
295: Reflecting on Our Journey: Lessons Learned in Coaching for Health and Wellbeing with Ana Paula Nacif and Christian van Nieuwerburgh
Coaching Voices: The Association for Coaching PodcastShow Notes
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
More from Coaching Voices: The Association for Coaching Podcast
In this first episode of our podcast series, Psychology in Coaching, host Lucy Whitehall talks with psychologist and coach Dr Hayley Lewis about how psychology shapes coaching practice. Hayley's journey runs from occupational psychology and organisational development at the BBC to executive coaching. She shares how her sketch-note summaries aim to make psychology accessible to the public, and how one of them ended up in Adam Grant's book, Think Again, after she mistook his publisher's emails for phishing. Her story opens a wider conversation about impostor feelings, and why self-doubt can signal that we are learning or stepping into unfamiliar territory.
This episode is part of our 'A Day in the Life' series, where we talk to coaches about their real lives and businesses. What happens when creativity, personal story and deep self-reflection find their way into coaching? In this warm, honest conversation, our host Maxine Bell, talks with Paul Williamson, Group Head of Talent Development at ATG Entertainment. He has designed acclaimed in-house leadership development programmes, helped to build a successful internal coaching faculty, and coached leaders at all levels within the organization. Paul traces his path from a creative childhood filled with art, drama and storytelling, through management roles, to becoming a qualified coach. Like many people, he was steered toward more 'sensible' career paths, but his creative instincts never left him, and he came to see creativity as a powerful tool for transformation.
In this final episode of our series: AI, Ethics and Trust in Coaching, we step back from individual perspectives and ask what all these conversations might be telling us about coaching itself. Rebecca Rutschmann, co-founder of Viva la Coaching, researcher, educator and long-standing explorer of the space between coaching and technology, joins host, Smaranda Dochia, to consider whether AI is forcing the profession to become clearer about what coaching is really here to do.
AI coaching is moving fast, but the evidence hasn't quite caught up with the excitement. In episode 9 of our AI, Ethics and Trust in Coaching series, host Smaranda Dochia sits down with Professor Nicky Terblanche, Professor in Leadership Coaching at Stellenbosch University Business School in Cape Town, South Africa, where he leads the master's and PhD programmes in leadership coaching. Nicky began his career in electronic and software engineering before moving into coaching and applied psychology and has been researching AI coaching since well before generative AI arrived on the scene.
Across workplaces, AI tools are being introduced at remarkable speed. Licenses are being purchased, productivity gains are anticipated, and employees are being encouraged to experiment. But access to AI is not the same as knowing how to work with it well. In episode 8 of our AI, Ethics and Trust in Coaching series, host Smaranda Dochia sits down with James Varnham, who brings 26 years of experience in learning, workforce development, and AI adoption, to unpack what's actually happening inside organizations as AI moves from experimentation to daily practice. They dig into the gap between leadership ambition and employee readiness, the rise of shadow AI and the data security risks it creates, and why generic, one-size-fits-all training rarely builds the kind of AI literacy organizations need.