Season 2 Episode 15 - The Courageous Coach with Teresa Wilson

About The Guest:

Teresa Wilson has worked as a trainer and facilitator for over 20 years and as a coach for more than a decade through Teresa Wilson Coaching. She currently delivers training and coaching within the Civil Service and the NHS, and for leaders in the third sector. Alongside her one-to-one private practice, she also works as a Mentor Coach. Teresa became interested in shadow work as a way to free herself from the relentless habit of judging her coaching sessions and punishing herself for being a "bad" coach. 

She is also the co-author of the book, Seven Creative Gremlins: Write your way through doubt and fear to claim your creative life.

You can find her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresawilsoncoaching/) and at her website, https://teresawilsoncoaching.com

About The Episode:

Welcome to episode 15 of the Courageous Coach podcast, where we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to be courageous with your clients, your business, and your life.

In this episode, host Melissa is joined by Teresa Wilson, a coach, facilitator, and a significant figure in Melissa's own courage-building journey. This conversation offers a rare and personal insight into Melissa's self-development, her struggles, and the profound realisations she has had about who she is as both a human and a coach.

Teresa and Melissa explore the transformative power of shadow work and self-compassion. They discuss how our personal histories shape our coaching practice and the courage required to confront and accept all parts of ourselves. This conversation is a beautiful exploration of stillness, embodiment, and curiosity, emphasising that the journey to becoming more of who we are is the foundation of authentic and courageous coaching.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What is Shadow Work?: Teresa explains that our "shadow" contains the parts of ourselves that were socialized out of us in childhood—qualities we disowned to fit in. The work is about integrating these parts to become more wholly ourselves.
• The Paradoxical Theory of Change: Discover how Gestalt therapy influenced Teresa's journey. The idea that we change not by trying to be different, but by becoming more of who we already are.
• From Self-Torture to Self-Compassion: Teresa shares her early struggles with an overactive inner critic and how she moved from judging her coaching sessions as simply "good" or "bad" to a more compassionate approach.
• "No Bad Parts": The conversation highlights the importance of meeting our shadow parts with curiosity and compassion, understanding that their intention is always benevolent, even if their messaging is unhelpful.
• The Power of Stillness and Embodiment: The critical role of creating enough stillness to listen to our body's signals (like a wince or cringe), which act as vital data for shadow work.
• Courage is Having the Courage to "Be": Teresa defines courageous coaching as having the courage to simply "be," which requires giving up the need to be an expert or get it right, and instead sitting in the humility of "I don't know".

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches 

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.