Interview with Rachel Dungan MCC, “The Pharmacist Coach”

Welcome to our latest feature on the journeys of coaching supervisors. In this interview, we are delighted to introduce Rachel Dungan, “The Pharmacist Coach”.

Rachel brings a wide range of professional experience to her role as a coach and supervisor, uniquely blending her background as a pharmacist with over a decade of coaching in various contexts.

Join us as Rachel shares her journey into coaching supervision, reflecting on its impact on her professionally and personally. Rachel is interviewed by Andrea Matuz, a fellow coach and supervisor, and Course Consultant for ICCS.

What’s your background and where are you based?

“I’m based in the south of Ireland, where I live with my family and our dog, and work from a home office attached to our house. My first career was in pharmacy, and I still practice as a pharmacist while also being a coach for over ten years. I’m a member of the ICF, EMCC, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. “

What inspired you to become a coaching supervisor?

“My inspiration came from a colleague in Ireland who introduced me to cross-professional supervision. The variety of coaching hats, from health and wellness to leadership coaching, intrigued me. I wanted a space to explore these distinctions and better serve my clients. Supervision is obviously a super support for the mentors for the coaches, for anybody who is navigating and working with clients mainly on our own. We’re working in professional isolation a lot of the day, so unless we’re very proactive about engaging with others and gaining different perspectives, it’s challenging. I wanted to be able to be a resource for others who are mentors and coaches.”

How has training in supervision impacted your practice?

“The Diploma in Coaching Supervision opened up new perspectives for me. I found that supervision allowed me to revisit my foundational coaching skills and see them through a new theoretical lens. I didn’t really appreciate how much I would deepen my practice as a coach, as a result of taking this diploma in coaching supervision. That was a surprise to me, a very pleasant surprise.

Unexpectedly, it also propelled me from an ICF ACC to an MCC credential, shifting my perspective from proving myself to embracing a growth journey.”

Can you share some key learnings from your training?

“One major takeaway was the exposure to different theoretical frameworks and being able to take a deep-dive into the theories and approaches, and the different conversations that this evokes. One of the things that I particularly value about ICCS is that there are coaches from a wide variety of different disciplines from a wide variety of different membership bodies that fit into that desire for that diverse way of thinking and seeing and different perspectives, both from within the class and also within the faculty.

The cohort was small and intimate, so we got to know one another, we got to practice with one another. I think we had a timespan of 16 hours in the timezones of participants, so that just indicates the cultural diversity. That was another great source of learning and richness as well, that each participant brought to our learning environment.”

How do you apply these insights in your practice?

“Partly it’s been working with coaches on their skill development and reflective practice, but also working with professionals like me who were in more than one role, and this has focused on exploring ethical dilemmas and unconscious bias, how we contract, how we might collude and things like that, which can show up in our different roles.”

Who do you see as your typical clients in supervision?

“I supervise pharmacist mentors, therapists, and other professionals for whom coaching is only a part of their role. These roles often involve navigating multiple professional identities and ethical challenges.”

Looking ahead, what role do you see supervision playing in your future?

“The ICCS supervisor community is growing as you know, and I see myself continuing to engage in that community as a valuable resource. I see myself continuing to get supervision as an essential resource too. I also see myself engaged in leading some group supervision, and one-to-one coaching supervision with different types of clients, although I’m not sure exactly what that mix is going to be.”

If you’ve been inspired by Rachel’s journey, and would like to know more about training as a coaching supervisor, you can find all the details of our Accredited Diploma in Coaching Supervision on the course page.

You can find out more about Rachel on LinkedIn.