Consulting website, as well as my short course on Evidence Based Coaching.

Direct links to both the Acceptance and Commitment Coaching courses are below:

• Introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Coaching course

• Advanced Acceptance and Commitment Coaching course

This course is an opportunity to expand your coaching practice by deep-diving into the science of communication and learning with Relational Frame Theory.

This course is designed to develop your knowledge, skills and abilities in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching beyond an introductory level.

It assumes learners have some prior knowledge of Acceptance and Commitment Theory (ACT). It is suited to coaches and practitioners who are looking to develop their knowledge and skills in relational frame theory (RFT) which is the psychological theory that underpins Acceptance and Commitment Coaching.

The course has three components:

1. 5-hours of self paced learning

2. A 3-hour live group skills workshop

3. A 1-hour live one-to-one supervision session.

Find out more and book a place here - https://www.cognuscoach.com/course/advanced-acceptance-and-commitment-coaching

What is psychological flexibility?

There is a large and growing body of evidence for the benefits of having greater psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is a set of skills that we can develop with practice. They relate to how we think about ourselves, our actions and what matters to us. There are six developable skills:

1. Present moment awareness is about being centred and in contact with present experiences, rather than ‘time travelling’ or avoiding present experiences

2. Self-as-context is about our ability to take different perspectives, including observing our own lived experiences, and hold stories about ourselves lightly

3. Defusion is our ability to see the thoughts, feelings and emotions we experience without needing to avoid them

4. Acceptance is our willingness to take action towards the things that are meaningful and important to us, even if that brings up difficult thoughts, feelings and emotions

5. Values are the things that bring meaning, purpose and vitality to us

6. Committed action is about moving towards the things that bring meaning, purpose and vitality to us

When we bring these skills together and use them more, then we are able to make better longer term decisions about what we want to do and who we want to be in the world.

Psychological flexibility and physical health

Why does a psychological skill have an impact on our physical health? Often what gets in the way of us exercising, eating well or taking good care of ourselves is within our control but difficult to do. For example, feeling like there is not enough time to take a walk or do some exercise. We often don’t prioritise that time; feeling like it’s selfish or not as important as looking after others or working. We can also have a poor relationship with our bodies, feeling ashamed of how we look, or weak because we are not doing what we ‘should’ to look after ourselves.

These things can be the case whatever form of physical health we’re thinking about, from our general fitness to coping with a chronic health condition. Regardless of the context, often the same things are at play, such as:

• Thoughts that are difficult to ignore, like cravings for food or fear of triggering pain

• Trying to motivate ourselves with ‘commands’ about our behaviour that we ‘must’ do

• Experiencing difficult emotions and negative self-talk when we take action towards our goals

Increasing psychological flexibility gives us a set of skills that help to move us towards our goals and more effectively respond to the challenges above. For example, when we can see our thoughts as just thoughts (using defusion skills) then that gives us more opportunity to decide what we really want to do. Similarly, replacing our internal ‘commands’ about our health with values-based goals that reflect what really matters to us and the advantages of the changes we decide to make (using committed action skills) is more motivating.

For better physical health, making psychologically flexible behavioural changes, even if those are simple and small values-based changes with self-compassion, can lead to longer term success.

Psychological flexibility and mental health

Having explored the way psychological flexibility skills help us improve physical health, the impact it can have on mental health might be easier to see. It tends to be the same kinds of things that impact us negatively in terms of our mental health as our physical health - such as experiencing difficult thoughts, having thoughts that are difficult to ignore, or not having useful ‘self-talk’. Having higher psychological flexibility means we have skills that can make coping with mental health challenges easier.

The six skills of psychological flexibility work together to help us notice thinking or behavioural patterns that are unhelpful because:

• They don’t serve us well in the longer term. We might be doing something that gives us relief in the short term, like avoiding a difficult thought or feeling by distracting ourselves from that thought, but that can start to take over and control what we do. Longer term it might be better to be willing to let a difficult thought or feeling be there.

• They used to be helpful but now mean we are doing things that don’t work well for us. These could be things we have done at times in our life when we have felt unsafe, but now get in the way of us having real or meaningful connections with our values (i.e. the things that matter to us).

It can be really difficult to notice these patterns and even more difficult to address them. The best way is to focus on doing what matters to you, and doing it with a big dose of compassion for yourself.

It sounds so simple, but it can be difficult to notice and then change what you’re doing. The first step is to spend some time thinking about what is important to you and the person you want to be in the world (your values). The next step is to take action towards those values with compassion and self-care, building your skills of defusion, acceptance, present moment awareness and self-as-context along the way.

How can I learn more about this?

I offer coaching for individuals who want to increase their psychological flexibility. If you’d like to find out more, then you can set up a chemistry call with me using the link here.

I run training for coaching practitioners who want to learn more about psychological flexibility, Acceptance and Commitment Coaching, and how to help their clients develop these skills. You can find out more here.

Some helpful resources are:

• The World Health Organisations World Health Day webpage - https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day

• The book A Liberated Mind provides a great introduction to the six skills of psychological flexibility and how to use those skills in your life Hayes, S. (2019). A liberated mind: The essential guide to ACT. Random House.

• This paper summarises the evidence for higher psychological flexibility as a protective factor in both physical and mental health. Gloster, A. T., Meyer, A. H., & Lieb, R. (2017). Psychological flexibility as a malleable public health target: Evidence from a representative sample. Journal of contextual behavioral science, 6(2), 166-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.02.003

I found out recently that my application to become a Chartered Scientist has been successful. Being recognised as a Scientist feels important to me - I think because having evidence to guide what I do is something I value highly.

I’ve been reflecting on the role of science in coaching psychology, and along with that the role of critical thinking in evidence based practice. Let’s start by defining what science is. The Science Council in the UK have published the following definition.

Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.

Scientific methodology includes the following:

• Objective observation: Measurement and data (possibly although not necessarily using mathematics as a tool)

• Evidence

• Experiment and/or observation as benchmarks for testing hypotheses

• Induction: reasoning to establish general rules or conclusions drawn from facts or examples

• Repetition

• Critical analysis

• Verification and testing: critical exposure to scrutiny, peer review and assessment

Science is not a special kind of magical knowledge. What is important is the process used to explore something. It should be methodical, replicable, and reflective in terms of the researcher’s process and biases. It’s that critical evaluation that has been on my mind a lot recently, both as a coaching practitioner and as a supervisor.

What is critical analysis and reflection, and how do you do it?

The British Psychological Society standards for Coaching Psychology refer to a number of critical thinking skills:

1. Critical reflective practice, which is about thinking critically about your development and growth as a coaching practitioner, and how you are applying information and knowledge in your practice.

2. Applied critical understanding of psychological knowledge, which is about being able to analyse and evaluate the theories, evidence, and information you use in your coaching practice.

3. Critical evaluation of the tools and skills within your coaching psychology practice. This means thinking about the evidence for a skill or tool you’re using and understanding the quality of evidence that supports it.

4. Critical analysis, discussion, evaluation and review of research, including the models used in practice, the findings of research, the impact of new developments, and directions for future research.

Why does the BPS care about these skills? I think it’s because of the strong link between critical skills and good evidence based practice in coaching.

The term ‘evidence based coaching’ refers to the process of using the best available information from empirical evidence, professional expertise, and the coaching context.

When coaches are evidence based in their practice, they think about what the right coaching approach (perhaps a theory or a model) is for their practice and for their clients. That might mean adapting their coaching practice for different contexts and clients. Science produces empirical knowledge that helps coaches understand what works, for whom, and when. It also helps coaches understand which approaches have been tested and shown to be both safe and effective. We can use that empirical evidence from science in addition to our professional expertise and understanding of the context to make good decisions on how to work with a client.

Do these critical and evidence based coaching skills feel useful to you? I think they are worth learning about, as the evidence we get from science increases our understanding of what is effective and safe, and evidence based practice guides us in the approach to use with any given client in any given context. These elements offer coaching practitioners a way of evolving their practice in line with the best knowledge we have and in a way that provides whatever their clients will benefit from most. However, I also think it can be difficult to get your head around new concepts, so if these are new for you then I hope this article makes them a little more accessible.

Putting the ‘critical thinking cap’ on can be hard, and it is a skill that you can develop through reflection and practice. Ultimately, science and evidence based practice support us, as coaching practitioners, to understand what will serve our clients best and to ensure what we do is both effective and ethical.

Prompts for critical reflection

Some of my supervision clients find it useful to have reflective prompts to help them get their ‘critical thinking cap’ on. I’ve summarised below some that I use - feel free to try them out in relation to your practice:

• What am I doing and why am I doing it? Is this approach safe and effective? What do I know about how it works?

• What theories am I using? Are they supported by evidence? How good is that evidence (e.g. is it coaching specific or coaching related)?

• How does this coaching theory or intervention work? Is it supported by evidence, and has it been shown to be safe? What is the quality of that evidence?

• How well does this work for me in my coaching practice? How well does it work for my client(s)?

• How can I evolve my practice in light of what I have learned, or am learning?

• How can I best adapt what I do to meet the needs of my client(s)? How can I develop and grow my practice to best serve my client(s)?

• What are the ethical considerations here?

Interested in developing critical or evidence based coaching skills?

I created a short online training course in evidence based coaching for coaching practitioners, which you can access here.

If you’re interested in supervision, you can set up a chemistry call with me using the link here.

Some useful resources include:

1. The Science Council website - https://sciencecouncil.org/

2. The Division of Coaching Psychology website - https://www.bps.org.uk/member-networks/division-coaching-psychology

3. This paper provides a framework for evaluating the evidence for coaching Grant, A. M. (2016). What constitutes evidence-based coaching? A two-by-two

   framework for distinguishing strong from weak evidence for coaching.

   International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 14(1), 74.

4. This paper provides guidance for coaching researchers and practitioners who want to conduct quantitative coaching research Skews, R. (2020). How to design and conduct quantitative coaching intervention research. The Coaching Psychologist, 16(1), 41–52. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpstcp.2020.16.1.41

For the next few months I’m busy running training and speaking at a few different events. You might be looking for training for yourself in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching, or you might be looking for ideas for your professional development. Hopefully there’s something of interest and a date for your diary below.

Cognus Consulting Training Courses

On 1st April and 13th June, I’m the workshop for the Cognus Consulting Introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Coaching. This course is an introductory level to develop your knowledge, skills and abilities in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching. It assumes no prior knowledge of Acceptance and Commitment Theory (ACT) and is perfect for coaches and practitioners who are looking to develop their knowledge and skills in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching. Learning is a mix of online videos, a group workshop and a 1:1 session.

Find out more here

If you’re looking to expand your coaching practice in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching by deep-diving into the science of communication and learning with Relational Frame Theory, then on the 13th May I’m running the Advanced Acceptance and Commitment Coaching workshop. It is suited to coaches and practitioners who are looking to develop their knowledge and skills in relational frame theory (RFT) which is the psychological theory that underpins Acceptance and Commitment Coaching.

Find out more here

Centre of Coaching Training Course

On the 1st and 2nd May I’m running my Primary Certificate in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching at the Centre for Coaching. This is a traditional 2-day workshop format delivered online via Zoom. It’s an introductory two-day programme aiming to provide a foundation in the theory and practice of acceptance and commitment coaching applied to work and personal contexts.

Find out more here

Division of Coaching Psychology Annual Conference

I’ve been invited to deliver a keynote at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Coaching Psychology Annual Conference on 11th June and 12th June 2025. I’ll be speaking on sustainable leadership and how we develop it in coaching. Give me a shout if you are coming to the conference!

There is also time to submit something for the conference programme. If you want any support with your submission then let me know and I’ll be happy to help.

Find out more about the conference

It’s a busy few months and I look forward to seeing you somewhere or some time!

Rachael

I wanted to provide a simple summary of each study within this research for people who are interested in the impact and evidence-base for Acceptance and Commitment Coaching.

The first study was a short coaching intervention of just one session. In this session, people were asked to set goals, and also developed some psychological flexibility skills. The repeated measures analysis showed the impact of this brief Acceptance and Commitment Coaching intervention on coachee general mental health, generalised self-efficacy, life satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, goal-directed thinking, goal attainment, and psychological flexibility.

The second study was a relatively large randomised controlled trial (RCT). The goal of this study was to see the impact of workplace Acceptance and Commitment Coaching on coachee work performance, general mental health, generalised self-efficacy, job satisfaction, job motivation, goal directed thinking, goal attainment, and psychological flexibility with senior managers in the UK Civil Service. The analysis from this study showed that increases in psychological flexibility mediated improvements in general mental health, generalised self-efficacy, goal directed thinking, and goal attainment.

The final study compared the effects of psychological flexibility and working alliance using data from the coaching arm of the RCT study. These parallel meditation analyses revealed that significant increases in psychological flexibility mediated increases in generalised self-efficacy, goal-directed thinking, and goal attainment. Despite significant increases in working alliance over time, it did not account for any change in study variables when compared to psychological flexibility.

I think the overall findings of this research suggest that Acceptance and Commitment Coaching is an effective and safe way to improve performance and wellbeing in coaching.

If you’d like to know more about this research, the full thesis is available open-access.

Skews, R. A. 2018. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Informed Coaching: Examining Outcomes and Mechanisms of Change. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London. https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/26104/1/IMS_thesis_SkewsR_2018.pdf

I bring together the expertise I have in performance psychology, behaviour change and business consultancy to help individuals and organisations achieve their potential. This means a lot of different things to different people, but the processes of change are pretty consistent. It’s about connecting with what matters, and being able to make better decisions to move towards those things. There will always be challenges on the journey - and learning how to navigate all the complex and difficult things we experience is part of the process. Leaders have business outcomes to achieve but often limited resources. Organisation want to create the right context for people to thrive but have ambitious growth goals in competitive environments.

I help individuals and organisations to perform in these challenging environments - not by pushing harder, but by maximising the resources they have available to them and reduce any unnecessary demands. This means improvements in performance are sustainable and wellbeing increases. That is a huge win:win for both organisations and the individuals who collaborate within them. The main ways I do this is through coaching and leadership development. I also have a monthly podcast with the wonderful Hazel Anderson-Turner, the Coaching UnpACT Podcast, where we tackle common blocks to performance and share ideas on how to overcome them.

It’s also important to me to share the knowledge and skills I’ve gained with other coaching practitioners. I’ve designed training courses in Acceptance and Commitment Coaching, which is the evidence-based coaching approach that I specialise in. I supervise coaches too. I love working with other coaches and supporting their development, whether that’s talking about something that’s come up in their practice, chatting through an ethical issue, or helping them gain a new accreditation. The coaching community is full of wonderful practitioners who care so much about the work they do and the impact they have.

Thanks for taking the time to read about me and my business. Feel free to take a look around and find out more. Or get in touch with me at rachael@cognuscoach.com if your looking for a coach, consultant, trainer or supervisor.