An Immersive Retreat
The Time to Think Coaching course is an intensive, advanced level professional programme to become a registered “Time to Think Coach”. Taught by Linda as Time to Think Faculty, it’s for coaches who want to support their clients in going to the cutting edge of their own thinking. It’s radical, transformative and in many ways disruptive to many people’s existing ideas of what coaching is or should be!
This 2 + 1 + 1 day programme follows on from the Thinking Partnership course and it’s designed to offer you an immersive experience at the start, with two days in person together in the beautiful Cotswolds on Monday / Tuesday 7 & 8 October 2024, and the 3rd & 4th day online on Thursday 31st October and Tuesday 26th November 2024.
The Detail
This course builds on the expertise you gained in your Thinking Partnership training and practise sessions, particularly in giving generative attention, promising not to interrupt, and figuring out how to best help people to keep thinking for themselves. And like the Thinking Partnership, it will focus on creating the Thinking Environment as a way of being far less than of doing.
It will enable to you to take this approach, with professionalism and confidence, deep into your work as a coach, whether that’s as an executive / business or personal / life coach. We will use our own experiences and draw upon some case study exercises, and explore how these can help you in your own type of coaching work.
We’ll build on your learnings about the observed phenomena of “Waves and Pauses”, and how to help clients to navigate blocks in their thinking, most typically caused by untrue limiting assumptions lived as true.
We will also explore different parties’ expectations of a coach, the skills of contracting including 3-way, session management, and maintaining a Thinking Environment when specific tools and exercises are needed within an agreed coaching programme, for example, 360 feedback or personality profiling tools.
We’ll explore the “Spectrum of Independence” and experience the Diversity Session, a powerful process for enabling meaningful conversations about diversity with groups and individuals.
Your Facilitator will be Linda Aspey.
The Venue
We will spend two days together in a luxury private studio in glorious countryside on the border of three counties - Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Oxfordshire), with the nearest station being Moreton in Marsh, surrounded by quiet lanes and hills. Beautiful food and refreshments are included in the fee.
Days 3 and 4 will be online via Zoom to save you travelling time and costs and experience the principles and skills of Time to Think when coaching online.
The course runs from 09.30 am to 4.30 pm each in day, online and in person, with plenty of short breaks.
Qualifying as a Time to Think Coach
To qualify there is a 6-month Practicum period where you coach two clients for 3 sessions each, in a Thinking Environment, plus document your experiences, write a short essay or do a presentation, and meet with Linda for supervision, both 1:1 and group.
When you have successfully completed the Practicum you will be invited to join the Time to Think Collegiate, our membership body for qualified practitioners, and I will be delighted to award you with your qualification as a Time to Think Coach!
There are just 4 places for this course.
Why train with me?
I’ve been working with the Thinking Environment for 16 years, and teaching TTT courses for 10 years.
A trained psychotherapuetic counsellor, I started coaching in 1998 when it was all very new to the UK. And very exciting! I became accredited by the Association for Coaching and by APECS, and I founded and chaired the Coaching division of the BACP in 2010.
Over these years I have undertaken extensive training and gained understanding and experience in all kinds of coaching approaches and models, including psychodynamic, solution-focused, cognitive-behavioural, existential, neuropsychological, integrative, systemic, personal consultancy, and of course, the Thinking Environment. I’ve coached thousands people and I have supervised hundreds of coaches at different stages of their jounrey, as well as having supervision myself for over 30 years.
And yet through all these trainings and experiences, the one thing that has made the most difference to me and my clients is the Thinking Environment. And that has taught me that the very best thing I can do for you, should you choose to train with me, is trust that if I create the right conditions for your learning, you will do your own very best thinking, without needing mine! Of course you can always ask for my experience but by the time you have had a really good think about a particular client or situation, you probably won’t need it. That’s why it’s such a liberating approach, as you will have found in your Thinking Partnership work!
So what does the course consist of?
Course Preparation:
A 1:1 coaching session via Zoom with Linda for you to experience the Thinking Environment in the context of coaching.
Reading: “The Promise that Changes Everything: I Won’t Interrrup You” by Nancy Kline
The Course:
Four days in the small group workshop (two days in person and two by Zoom)
A raft of fascinating learning resources - course manual, articles, TED talks, blogs, and exercises
SIx hours of 1:1 and group supervision/mentoring led by Linda - typically over 6 months - to support you as you go though your Practicum towards qualification. You can start your Practicum any time after day 2, and it should be completed by end of May 2025. The Practicum work asks that you undertake to:
1. PRACTICE COACHING SESSIONS: Practice-coach two people (not course participants) for three sessions each (six sessions in total). After each session, write/record a summary of the session and notes of your learning, as well as questions that the session raised for you.
2. EXPLICATE THE PAUSES: Demonstrate your competence in thinking through the ‘considerations’ that lead to the best choice of next question for the Thinker. Your Practicum Faculty will be in touch after day 4 of the course to let you know how they want you to demonstrate that competence.
3. CHARACTERISE THE THINKING SESSION AS COACHING: Communicate to your me as your Practicum Faculty (in whatever form we agree) your responses to these questions:
a. In what ways do you think the Thinking Session is a genuine and effective coaching framework?
b. What do you think are the features of the Thinking Session that are not usually found in other coaching approaches that you will need to explain to your clients? How would you explain each of them?
4. HAVE TWICE-WEEKLY THINKING SESSIONS: During the period of your learning and qualifying, continue to refine and advance your expertise by having two Thinking Sessions per week, confirming progress by email with me as your Practicum faculty mentor.
About You?
As you will have already done a Thinking Partnership course, with any Time to Think recognized Thinking Partnership teacher, anywhere in the world, you’re likely to want to embed this much deeper into your practice. You will have seen and felt the difference you can make with your clients when you coach in this way, and are ready to take your skills to new levels!
What is the cost?
£1950 fully inclusive of in person and online workshops, course materials, intersession learning support materials, and the above mentoring/supervision. Delicious lunches and refreshments are included on the in person days. There is no VAT, and you can make payment in stages.
If you have any questions please contact me via the contact page, or you can
Beautiful accommodation options are available locally (via the usual platforms eg. Booking.com, Airbnb, Hotels.com, VRBO, etc) and you need to book soon as the Cotswolds is a popular place! If you let me know on booking that you plan to stay, I can connect you with other delegates who may also be staying and you could seek something together.
NB: To qualify and remain qualified as a Coach, Time to Think requires you to maintain paid membership (currently £100 + VAT pa) of the Time to Think Collegiate and to attend 4 CPD days per year at the Collegiate led by a Faculty member (usual charge c£70 per day)
Ready to book your place?
Firstly, please read the course Terms and Conditions here and then complete the booking form below and an invoice will be issued (please ask about staged payments). Linda will then be in touch with pre-reading, and tips for preparing for the course.