THE DIRECTORS

Professor Stephen Palmer

The Director of the Centre is Professor Stephen Palmer PhD, a Chartered Psychologist, trainer, coach and health educator. He is President of the Association for Coaching. He is an Honorary Professor of Psychology at City University in the Centre for Health and Counselling Psychology, Visiting Professor of Work Based Learning and Stress Management at the National Centre for Work Based Learning Partnerships, Middlesex University, and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester. He set up the Centre for Coaching in 2001.He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

He is stress management coaching advisor to the International Stress Management Association, Honorary Vice-President of the Institute of Health Promotion and Education, Honorary Vice-President of the International Stress Management Association (UK), and Consultant Director of the New Zealand Centre for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy. He was Chair of the Scientific Awards Committee of the British Psychological Society Division of Counselling Psychology from 1997 to 1999. His approach to coaching is underpinned by psychological theory.

He is Co-editor of the Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapist and Editor of the International Journal of Health Promotion and Education. In 2001 he chaired the BACP Online Therapy Working Group which has recently produced a report, Guidelines for Online Counselling & Psychotherapy.

He has authored or edited 25 books and training manuals, including Dealing with People Problems at Work (1996) with Burton, Stress Management and Counselling (1996) with Dryden, Stress Counselling: A Rational Emotive Behaviour Approach (1997) with Ellis, Gordon and Neenan, the Handbook of Counselling (1997) with McMahon, Integrative Stress Counselling (1998) with Milner, Trauma and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (1999) with Scott, Conquer Your Stress (2000) with Cooper, Counselling: The BACP Counselling Reader, Vol. 2 (2001) with Milner, and Multicultural Counselling (2002). His new self-coaching book (with Cooper and Thomas), Creating a Balance, will be published in Spring by the British Library. He has lectured in Europe, Japan, New Zealand and China on a range of subjects and regularly appears on radio and television programmes. On June 3rd, 2002,on BBC Radio London he discussed coaching and performance relating to the England football team. In May, 2000, he jointly received the Annual Counselling Psychology Award from the British Psychological Society, Division of Counselling Psychology, for his 'Outstanding professional and scientific contribution to counselling psychology in Britain'. (For additional information, click here.)

Gladeana McMahon FBACP

Gladeana’s early career was spent in administration, management and public relations. She retrained as a Coach, Counsellor and Psychotherapist becoming recognised in her field and now trains Life and Business Coaches as well as psychologists and counsellors. Her own clients include politicians, senior managers and those in the media. She is Vice President of the Association for Coaching.

Her coaching style is challenging, lively, interactive, supportive and focused on tangible performance related outcomes. She has become known as someone who can improve individual and team relations. Her training enables her to help others develop confidence, reduce stress and improve effective thinking and personal performance. Gladeana believes that coaching is about the psychology of excellence – adding value and making what’s good even better. She is used to liaising with and advising HR teams.

Gladeana has experience of career management, executive coaching and mentoring and has worked in the private, medical, statutory and public sectors as well as in education and the media. She is an internationally published author who has contributed to, written or co-edited 16 books and writes regularly for a range of publications. Her most recent books being “Coping with Life’s Traumas”, Gill and Macmillan and “Confidence Works – Learn to be your own Life Coach”, Sheldon Press. She writes regularly for the Channel 4 Website and is the GMTV Website Life Coach.

Accredited with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP), she is UKCP and UKRC registered. Gladeana is a Fellow of the BACP and the Institute of Management Specialists.

Gladeana McMahon is Co-director of the Coaching programme. She has coached politicians, senior business people and those in the media and performing arts. Her media work includes being Life Coach for GMTV Website and Stress Coach for the Channel 4 Website. She is News Editor of Counselling, the Journal of the British Association for Counselling, and Editor of the Journal of The International Stress Management Association (UK Branch).

Michael Neenan

Michael Neenan is Co-director of the Coaching programme. He is an AREBT accredited REBT counsellor, a BABCP accredited therapist and a UKCP registered cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist. He is also an experienced corporate trainer. He has published many articles and 12 books including Life Coaching: A Cognitive-Behavioural Approach (2002) with Dryden. He is Vice President of the Association for Coaching, former Co-chair of the Association for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapists and Co-editor with Stephen Palmer of their journal. He is a Consultant Editor of the Online Journal of Multimodal and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy.

Peter Ruddell BA (Hons) MISMA MIHPE

Peter Ruddell is a Training Director of the Centre. He is on the Editorial Board of The Rational

Emotive Behaviour Therapist, is Commissioning Editor of Stress News and Consulting

Editor of the Online Journal of Multimodal and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy. He is

a Fellow of the Association for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, and a Council member

of the Institute of Health Promotion and Education. His book Brief Cognitive Behaviour

Therapy with Curwen and Palmer was published in 2000.

Jennifer Liston-Smith MA (Oxon) MSc (Psych) MISMA FRSA

Jennifer Liston-Smith is Associate Director of the Centre for Coaching. Jennifer specialises

in coaching, training and organisational stress management consultancy, working at all

levels, including senior management and Board level. She draws on a broad training.

Kasia Szymanska MSc CPsychol

Kasia Szymanska is Director of Distance Learning at the Centre for Coaching. She is a

Chartered Psychologist and an experienced trainer. She teaches on the problem focused

coaching and counselling programme at the Centre. She is a Senior Lecturer at the

University of East London.

Elizabeth Doggart Dip REBT Ad.Dip REBT FCIPD

Elizabeth Doggart is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

and is an experienced corporate trainer. She is a UKCP registered cognitive-behavioural

therapist. She is formerly manager of a residential drug rehabilitation centre and trained

as a nurse. She was Chair of the Association for REBT. She co-authored Understanding

Trauma (1997) with McMahon.

Dave Ellis BA DipAdEd CBiol MIBiol FRSH

Dave Ellis is Associate Director of the Centre for Coaching. He was previously Vice-Principal

of the Bromley Adult Education Service. He is a Member of the Chartered Management

Institute and a Chartered Biologist.