Go Beyond Trauma-Awareness: Neurodiversity-Inclusive Coaching is Trauma-Sensitive
Neurodiversity-inclusive coaching assumes that trauma is in the room during a coaching session. The challenge of navigating a mismatch between self and society causes trauma for many neurodivergent people. More troubling, coaching without trauma-sensitivity can (re)traumatize clients. Join expert coaches Kate Arms (PCC) and Tracy Winter (PCC) to learn why neurodivergent people are likely to carry trauma, how to become more trauma-sensitive, and how being trauma-sensitive serves all your clients. The event is moderated by Minal Kamlani from the ICF NYC Professional Development Committee.
Event Description:
Neurodiversity and trauma awareness are both hot topics these days, and with good reason. People are now recognizing the traumatizing effects on everybody of living through the massive changes we are experiencing globally in technology, climate, epidemics, geopolitics, culture, and economics.
And, more people than ever are openly identifying themselves as autistic, as ADHDers, as dyslexic, or as other neurotypes. Many go through a temporarily destabilizing identity shift, completely rethinking their understanding of themselves on the path to self-acceptance.
The existential challenges posed by neurodivergence are exacerbated by the wider changes in the world, increasing the likelihood of trauma in our neurodivergent clients.
As the challenges our clients face become more stressful and more existentially challenging, we need to make sure that we continue developing our skills and expanding our coaching ranges to be able to support them. We have to assume that trauma is in the room, for all our clients, whether or not they are neurodivergent.
As coaches, we can’t stop with understanding what trauma is. We need to interpret the coaching competencies in light of our understanding of trauma and develop the practical skills that make our coaching trauma-sensitive.
In this session, we’ll discuss the contemporary understandings of both neurodiversity and trauma, how to understand the ICF Core Competencies through those lenses, and what that means for your coaching. You will come away with tools and practical examples of how to develop your skills as a trauma-sensitive practitioner.
Come learn how to become more effective as a neurodiversity-inclusive coach and serve all of your clients with greater depth and understanding.
Guest Speakers
Kate Arms (PCC) has been a professional coach for over a decade and teaching coaching and leadership development since 2016. She holds a BA in Theatre and Biopsychology from Cornell University and a JD from Harvard Law School. She is credentialed as an International Coach Federation PCC, a certified ICAgile Expert in Enterprise Coaching, and a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. She is a graduate of the Co-Active Leadership Program. On a personal level, she is highly sensitive, profoundly gifted, queer, an ADHDer, and agender with aphantasia, dyslexia, and traits of autism.
Tracy Winter (PCC) has been a professional coach since 2009, an ADHD coach mentor and trainer since 2021, and a leadership trainer since 2021. She is Past President of ICF Austin. Tracy earned a PhD in Human Development, an MA in Human and Organization Systems, and an Evidence-Based Coaching Certificate from Fielding Graduate University. She is credentialed as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She also trains and mentors new coaches at the International ADHD Coach Training Center and provides leadership development for Tesla and coaching services for The Doerr Institute at Rice University. Personally, Tracy is profoundly gifted, an ADHDer, highly sensitive, and experiences characteristics of autism without a formal diagnosis.