Throughout 2025, we’ll be shining a light on some of the many theories, models, and concepts that form the foundation of our ICF accredited Flagship Coach Training Programme.
But that’s not all. We’ll also share techniques and approaches from our other coaching programmes Certificate in Coaching Supervision, Team Coaching Practitioner Programme, and Grief Coaching.
Drawing on the best of coaching, psychology, adult learning, and therapeutic disciplines, our Flagship ICF accredited programme integrates a rich, eclectic mix of approaches. From Freud to Family Therapy, from Transformational Learning to Transactional Analysis, from Bowlby to Boldness, from Provocative Therapy to Person-Centred Approaches, these ideas contribute to a creative and practical framework for coaching in today’s complex world.
Each week, we’ll spotlight a key theory, model, or framework – exploring its relevance, practical application, and the unique value it brings to coaching conversations.
Whether you’re just curious about coaching, considering becoming a coach, or already part of the Barefoot Coaching family, follow us here for weekly insights, inspiration, and practical tools to enrich your coaching practice.
Let’s explore these transformative ideas together.
What? So what? Now what? is a straightforward framework for reflecting on experiences and learning from them. After a significant event or experience, you can use these questions to guide your reflection:
What?
Describe the situation clearly. Focus on the facts and how you felt at the time.
So What?
Analyse what happened. Consider the knowledge or skills you and others brought to the situation and think about theories or insights that can help you make sense of it.
Now What?
Plan your next steps. Use what you’ve learned to create a practical action plan for the future.
This approach helps you turn experiences into valuable learning opportunities. We encourage delegates on our Flagship programme to use this model throughout the course to reflect on their learning.
We love the words and the sentiments of The Gestalt Prayer at Barefoot Coaching and often share it with our clients. The Gestalt Prayer is a short, poetic statement that encapsulates key principles of Gestalt therapy: personal autonomy, responsibility, and the importance of living authentically in the present.
“𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘐, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘐𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥.”
The Gestalt Prayer can be useful for coaches to open discussions with clients about acceptance of differences, personal boundaries, autonomy, and authentic connection – concepts which are also valuable in contracting conversations.
Reflective/ Self Supervision Questions for coaches
As coaches (and humans!), it’s easy to fill the silence. We finish people’s sentences, jump in with our own stories, or rush to respond. But what if we paused instead?
WAIT is a gentle reminder to hold back and ask ourselves:
W – Why
A – Am
I – I
T – Talking
Next time you’re in conversation with a client, team member, or friend – try it. Notice the power in the pause. Create space for others to think, speak, and reflect. You might be surprised by what emerges.
This simple tool has been part of the Barefoot toolkit for years – with our coaches, delegates, and team – and it really works. We’re not sure where it came from, but we know it’s made our conversations richer, deeper, and more impactful.
We incorporate Mia Kellmer-Pringle’s work on the key development needs of children into our coaching work on family life and group dynamics. We also introduce this work in our ICF Accredited Coach Training Programme to consider the potential relevance of these needs for adults undergoing a developmental experience such as coaching.
Can you see how these needs may still be relevant for coaching clients and for individuals and teams in the workplace too?
The Need for Love and Security
This is probably the most important need as it provides the basis for all later relationships. A continuous, reliable, loving relationship can give the individual a sense of worth and of a coherent personal identity.
The Need for New Experiences
New experiences are a fundamental requirement for mental growth. In early life it is largely through play and language that the child explores the world and learns to cope with it. New experiences help in learning to reason, to think and in making relationships.
The Need for Praise and Recognition
Growing up requires a tremendous amount of learning – emotional, social and intellectual. Consequently, strong incentives are necessary for the individual to continue through the difficulties and conflicts s/he will inevitably encounter. The most effective incentives are praise and recognition sustained over time.
The Need for Responsibility
This need is met by allowing the child to gain personal independence, firstly in matters of everyday care and then through a gradual extension of responsibility over other areas until the child has the ability to decide on their own actions and to be able to accept responsibility for others.
Suggested further reading:
The Needs of Children: A personal perspective, Pringle, M. K.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺”
𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧-𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡:
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞:
Rogers believed that people have an inbuilt “actualizing tendency” to grow and develop.
𝐓𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐑𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨:
Rogers’ work reminds us of the profound impact of truly listening, without judgment or agenda. In coaching and in life, creating a space where people feel seen, heard, and valued can be transformational. How do these ideas show up in your coaching conversations?
Be sure to check back next week for more insights, tools, theories, and techniques as we continue sharing the many approaches that shape our coaching practice.
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