The Care Paradox in Coaching

16th September - 25th November 2026


Why does this Series exist?

Care is often spoken about as though it is self-evident. Yet familiarity can discourage closer examination.

The moments that test us most as coaches rarely ask whether we care. They demand more than good intentions.

This Series lives where assumptions are challenged, several important truths coexist, and responsibilities compete.

Who is this person?

How might their experience of the world differ from mine?

What could I not yet be seeing?

What enables me to care well?

When there isn't one right way forward, what does care require?

Attend one online session or all six. Each stands alone, whether you join those most relevant to your own development or engage with the Series as a whole.

Co-created for coaches, mentor coaches, coaching supervisors and related practitioners, The Care Paradox in Coaching doesn't provide certainty. It encourages discernment.

Because perhaps the paradox is not whether we care.

Perhaps it is understanding what care asks of us.


One Registration Provides Access to All Six 90-minute Live Online Sessions & Recordings.

75% attendance is required at each session to obtain Core Competency CCEUs.

Series at a Glance

Session 1

Identity, Relational Care, and Challenge

Wednesday 16th September | 18:30 - 20:00 UK time

👤 Ashana Crichton
CC 1.50
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Session Overview

Powerful coaching often means disrupting the status quo; recognising when we need to challenge our clients' sense-making and open up more helpful ways of thinking and behaving. Yet identity, lived experience, and differing day-to-day norms can mean we risk being too careful and not stretching our clients - or not careful enough, stepping into territory where they retreat.

Ashana’s premise is that human to human openness and care are fundamental for true partnership to exist, only then do we set the conditions for healthy challenge. During this session, she will guide coaches to reflect on the norms shaped by their own lived experience and professionalism to consider what it might take for identity appreciation to be seamless within the coaching relationship.

Ashana Crichton - Facilitator

Ashana Crichton

Ashana is a certified Master Executive Coach with Association of Coaching, ICF PCC-accredited and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Consultant who uses person-centred principles to create powerful coaching partnerships and foster environments of shared belonging.

With a career background in fast-paced, competitive environments, Ashana believes meaningful EDI progress requires care, nuance, and thoughtful decision-making to balance the needs and aspirations of the individual with those of an organisation.

Ashana teaches and coaches from an evidenced-based, Universal Eclectic Approach and focuses coach development on being present with and for a variety of lived experience so all may experience the trust and safety needed to flourish.

Session 2

Care, Neurodivergence and the Coaching Relationship

Wednesday 30th September | 12:30 - 14:00 UK time

👤 Christina Macnamara
CC 1.50
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Session Overview

As awareness and diagnosis continue to grow, neurodivergence is becoming increasingly relevant across coaching, not only for those who specialise in the field.

This session explores the paradoxes of care when partnering with neurodivergent clients, with particular attention to the tension between the ICF Core Competencies and neurodiversity-informed understanding. How do we hold that tension with greater confidence? How do we recognise our own blind spots and capabilities so that the care we offer is responsive to the individual, rather than shaped by assumption?

Through real-life examples, facilitated discussion, and participant interaction, we will examine the questions, considerations, and practical realities that support thoughtful coaching relationships.

Christina Macnamara - Facilitator

Christina Macnamara

Christina Macnamara is an ICF-accredited coach (PCC) and an ADHD coach accredited with the Association for Coaching. She holds a postgraduate certificate from the University of Chester, where she focused her studies on neurodiversity and neuroscience-informed practice.

Christina coaches neurodivergent adults 1:1, as well as delivering neurodiversity awareness training in organisations. Diagnosed with autism, ADHD and dyspraxia in her late thirties, she brings lived experience and a genuine understanding of the challenges and opportunities of being neurodivergent.

She partners with clients to develop practical strategies for daily life, alongside the inner work of identity and self-compassion.

Session 3

Where Trauma Meets Care

Wednesday 14th October | 18:30 - 20:00 UK time

👤 Dr. Susanna Petche
CC 1.50
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Session Overview

Trauma is not separate from coaching. Whether realised or not, it can influence how clients think, relate, adapt and make meaning. It also affects us as coaches, informing what we notice, what we avoid and how we respond in the moment.

This session asks coaches to accept trauma as part of the coaching landscape rather than an exception to it. Attention turns to what may sit in the shadows of the presenting issue, the conclusions we draw about ourselves and our clients, and the importance of distinguishing what belongs to us from what belongs to them.

Drawing on trauma-informed principles, Susanna encourages consideration of how connection, containment and unconditional positive regard support ethical coaching without slipping into therapy or premature referral. Rather than fearing or overlooking trauma, participants are invited to reflect on what trauma may evoke in both coach and client, alongside the professional judgement required to balance care with client agency.

Dr. Susanna Petche - Facilitator

Dr. Susanna Petche

Dr. Susanna Petche is redefining trauma care and leading a movement for change. Founder of Trauma-Sense and creator of the C-Sense methodology, she blends neuroscience, functional medicine, and coaching to address the hidden effects of trauma.

With 25+ years as a GP, she saw how unresolved trauma fuels many health issues, inspiring her to create training and resources for professionals, workplaces, and individuals. In October 2025, she delivered a TEDx talk on the importance of acknowledging trauma.

A sought-after speaker, she has shared stages with Dr. Gabor Maté and Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, challenging outdated approaches to health and healing.

A leading voice in the field, Susanna was recently invited to contribute to Traumality, a film directed by Ton Mazzone and released worldwide on 12th August 2026.

Session 4

Care Beyond Self

Wednesday 28th October | 18:30 - 20:00 UK time

👤 Divya Shah
CC 1.00 | RD 0.50
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Session Overview

We often think of self-care as rest, boundaries, or wellbeing. Divya invites coaches to consider a different perspective: self-care as the foundation of presence. Through personal stories, coaching reflections, and interactive conversation, we will examine how caring for ourselves enables us to let go of what no longer serves us, reconnect with who we aspire to be, and show up more fully in coaching and in life.

As Divya cared for herself more deeply, she found herself seeing others with greater clarity, curiosity, compassion, and less judgement.

Together, we will consider how our relationship with ourselves shapes the coaching partnership, and how self-care strengthens presence, agency, and impact for both coach and client. This is not self-indulgence. It is a courageous choice rooted in intention and discernment.

Divya Shah - Facilitator

Divya Shah

Divya Shah, PCC, is an Executive and Leadership Coach who partners with experienced professionals and leaders to navigate leadership, career and life transitions with greater clarity, courage and agency. Her coaching philosophy is that caring for ourselves enables the quality of presence that allows others to see themselves more clearly. Through reflective coaching, she creates a non-judgemental space where people recognise new choices and take intentional action.

As Group Leader for the UK Chapter of ICF West Midlands community and a Taekwondo Black Belt, Divya brings curiosity, presence and resilience, believing authentic leadership begins with how we show up for ourselves and others.

Session 5

When Care Doesn’t Give Us One Right Answer

Wednesday 11th November | 18:30 - 20:00 UK time

👤 Rachel Rooke
CC 1.50
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Session Overview

As coaches, care sits at the heart of how we build trust, understand experience and respond to the people before us. Yet caring deeply doesn’t always make the right course of action clearer. Sometimes care draws our attention towards several people, relationships and responsibilities at the same time.

The ICF Code of Ethics provides a strong professional foundation, but ethical complexity can arise when confidentiality, autonomy, psychological safety, accountability, integrity and organisational expectations all matter. The challenge may not be deciding which principle is right and which is wrong. It may be recognising that several important truths need to remain visible while we decide how to respond.

Through a developing coaching scenario, discussion and guided reflection, we’ll explore how care and paradox can deepen ethical awareness and professional judgement. Let's identify how to notice what matters, widen our perspective, remain with competing truths and take thoughtful action when care doesn’t offer one obvious answer.

Rachel Rooke - Facilitator

Rachel Rooke

Rachel is an ICF Professional Certified Coach, copywriter and former lawyer, with a genuine commitment to widening access and diversity within coaching. For the UK Chapter of ICF, she is Co-Director of Credentialing Standards and Coaching Education Providers. Through private practice, associate and corporate work, Rachel helps people navigate uncertainty, transition and reinvention in both their personal and professional lives.

Her holistic, inside-out approach draws on transformative coaching, mindbody practice and behavioural change to uncover what may be holding someone back, rebuild confidence and strengthen connection with what matters most. Outside work, Rachel enjoys family adventures and life with her two miniature poodles, Ulka and Kyko.

Session 6

The Care Paradox in Coaching

Wednesday 25th November | 18:30 - 20:00 UK time

👤 Krisztina Wighardt, Ashana Crichton, Christina Macnamara, Divya Shah, Rachel Rooke
CC 1.00 | RD 0.50
â–¼

Session Overview

What does care require of us as coaches? The more deeply we examine this question, the less straightforward it becomes. When identity, neurodivergence, trauma, self-awareness and ethics intersect in practice, care is no longer simply an intention. It calls us to hold competing needs, exercise professional judgement and remain responsive to the person before us and tensions that coexist.

In this closing session, the Facilitators from across the Series return to bring their different perspectives into dialogue. With participant questions and shared reflection, we will notice where these perspectives converge, where they complicate one another and what new insights emerge.

Rather than seeking agreement or resolution, we'll consider discernment as an ongoing practice expressed through relationships.

The Series concludes. The inquiry continues.

Facilitator - Krisztina Wighardt

Krisztina Wighardt

Krisztina Wighardt is a leadership coach and Associate Board Member for Professional and Personal Development at the UK Chapter of ICF. Her work explores the evolving identity, responsibility, and influence of coaches within a rapidly changing professional landscape.

Drawing on systemic coaching and her lived experience of neurodivergence, she brings depth, curiosity, and humanity to conversations about value, visibility, and the role coaches play in shaping more conscious organisations and communities.

Krisztina is particularly passionate about supporting coaches and leaders to move beyond technique and step fully into their professional voice, cultivating practices that are both courageous and deeply human.

Contributor - Ashana Crichton

Ashana Crichton

Ashana is a certified Master Executive Coach with Association of Coaching, ICF PCC-accredited and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Consultant who uses person-centred principles to create powerful coaching partnerships and foster environments of shared belonging.

With a career background in fast-paced, competitive environments, Ashana believes meaningful EDI progress requires care, nuance, and thoughtful decision-making to balance the needs and aspirations of the individual with those of an organisation.

Ashana teaches and coaches from an evidenced-based, Universal Eclectic Approach and focuses coach development on being present with and for a variety of lived experience so all may experience the trust and safety needed to flourish.

Contributor - Christina Macnamara

Christina Macnamara

Christina Macnamara is an ICF-accredited coach (PCC) and an ADHD coach accredited with the Association for Coaching. She holds a postgraduate certificate from the University of Chester, where she focused her studies on neurodiversity and neuroscience-informed practice.

Christina coaches neurodivergent adults 1:1, as well as delivering neurodiversity awareness training in organisations. Diagnosed with autism, ADHD and dyspraxia in her late thirties, she brings lived experience and a genuine understanding of the challenges and opportunities of being neurodivergent.

She partners with clients to develop practical strategies for daily life, alongside the inner work of identity and self-compassion.

Contributor - Divya Shah

Divya Shah

Divya Shah, PCC, is an Executive and Leadership Coach who partners with experienced professionals and leaders to navigate leadership, career and life transitions with greater clarity, courage and agency. Her coaching philosophy is that caring for ourselves enables the quality of presence that allows others to see themselves more clearly. Through reflective coaching, she creates a non-judgemental space where people recognise new choices and take intentional action.

As Group Leader for the UK Chapter of ICF West Midlands community and a Taekwondo Black Belt, Divya brings curiosity, presence and resilience, believing authentic leadership begins with how we show up for ourselves and others.

Contributor - Rachel Rooke

Rachel Rooke

Rachel is an ICF Professional Certified Coach, copywriter and former lawyer, with a genuine commitment to widening access and diversity within coaching. For the UK Chapter of ICF, she is Co-Director of Credentialing Standards and Coaching Education Providers. Through private practice, associate and corporate work, Rachel helps people navigate uncertainty, transition and reinvention in both their personal and professional lives.

Her holistic, inside-out approach draws on transformative coaching, mindbody practice and behavioural change to uncover what may be holding someone back, rebuild confidence and strengthen connection with what matters most. Outside work, Rachel enjoys family adventures and life with her two miniature poodles, Ulka and Kyko.

SERIES HOST

Kirsty Knowles

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Kirsty Knowles - Series Host

Kirsty Knowles

Co-creator of change and development with humanity. Accredited PCC Coach catalysing mindset shifts, reimagining leadership, and evolving workplace climates. Fusing playfulness with rigour, Kirsty integrates a humanistic, ethical, evidence-informed approach. Founder of Think Being®, a skilful thinking partner cultivating future-fit impact across different life domains. Her mindset, leadership, and culture specialisms, grounded in sustainability, are published and applied internationally.

Board Director of Professional and Personal Development for the UK Chapter of ICF, advancing the profession through dynamic, daring dialogue. We each author our story yet can slip into shadow. She evokes discovery towards what truly matters. Beautiful audacity takes form.

Attuned to context yet outward-facing: Coach Educator, Mentor Coach, Facilitator, Consultant. People develop with depth when helping others develop.


Pricing

Opening Rate until 19th August, 2026. 


Opening RateStandard Rate
UK Chapter Member£60£90
Friend of UK ICF£75£105
Global ICF Member£100£130
Non Member£120£150


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