05: Neuroscience in coaching

In this podcast episode, Dr. Natalie Lancer with Dr. Divine Charura, Dr. Sarah McKay, Gry Osnes, and Amy Brann, discuss the integration of neuroscience into coaching practice. They explore the benefits and challenges of applying neuroscience concepts in coaching, emphasising the need for a more-informed understanding for coaches who choose to work in this way. Our guests explain how coaches can stay informed about neuroscience research and offer insights into how to effectively apply neuroscience concepts into coaching sessions.

We discuss:

•    What can an understanding of neuroscience bring to coaching psychology?
•    How is neuroscience research advancing and what is its impact on coaching?
•    What is the role of neuroscience in organisational leadership and the workplace?
•    How can we use neuroscience to help us understand emotions, cognition, and behaviour when coaching people on change processes?
•    How can coaches access reliable neuroscience information and education?
•    What are the risks of coaches using neuroscience principles without a solid understanding?
•    What neuromyths can we debunk?
•    What are the difficulties of integrating complex neuroscience concepts into coaching practice?
•    What are some useful neuroscience insights coaches can immediately apply?
•    How can we create brain-friendly work environments that foster better habits and heightens creativity?

Drawing on neuroscience in our coaching needs to be done in a considered way. We must draw from peer-reviewed research rather than 30-year-old neuroscience ideas that have since been revised, such as the oversimplified 'lizard brain' concept or the left brain-right brain dichotomy. Coaches must ensure their understanding of neuroscience is solid before practically applying these concepts in their practice. Our guests today are:

Dr Sarah McKay is an Australian-based (Kiwi-born) neuroscientist, speaker, author and founder of Think Brain, which offers professional development programs in applied neuroscience and women’s brain health, and the Neuroscience Academy suite of training programs. Sarah attended Oxford University to complete an MSc and DPhil in Neuroscience. She sums up her thesis with the words, 'Nature, Nurture or Neuroplasticity' and worked on research in spinal cord injury as a post-doc. Sarah is the author of The Women's Brain Book: The neuroscience of health, hormones and happiness. Her second book, Baby Brain: The surprising neuroscience of how pregnancy and motherhood sculpt our brains and change our minds (for the better), was published by Hachette in April 2023.

Professor (Dr.) Divine Charura is a practitioner psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council in England and a Chartered Coaching Psychologist. Divine is an Honorary Fellow of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and an adult psychotherapist. Furthermore, his work as an Executive leadership coach, has included working with members of senior leadership teams, within corporate organisations, and private institutions in the UK and abroad.  Divine is also passionate about coach education and how the coaching profession can support the development of coaching practitioners as researchers. He believes that this will enable them to continue to contribute to the coaching evidence base and enhance the development of the coaching profession. Divine has co-authored and edited numerous books.

Gry Osnes is a clinically trained psychotherapist and consultant and received her PhD from the University of Oslo and an MSc from HEC/INSEAD. In the domain of organizational leadership, she applies Active Inference Psychology and The Emotional Brain to top leaders and teams. Her expertise includes cognitive and affective neuroscience and the intricate dynamics of human behaviour. Her work revolves around understanding people's roles, their strategic manoeuvres, and the fulfilment of socio-emotional needs in a rapidly evolving world. She has a foundation in a system psychodynamic approach, and brings together insights from cutting-edge research in affective neuroscience. Her publications include "Family Capitalism: Best Practices in Ownership and Leadership" (Routledge, 2017) and "Leadership and Strategic Successions" (Routledge, 2021).

Amy Brann is the founder of Synaptic Potential, a consultancy that helps people achieve sustainable high performance that enables them to contribute more to their organisation by working smarter not harder. She is an author and a global speaker. She passionately believes that a great way to achieve your full potential in life and work is by knowing more about how your brain works so you can work with it rather than against it. She delivers practical frameworks on how to improve performance. Amy is the author of three compelling books - Make Your Brain Work, Neuroscience for Coaches, and Engaged: The Neuroscience Behind Creating Productive People in Successful Organizations – that offers organisations practical ways to approach people development through the lens of neuroscience.

Your host, Dr Natalie Lancer, is a Chartered Coaching Psychologist, and British Psychological Society (BPS) Registered Supervisor. She is the Chair of the BPS’s Division of Coaching Psychology and an accredited member of the Association for Coaching. She is the host of this podcast series and invites you to email any comments to [email protected]

https://www.bps.org.uk/member-networks/division-coaching-psychology

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