Verve Lead has some very exciting news!  In early February, I had the privilege of joining the dissertation committee of Alyssa Serpa, with Biola’s Rosemead School of Psychology, alongside Professor Chris Adams (Director of Flourishing in Ministry and consultant and researcher with the Duke Clergy Health Initiative) and Professor Todd Hall (Faculty Affiliate in the Harvard Human Flourishing Program). I’m

How would you sum up the role of a practitioner? I recently stumbled upon two words in a conversation with my professional supervisor that have really stuck with me: grace and truth. Both of these are principles that I try to bring into every session, and I believe they are the linchpins of a safe and effective relationship with clients.

As a practitioner, I’ve spent extensive time working with leaders across churches, communities, and organisations; from school principals and CEOs to lead pastors of large churches. I have found that they often share a deep drive for achievement.  Leaders dream big, work hard, and are always considering what comes next for themselves and their community. They are constantly creating performance

When a client is in a leadership or care-giving profession, it can be almost impossible not to become emotionally invested in the people around them; problems, objectives and causes of others can become important to the client as well. Most of the time, this investment in others is part of what makes them good at their job.  As mentors, coaches

Last week, we looked at the tests and temptations faced in life. We also explored how we can help our clients to recognise and understand when they are feeling unhealthy desires and to understand what is at the root of their struggle. This is the first step, and an essential one, but what comes next? It’s not enough to recognise

When we hear the word “test”, it can bring us back to our childhood, sitting at a desk, anxiously watching our teacher hand out an exam, worrying that we had not studied enough or will remember enough to pass. We often view tests as negative and hard, and feel as if we are better off without them. But tests are

Last week, we explored what we can do as mentors, professional supervisors or coaches to help our clients when they are challenged with their professional fidelity. We looked at the two most common reasons: dual relationships and misaligned values.  As a reminder, a dual relationship occurs when a person has more than one relationship with someone at work. For example,

Many of my sessions as a practitioner revolve around similar topics: work/life balance, stress and fatigue, managing the emotions of self and others, and building resilience and buoyancy. Most of these deal with interpersonal issues or long-term goals of transformation. A topic that sometimes slips by the wayside is a client’s fidelity to their profession.

We cover confidentiality when we are first getting to know a client, yet often it never comes up again. It is vital we and our clients know and keep in mind our role, our limits and our mandatory reporting laws in order to help reduce risk, a competency for all mentors/coaches or professional supervisors…