296: A Day in the Life of Françoise Olivier: Transforming the Legacy of Parental Addiction with Coaching
Coaching Voices: The Association for Coaching PodcastShow Notes
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.'
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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
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