EMCC Special Interest Group Co-Lead role for Helena Territt
“I am beyond excited to be co-leading the 'Neurodiversity Special Interest Group' for the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) with the brilliant Rachel Westerbeek, and supporting the incredible Philippa Eddie.
We are planning some special treats throughout June for the launch, so watch this space if you are a coach, mentor, or supervisor with an interest in neurodiversity. 💥”
- Helena
The Neurodiversity Special Interest Group is launching on 13th June 2023.
See details at emccuk.org/Public/Events/SIG/Neurodiversity.aspx
“Our aim is to support neurodivergent people (whether diagnosed or self-identified) and to influence positive change around neurodiversity in the coaching, mentoring and supervision professions.
The number of different ways a human brain can be wired is almost infinite. Neurodivergent identities provide us with a kind of verbal shorthand for specific sets of cognitive styles, behaviours or experiences that commonly occur together. Even within one neurodivergent identity, two people’s experiences can vary widely. Co-occurence of multiple types of neurodivergence in one person is also common.
We believe that when we work with neurodivergent clients without understanding how their neurodivergence affects them, or how to collaborate differently with neurodivergent brains, our interventions can be less effective and in the worst cases, even damaging.
We hope this group will provide a safe place for coaches, mentors, and supervisors who have neurodivergent clients or who are neurodivergent, and anyone with an interest in or connection with neurodiversity to share knowledge and educate, to ask questions, to build a community, and to raise the standards of the profession.
We also seek to improve the accessibility of the EMCC to neurodivergent members.
We regularly hold interactive webinars with a diverse range of speakers, who share their knowledge, experience, research findings, and perspectives. We provide a safe space to network and discuss neurodiversity in our practices. We are creating resources for neurodiversity in coaching, mentoring and supervision – please click the link to find them.
For further information about this group or to register your interest in speaking at a future event, please contact:
Philippa Eddie, Helena Territt, or Rachel Westerbeek via neurodiversity.sig@emccuk.org”
Helena Territt
Helena Territt is an experienced executive coach, neurodiversity coach, leadership consultant and keynote speaker. Her career spans start-ups, FTSE 100 companies and large government departments, where she has been both a generalist HR director, and a specialist responsible for Engagement, Wellbeing, Employer Brand, Pay and Reward, Recruitment, Employee Relations, and Diversity and Inclusion. Helena is a Fellow of the CIPD and has an MSc in Executive Coaching from Ashridge Hult business school, she is accredited by the EMCC and the ADD Coach Academy. In true ADHD style, she originally graduated from Oxford University and SOAS with degrees in Japanese and social anthropology and spent six years travelling around the world failing to decide what to do with herself.
Philippa Eddie
Philippa has worked in infrastructure finance (financing schools, hospitals, roads etc) for over 30 years in both the private and public sectors – she currently works for the Cabinet Office with a focus on the Government's decarbonisation agenda. As a strong supporter of developing talent, Philippa is an internal mentor and coach for the Civil Service - she is an ILM Level 7 qualified Executive Coach and Mentor and has Senior Practitioner accreditation with the EMCC. Philippa is a Non-Executive Director on the UK board of the EMCC. Philippa has a special interest in coaching and mentoring people who are neurodivergent - this interest was born out of a family member's diagnosis of ADHD and Autism. This interest has also led Philippa to undertake a PhD at Oxford Brookes Business School looking at the language of coaching people with ADHD in the workplace.
Rachel Westerbeek
Following a 20-year career in Higher Education across Academic and Professional Service roles, Rachel Westerbeek now works as an independent Leadership Coach, Facilitator, and Trainer. Her focus is on providing safe and effective coaching for neurodivergent thinkers, where challenge, support, and thinking space are balanced to support authenticity and development. She also delivers training to support other coaches and facilitators to create more neuro-inclusive learning environments. Rachel has been coaching for 10 years, primarily within large and complex public and private sector organisations. Her experience is underpinned by Level 7 qualifications in Executive Coaching, and Coaching for Organisational Performance, and she is currently completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Autism at Sheffield Hallam University. She has lived experience of autism, ADHD, dyspraxia and epilepsy.
