The AC Podcast

Have you ever felt the weight of being the "strong one" — the person everyone else leans on, while you quietly wonder who you can lean on?
 
In episode 2 of our Coaching Men podcast series, host Rob Lawrence sits down with Vicky Kelly, a coach who has spent over 15 years specialising in working with men. Vicky shares how, after launching her coaching business in 2009, she found herself naturally drawn to male clients and discovered a profound gap in the support available to them. Her insights into why men often delay seeking help, and what happens when they finally do, are both eye-opening and deeply human.
 
Vicky works primarily with high-performing professionals and CEOs, who from the outside, appear to have it all together. But beneath the success, many are running on empty, held back by invisible pressures: societal expectations around strength and vulnerability, stress responses that hijack their best thinking, and long-held stories about who they are and what they deserve. Vicky explains her approach of building genuine psychological safety, regulating the nervous system, and gently but powerfully challenging the narratives that keep her clients stuck.
 
The conversation also ventures beyond the boardroom. What happens when you've climbed the ladder and find yourself asking, "Is this it?" Vicky shares how she helps clients reconnect with forgotten passions and rediscover who they are outside of their professional identity. She also introduces her upcoming group programme, The Capacity Project, designed to help high performers sustain their success without burning out.
 
You will learn:
 
·       The Safe Space Paradox - Men are often slower to seek coaching but once they commit, they go all in.
·       How your nervous system is running the show. Vicky's work with high performers isn't just about strategy; it's about helping men to learn to regulate themselves, so they can actually access the best of their thinking.
·       Questioning the Stories We Tell Ourselves Vicki offers a deceptively simple but powerful question to start dismantling them: "What am I believing here that might not be 100% true?"
 
  
"So, it's multiple different demands and a lack of resources: how do I carry myself through all of this without dropping the plates that are spinning or without just sort of spontaneously combusting?"
 
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For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit: 
https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel-coaching-men-safe-space-high-performing-leaders

What does it take for a high-achieving man to stop, admit he's struggling, and ask for help? In this first episode of our Coaching Men podcast series, host Rob Lawrence speaks with Will Johnson, a facilitator and coach who guides men to live and lead with greater authenticity and peace within and about themselves. Will draws on his own experience of burnout in a senior finance role, where he suddenly ran out of energy, but through asking for help, he attended a retreat with the Centre for Courage and Renewal, which awakened a part of himself he had lost and became the start of a transformational journey that called him to a new adventure.
 
Will went on to train as a facilitator with the Centre for Courage & Renewal, and he now runs Circle of Trust® retreats where men are invited to slow down, listen inward, and share their stories without pressure to perform or fix. Working mythopoetically, he uses poetry, mythology, and imagery to help men bypass intellectual defences and reach something deeper. These spaces work, Will explains, because they remove the masculine reflex to solve and compete, creating room for genuine presence and self-awareness instead.
 
At the heart of Will's philosophy is a distinction between the ego story — the CV, the achievements, the ladder climbed — and the soul story, which lives in struggle, failure, and the moments that have truly shape us, and connect us each to our own unique 'thread.' He believes men carry more wisdom than they give themselves credit for, but that it often takes community to help them trust their own inner voice and become comfortable with difficult emotions. He explains why he no longer uses the term toxic masculinity, instead embracing the term 'shifting the masculine mind.' His message is both challenging and compassionate: acknowledging our limits, embracing vulnerability, and going public with our authentic selves is not weakness:  it is where real growth begins.
 
You will learn:
 
·       Burnout is a beginning, not just an ending. Giving yourself permission to ask for help is the first, but best step
1.      Embracing difficult feelings, including failures, and tuning into their inner voice is where men can find their soul story and live more authentically.
2.      Community matters.  The isolation many men experience is one of the biggest barriers to their development so joining safe, structured group spaces is where the real work happens, and where men learn to trust themselves again.
   
 
 
'Now write your soul story. That's the story I want to hear. Tell me about your struggle. Tell me about when you messed up. Tell me when you've disappointed somebody.'
 
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For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit: 
https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel-coaching-men-myth-poetry-group-work

In this episode of our Day in the Life podcast series, we meet Françoise Olivier, a life coach who specialises in supporting adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs). Françoise brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work, having grown up with a father who was alcohol dependent, she understands firsthand the deep and often invisible marks that a parent's addiction can leave. With warmth and honesty, she shares her personal journey alongside practical insights, creating a conversation that is moving and informative.
 
Françoise explores the lasting traits many ACOAs carry into adulthood — hypervigilance, low self-worth, shame, and a disconnection from their own needs — and how these patterns, once understood, can become the foundation for profound transformation. She speaks candidly about the ongoing, daily nature of healing: learning to ask what she actually wants, unpicking long-held beliefs, and choosing to own her story with pride rather than embarrassment. She also highlights the vital distinction between coaching and therapy, and the importance of trauma awareness in holding a truly supportive space for clients. Crucially, Françoise celebrates the superpowers that so many ACOAs develop: the resilience, empathy, and strength that emerge from navigating such complex childhoods.
 
Françoise also reminds us, community is everything. Discovering organisations like NACOA (the National Association for Children of Alcoholics) was a turning point for her where she recognised that she was not alone and had nothing to be ashamed of. It's a message she now carries into her coaching practice every day, helping clients move from pain to purpose, and from silence to self-compassion. An inspiring conversation from a coach walking her talk with courage and care.
 
You will learn:
·       Healing starts with owning your story. For many ACOAs, shame and secrecy are heavy burdens carried for years. Françoise's own turning point came when she chose to step into her story with pride.
·       Some of the traits developed in survival can become our superpowers.
·       The unique power of working with a coach who shares a similar background where the story doesn't always need to be told from the beginning, because the coach simply gets it.
 
'I want to make sure that when I am working with other ACOAs that, not only are we acknowledging what's happened in the past, but celebrating all the brilliant, wonderful things, and the superpowers that we've developed as well.'
 
Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave us a review! Your feedback helps us bring you more valuable content.
 
For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit: 
https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel_day-in-the-life-of-coaches-adult-children-of-alcoholics-trauma-aware

In this final episode of the Coaching for Health and Wellbeing podcast series, hosts Christian van Nieuwerburgh and Ana Paula Nacif look back across the conversations they've had to draw out the themes that have shaped the series. From the relationship between coaching for wellbeing and coaching for health, to the ethical responsibilities coaches carry into every session, they reflect on what it truly means to practise with intention and integrity. Central to their discussion is the idea that specialist knowledge matters - not as a replacement for core coaching skills, but as a complement to them. Ana and Christian also reiterate how professional humility is just as important as expertise. As Anna puts it, "There are questions we need to ask and there are limitations to what we can do."
 
The conversation turns to coaches themselves, with both hosts emphasising that wellbeing cannot be something coaches champion only for their clients. Self-care, reflective practice, and staying curious about emerging research are not optional extras — they are professional responsibilities. Christian and Ana also explore the broader power of community, celebrating the role organisations like the Association for Coaching play in creating spaces where coaches can share knowledge, support one another, and keep growing, as well as the responsibilities of supervisors in checking in with their clients general wellbeing.
 
The episode closes on a forward-looking and hopeful note, grounded in the belief that intentionality in how we care for ourselves can be simple, practical, and genuinely transformative. Ana and Christian leave listeners with a call to action: stay curious, look after yourself, hold space for genuine human connection, and keep asking the questions that matter. Wellbeing, they remind us, should be for everyone — not just those who can afford it.
You will learn:
·       Wellbeing is a part of coaching practice – for clients and coaches. Bringing intentionality, ethical consideration and specialist knowledge to your practice is an act of care for both.
·       Ongoing learning and reflective practice are non-negotiable and staying humble and curious to that is what creates truly impactful coaching
·       Community matters and leaning into communities of practice, sharing knowledge and supporting fellow coaches are ways to sustain both your wellbeing and the quality of the work.
 
"Specialist knowledge and professional humility for me is really important; there are questions we need to ask and there are limitations to what we can do."
 
Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave us a review! Your feedback helps us bring you more valuable content.
 
For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit: 
https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel-coaching-for-health-and-wellbeing-selfcare-community-practice

In episode 6 of our Coaching for Health and Wellbeing podcast series, hosts Ana Paula Nacif and Christian van Nieuwerburgh are joined by GP and positive psychology coach, Dr Amrita Sen Mukherjee, who supports healthcare professionals and coaches to prioritise their own wellbeing. Drawing on her personal journey through grief and health struggles, Amrita offers a candid and deeply human perspective on why those who dedicate their lives to caring for others so often neglect themselves. The conversation explores the cultural norms within helping professions, including coaches, that have historically placed the needs of others above the practitioner's own, and why this is both unsustainable and ethically problematic.
 
A central thread throughout the episode is the power of reflective practice and self-compassion. Amrita discusses how metacognitive awareness — the ability to observe and examine your own thinking and emotional responses — can uncover blind spots and unconscious patterns that affect both personal wellbeing and professional effectiveness. She challenges the stigma that many healthcare professionals feel around seeking help, reminding us that professional identity should never become a barrier to accessing support.
 
The hosts also explore the role of emotional literacy, meaningful connection, and the importance of understanding that wellbeing naturally fluctuates over time.
The episode rounds out with a rich discussion on the ethical dimensions of coaching, including the ongoing debate around regulation of the profession. Amrita emphasises that transparency, ongoing reflection, and creating intentional space to reconnect with your personal identity are not luxuries, but necessities for anyone in a caring role.
   
 You will learn:
·       You cannot pour from an empty cup. Sustainable, empathetic care for others is only possible when practitioners actively tend to their own wellbeing.
·       Reflective practice and self-compassion are essential core skills.
·       Why professional identity can be a barrier to getting help.
 
"I just felt that there was something in my medical practice that didn't allow me to really and truly connect with people and understand them in a way that I can now."
 
Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave us a review! Your feedback helps us bring you more valuable content.
 
For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit: 
https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel-coaching-for-health-and-wellbeing-self-compassion-reflective-practice