Faculty Spotlight: Neuroscience and Coaching Supervision with Rachel Bamber

neuroscience and coaching supervision with rachel bamber

Faculty Spotlight: Neuroscience and Coaching Supervision with Rachel Bamber

To become happier, confident, and inspired coaching supervisors — this is the mark that Rachel Bamber, a coaching expert in powerful, brain-friendly strategies, would like to leave with her trainees completing the Diploma in Coaching Supervision at the ICCS. 

Since 2003, she has helped people all around the world to work with their brain rather than against it and deliver peak performance through neuroscience. 

In this interview, Rachel shares her journey from coach to coaching supervision and how neuroscience and her holistic approach play a role in her facilitation in the Diploma in Coaching Supervision with the ICCS. 

From BBC to Coaching: How Rachel Discovered Coaching

Rachel’s introduction to coaching began when she took part in a leadership and management training programme whilst working as a Sales Manager at BBC Clothes Show Live. 

The course showcased the power of coaching as a form of leading and managing people. 

“I love people development and I knew that I wanted to run my own business.  The leadership and management training was a catalyst: I later left the company and trained professionally in both coaching and then subsequently in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP.)  I’ve done lots of other training since then too,” Rachel shares. 

Rachel Bamber and Her Work in Neuroscience 

We all experience times that have led us to feel uninspired and unmotivated. 

Despite countless efforts, like working out, eating healthier, or sleeping more, many people still struggle to find their energy. This leads to drops in performance levels at work, poor relationships, and overall unhappiness for a lot of people. 

Neuroscience, the study of the brain and the nervous systems and how it affects the way we physiologically react, dials into how we can begin to work with our brain rather than against it.  

In the last 20 years, the world of neuroscience has evolved. With technological developments, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging scanners (FMRIs), our understanding of our brain’s power has tremendously accelerated. 

This is where Rachel, with her work in the neuroscience of leadership, finds the beauty of how impactful our brain and thinking are on the way we function every day. 

“Everything that I do is what I call brain-friendly. When we learn about how the brain works, (and of course we all have one!), we can then communicate much more effectively with others. We can lead them to be more effective and improve [their] relationships.” 

In particular, she uses neuroscience to help people achieve their peak performance so that they can get more done with zero stress. 

“I like to think of this as helping you work with your brain rather than against it. It takes away a lot of the angst [and] a lot of the stress.  Because our brain can be like a little child and can get easily distracted and likes novelty and all sorts of other things, which can end up causing us a lot of unnecessary stress.”

Rachel has coached various professionals worldwide, from elite sport, directors, corporate leaders, to ambitious small business owners. 

Renowned for her bold and intuitive coaching and supervision, Rachel aims to create a motivating and powerful transformative experience in a fun and sustainable manner for her clients as well as for the coaching supervisors she trains at the ICCS. 

Rachel’s Journey from Being a Coach to Becoming a Coaching Supervisor 

Coaching supervision felt like a natural next step for Rachel. With 18 years of success in the coaching profession, she has found her passion in helping new coaches find their wings. 

Training people all around the world in brain-based coaching skills and assessing them against ICF’s core competencies, she has also helped coaches to deepen their skills and establish themselves in their coaching practice. 

It was the combination of her experience and expertise which naturally led her to supervision. 

“I’m very much about wanting to help coaches be confident in their skills. Because when they’re more confident in themselves and when they’re confident in their business and being able to deal with all sorts of different types of clients and stakeholders and what’s going on with them, then they’re more able to then help a lot more people and go out and make even more of a positive difference in the world.”  

Rachel’s Holistic Approach to Coaching Supervision 

Coaching supervision is known for its reflective space, where both the supervisee and the supervisor can have a collaborative dialogue. 

“My approach is very much holistic in that, it’s not just about the supervisees, coaching clients and the stakeholders, it’s [also] about them as a whole person and what’s going on in their life – and business. What is great about coaching supervision is that there are no rules about what the supervisor can cover, and every one of us will have our own individual approach.” 

According to Rachel, supervision goes beyond helping another coach. The benefits extend to their coaching clients, stakeholders, and all the other people in the system that are going to be impacted by that coach’s engagement. 

“However, I think it’s very important that, especially based on my work in peak performance, that ultimately how the coach is showing up will make an impact on how they are facilitating their coaching sessions and their business, and what’s going on of course will all feed into that.”  

At the end of the day, she aims to help coaches and supervisors feel good about themselves, their skills, and what they do with their clients and their business. She believes this will create an even wider-ranging impact on the world. 

Rachel’s High Energy, Confidence Inspiring, and Inclusive Training Sessions at the ICCS 

Rachels finds parallelism with her work as a coach and now as a course trainer at the ICCS. 

According to her, the feedback that she has received emphasises her high energy, confidence-inspiring, and inclusivity, which also resembles her extensive coaching experience, plus, training executives in 6 continents — her next goal is Antarctica, to complete her global reach. 

“People would also say that I make it fun and accessible. They feel like they can go away and implement what they’ve learned immediately. That is my approach — to be motivating, whether it’s helping those who want to learn about supervision or coaching or anything else.” 

Becoming confident in their newfound skills and strengths is what Rachel wants to impart to her trainees. She wants them to realise how their coaching strengths equip them and how supervision becomes an extension of that. 

At the end of the course, she would like the coaching supervisors of ICCS to be able to go out and help other coaches and make an even greater positive difference in the world. 

“I know it sounds a bit cheesy and cliché, but yeah, that’s what I’m about.”

On Taking the Next Step through Coaching Supervision 

Coaching supervision is a natural progression for some experienced coaches. But is it all that it takes to become one? 

For Rachel, it is an important add-on, but she doesn’t think it’s a replacement. Although the skills and strengths of coaching and supervision are similar, Rachel believes that willingness plays an important influence for those looking to become a coach supervisor. 

On the previous programmes that ICCS have run so far, there’s been a diverse level of experience and backgrounds and the kind of coaching work that people do. But ultimately, I think having a willingness to help other coaches grow and to know that there is an abundance in the world of coaching, that there’s room for everyone is also important.”

READ: Why Become A Coaching Supervisor?

How the ICCS Diploma in Coaching Supervision Can Help You Become A Better Coach 

When asked about her thoughts on why the International Centre for Coaching Supervision stands out as a supervision training programme, Rachel simply says, “because it’s fun!”

Through its virtual learning environment, aspiring coaching supervisors have the opportunity to learn with coaches from all around the world, with varying backgrounds and experiences. 

It is also a conducive setting to reflect on one’s own practice, to have supervision amongst peers, and to learn about different modalities that might not have been familiar in your initial coach training. 

It’s not only ICCS’ collaborative and integrative learning styles that allow coaching supervisors to acquire these skills, but as well as its inclusion of other talking interventions like psychotherapy, positive psychology, and neuroscience — enabling a very rich approach that builds on their existing skills. 

“The feedback that I’ve received from those who have done the course so far say that they feel like they’re much better coaches because of doing the training and the coaching supervision. That’s added to all aspects of their work.” 

Interested to undertake the Diploma in Coaching Supervision? Head on to our coaching supervision training page to learn more about the programme! 

Visit our Faculty page to learn more about course trainers and RPG supervisors.

Got questions? Reach out to us through our contact page or through our email info@iccs.co

Author Details
Nick is the founder and CEO of the International Centre for Coaching Supervision and Animas Centre for Coaching. Along with his love of coaching and supervision, he is a a passionate learner with a fascination for philosophy, psychology and sociology.
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Rachel Bamber
Nick is the founder and CEO of the International Centre for Coaching Supervision and Animas Centre for Coaching. Along with his love of coaching and supervision, he is a a passionate learner with a fascination for philosophy, psychology and sociology.
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