Honourable Mention at the ICF Coaching Impact Awards 2024: A Conversation with Nathan Blair
The International Coaching Federation awarded The Somatic School with an Honorable Mention in the Distinguished Coaching Education Provider category, alongside AICCP®AIMCP® Orchid International Coaching & Consulting Ltd. from Taiwan.
This year’s winner was 45-years strong Erickson Coaching International of Canada - a huge congratulations to Marilyn Atkinson and her team. Well deserved for a lifetime of commitment to the field.
You can read the full press release here.
For The Somatic School to receive this recognition after 6 years is a significant milestone, not only for the school, but for the future of somatics in the coaching industry at large. We interviewed The Somatic School Founder, Nathan Blair, to learn more about the award category and this honour.
The ICF Coaching Impact Award for Distinguished Coaching Education Provider is an incredible recognition. What does it take to be eligible?
The award celebrates excellence in coaching education and is only given to organisations that consistently raise the bar for the profession. To qualify, organisations must be ICF-accredited for at least five years, with a faculty made up of at least 50% ICF members in good standing. Additionally, nominees must inspire fellow coaches, demonstrate strong leadership and moral character, and make significant contributions to coaching education.
Tell us about The Somatic School’s journey in somatic coaching education to date and your contribution to the field of coaching education.
A couple of years ago an “ICF Core Competency Updates: Webinar Conversations with Professional Coaches” document was released in which an attendee asked “Why isn't the body or somatics mentioned in Embodies a Coaching Mindset?”. The response from the ICF:
“While we have anecdotal evidence that some coaches use somatic techniques in their practice, this element did not emerge to a significant enough extent in our data to be included”
When we launched in 2018, somatics and/or embodiment was barely acknowledged in coaching education. Where present, coach educators would almost invariably reference one particular lineage (namely, the pioneering work of Richard Strozzi-Heckler).
We took a more integrative approach, weaving together modalities like Focusing, Hakomi, and Gestalt: all rooted in the "Process" model. A Process way of working is one in which we, as coaches or therapists, position the client as the expert and view ourselves more as stewards (or midwives) to an intelligent unfolding process. In other words, the clients hold within themselves the answers to what irks them, as well as what they long for, nothing is broken and nothing needs to be fixed: “our clients are naturally creative, resourceful and whole”.
The somatic methods that fall under the Process model are utterly aligned with the coaching approach, as defined by the ICF. We often say, “true to somatics, true to coaching,” and this ethos drives our mission to fully integrate the body into coaching, advancing the field in collaboration with the ICF.
You transitioned from in-person to online training during the pandemic. What impact has this had?
It was a pivotal moment. We were London’s first ICF Accredited somatic coach training provider, serving learners across the UK and Europe. The pandemic pushed us online and many skeptics doubted whether such experiential training could translate digitally. We proved otherwise! Since 2020, we’ve trained 500+ Somanauts from every corner of the globe: UK, Singapore, UAE, Australia, USA, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, China, Montenegro, Germany, Portugal…the list goes on. In January 2023 we were the world’s first somatic coach training to be awarded the new Level 2 accreditation, further advancing somatic coach education to PCC level at an international scale.
What is the impact of your work on coach education and your students?
Quite often when coaches (and coach educators) bring the body into the conversation they get a little loose on the fundamentals that make coaching coaching. If, by coaching we mean a collaborative process of enquiry centred around empowering clients to generate their own creative solutions. Being the first somatic coach educator to be awarded the Level 2 accreditation was a reflection of our commitment to the craft and to maintaining coaching fundamentals.
Beyond technical skills, our participants develop new ways of being - with themselves, with their clients, and with the world. We support our “Somanauts” to trust their full sensory capabilities and the inherent, self-organising intelligence of the bodymind. The results speak for themselves: our alumni are equipped to work confidently at PCC level, safely blending somatics with ethical coaching practices.
The ICF wanted to see providers that demonstrated innovative practice. How have you innovated in coaching education?
Centering the body in coaching is, itself, an innovation. Our training is trauma-sensitive and rooted in nervous system awareness, adapting to participants’ autonomic states throughout. Incorporating the latest understandings from Interpersonal Neurobiology, we create deliberate co-regulating experiences that support an optimal learning environment, psycho-neuro-biologically. With intimate groups of 16, our training approach helps participants feel deeply seen and heard. Movement is welcome and we encourage participants to listen and respond to the “authority of the body” when they feel the need to sit on the floor, stand up, move around, or grab a snack. When we transitioned from in-person training we vowed to create an online learning experience that doesn’t feel like ‘online training’. Our approach has participants feel more alive and energised following a weekend on Zoom than when they arrived - no small feat.
How do you align with the ICF’s DEIB principles?
We adopt an “all-inclusive, all-embracing” attitude to all we do at The Somatic School. We speak in a language that everyone can understand, without alienating anyone: whether spiritual or secular, scientist or creative, regardless of socio-economic background, ethnicity, or culture. The company was incorporated in London, one of the most diverse melting pots on Earth, and so from the beginning our community has been made up of people from every walk of life. We have been highly intentional about ensuring that this continued when we migrated online and opened our doors to a global market.
The Somatic School is tended to as a “complex living system” and a healthy ecosystem is measured by its biodiversity - from our community to our training team we ensure that we have equitable representation and create platforms for diverse voices. Daniel Siegel describes Integration as the “linkage of differentiated components of a system”. The Somatic School stands for integration of the whole, so we value our differentiated parts. We offer full scholarships for traditionally marginalized populations or where local currency exchange is prohibitive.
What’s next for The Somatic School?
The theme of 2024 was ‘Out in the World’ and we’re proud to have created platforms to showcase the groundbreaking work of our graduates. We launched a podcast featuring our alumni called Radio Somanaut and hosted the Embodied Business Symposium with 17 speaker sessions by our Somanauts on how they are successfully using Body-Oriented methods in running their businesses. Our graduates are applying somatic coaching in every domain, from corporate leadership to confidence in adolescents.
The theme for 2025 is ‘In Conversation with the World’. We envisage a world where coaching with body in mind becomes the norm. But this is not a solitary pursuit…
To make this vision a reality, we need your voice! So please feel warmly invited to say “hello”.
Come join the conversation. You’re right on time - we’re just getting started!
Deepest gratitude to the International Coaching Federation for the recognition and the opportunity - and for all that you have done and continue to do for professional coaching worldwide.
It is an honour to be alongside and “in the arena” with other organisations, coaches and coach educators doing such important, genuinely life-changing work in the world.
