Coaching Supervision supports coaches in maintaining professional and ethical practice.

Throughout their careers, coaches will encounter unfamiliar situations and challenges. Supervision provides coaches a safe space to work through challenges, including red flags and other ethical concerns, so that they can provide the highest quality service for their clients. By thinking through these questions with others, coaches can develop additional expertise and confidence that will help them to care for their clients and themselves. In addition, supervision will help coaches stay aware and engaged with the evolving profession of coaching and will help them to reflect on their own habits (effective and ineffective) as they continue to develop their skills.

It is a collaborative learning practice to continually build the capacity of the coach through reflective dialogue, to benefit his or her clients and the overall system. Coaching supervision may include:

• Ensuring that standards, scope of practice, and code of ethics are maintained

• Exploring the coach’s internal process through reflective practice

• Uncovering blind spots

• Applying ethical decision making to red flags and other ethical dilemmas 

• Ensuring the coach is “fit for purpose” 

• Identifying patterns and themes that are emerging as success stories or are challenging a coach’s effectiveness

• Clear contracting and creating a working alliance

• Attending to the coach’s personal development; opening up new areas of competence for the coach

• Deepening coaching presence

• Building the coach's internal supervisor

• Offering new perspectives to the coach

• Increasing the coach’s range of interventions and tools

Supervision for Health Coaches

Regular coaching supervision is an essential part of ongoing learning and development for all coaches; for health coaches, that supervision should be provided by experienced health coaches with mentoring and supervision skills. In organizations offering health coaching this supervision is most often provided by a member of staff, but can be provided by outside professionals. BNA Mentor Coaching can fill this role.

BNA Mentor Coaching principals have that experience and can provide the support for your health coaches on both a regular and as-needed basis. We offer supervision both one-on-one and in small groups. Supervision typically takes place weekly, biweekly, or monthly, and anytime a coach has a need to consult with a supervisory coach.

For more information on coaching supervision, see International Coach Federation’s (ICF) latest available literature search.