Life Coach Lynda Benham

About Lynda
Hi, I’m Lynda Benham and I’m Velvet’s ‘resident’ coach. Anything and everything can be brought to coaching but successful coaching has a lot to do with the relationship between coach and client. Once coaching starts, it’s all about you, but sometimes people like to know something about me before they start.

I’m 59 years old and live in the far north of Scotland with my female partner. (How we met 17 years ago, parted, and then got together again after 12 years is a long and improbably romantic story – too long for here!). Until that meeting 17 years ago I was, as far as I can tell, 100% heterosexual. I’d been married twice, although single for 8 years, and have 3 step-children and a daughter, Debbie. She’s now 29, a marine mammal biologist, just finishing her PhD and working in the north of Scotland with dolphins. She says I was a great coach for her, encouraging her to take risks and go for her dreams.

For the past 20 years I’ve been a self-employed management and personal development consultant, trainer, facilitator and 1-1 coach. My experience in designing and delivering workshops in areas such as Stress Management, Time Management, Assertiveness and Influencing Skills, Leadership, Team Development, Project Management, Building Confidence & Self-Esteem, Managing Change and Women’s Development means that, in addition to coaching, I can also – when asked - offer clients consultancy and 1-1 training.

I trained as a Life Coach with CTI (Coaches Training Institute) – the first organisation to be accredited by the International Coaching Federation – and am accredited with them as a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. I’ve also trained in counselling, mediation, NLP (the ‘science of excellence’), Women’s Studies and nutritional therapy. (I also have a degree in Psychology but that was all rats and statistics and so is largely irrelevant). I’ve done various voluntary work including Lesbian Line, Coming Out groups and the National Women’s Aid Helpline.

Does that seem to be more about my work than me? Well, the truth is that my work has also been my hobby. I have always been deeply interested in personal empowerment, in helping people to be the best they can be, to be fully alive and to be happy with themselves and their lives. This means that I’m interested in everything from personal development to cognitive psychology to meditation to the frontiers of research into the brain and consciousness. I am also a book/reading addict. My favourite place to spend time is in a book shop with a café and I love browsing and buying books – which I don’t always have time to read. Living in the Highlands of Scotland means that I am surrounded by stunning countryside and I love the peace and the beauty. Other interests are nutrition, cycling, trips in my camper van (Gypsy), and watching birds (rather than ‘bird watching’).

In the past I’ve walked on burning coals, parachuted out of an aeroplane and lived in Australia. I now live a relatively quiet, and very happy life, although it wasn’t always so. But the journey from being a miserable and screwed up teenager to where I am now has never been dull and I bring all of what I have learnt to my coaching.

Career Coaching
In Issue 4 of Velvet, Lynda talks about the importance of having work that not only brings you in an income but also fulfils and excites you.

In a recent UK survey, 57% said that, given their time again, they would choose a different career. People stay in work which, at best, doesn’t fulfil, energise and excite them and, at worst, makes them unhappy, stressed and even ill, for many reasons.

She discusses the importance of making career decisions based upon your deeply held Values and includes an activity to help you become clearer about what your values are. A second activity looks at the extent to which you are honouring these values in your current work.

Finally, she suggests a creative approach to getting clear about what you would really like to be doing with your life – not in terms of job titles but in terms of the ‘themes’ that you would like your work to incorporate.

Lynda Benham (Coaching on the Edge) has been a coach, group facilitator and training consultant for over 18 years. She trained as a life coach with CTI (Coaches Training Institute) – the first organisation to be accredited by the International Coaching Federation. Telephone 0845 458 9934 (local call) or 01549 402092 (or email lynda.benham@btinternet.com) for further information or to arrange a free sample session.

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