Edna Murdoch

Five minutes with Edna…

What was your path into coaching?

Coaching was a natural development of my interest and previous professional expertise. Learning about learning in Education, working closely with people in career planning, working as a psychotherapist and stress management consultant and running a business for 16 years – these provided a rich reservoir of skills and expertise for working as a coach and coach supervisor.

It sounds like you’ve had a really interesting career. What training have you undertaken since deciding to move into Coaching Supervision?

I did my coaching training with CoachU and have trained in Supervision. After nine years’ postgraduate psychotherapeutic training in London and Italy, I trained for 18 months in Psychoanalytic Supervision, learning the theoretical underpinnings of supervisory work.

Following that, I trained for two years in Clinical Supervision at The Centre for Transpersonal Psychology in London – an accrediting body for the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy. This intensive, practical training was both creative and broad-based and it opened the way for me to supervise in a variety of professional contexts.

Do you use a supervisor yourself?

My own work has been supervised by supervisors from several different traditions for over 25 years. I have learned so much from this and greatly value being able to reflect on, and think through client work, in this way.

Tell us about your supervision style – describe what might happen in a session?

For me, supervision is about Reflection, Insight and Support. My style is that of a learning partner in that it is characterised by curiosity, and a detailed exploration of issues at hand. By co-creating a powerful and safe reflective space, I support coaches so that they develop their own Internal Supervisor quickly, using both cognitive and intuitive skills to enquire into their work.

Supervision has the capacity to be both a profound learning journey and a joyful one – there is often laughter in sessions , a lightness that is evidence of a fully engaged learning process.

What issues and personal challenges have you had most success working with coaches to address?

My focus has to be bringing out the very best in each coach so that their range is increased and their skills are enhanced. This happens in a number of ways.

I’ve had a lot of success working with coaches to develop their relational capacity – understanding this through processing segments of their work and through exploring concepts central to coaching psychology. Enabling coaches to recognise the importance of contracting and to be both competent and comfortable in the contracting conversation is something else I find very important. I also find it really rewarding to work with coaches to develop their self-awareness –‘who you are is how you coach’ – so that they understand how they impact each conversation and so that they can relate truly and effectively with their clients, stakeholders and commissioning agents.

Finally, I have had a lot of success working with coaches and in supporting them to recognising parallel process – before it muddies the waters and diminishes the impact of their coaching!

What do you bring to CSA?

Endless enthusiasm – the sort that means I wake up at 3am excited about the next thing! I have huge experience in the fields of learning, coaching and supervision. I’d also say that I add an awareness of the deep privilege of serving the coaching profession which itself brings so much to people’s personal, professional and business lives.

Who do admire most professionally, and why?

First and foremost, the Coaches themselves – those who go out there day after day, in the heat of business and professional life, and who do important developmental work in organisations.

I also very much admire Julio Olalla, international educator and founder of the Newfield School of Coaching. His vision is radical and intellectually vigorous. He can talk about ‘tenderness’ one minute and the historical sweep of the West’s intellectual traditions the next.

Is there a single piece of advice/wisdom you’d offer to every practicing coach?

‘Know thyself’! In this highly relational business of coaching, knowledge of self and others and of the relational field that arises with each meeting, are essential keys to releasing our skills and maximising our effectiveness.

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