Beatha Coaching
My name is Dr Francesca Young Kaufman, and I established Beatha Coaching in 2022 after twelve years in academia. Beatha means ‘life’ in Scots Gaelic, and that is what my approach to coaching is all about, helping clients find their own best approach to work and life.
I specialise in supporting clients struggling with stress, anxiety and burnout, as well as life transitions & chronic health challenges. I also offer personal and professional development coaching for women in academia and other high-functioning careers. I work from a trauma-informed perspective that acknowledges the intersection of the personal and social, and offer a range of neuroscience-based tools to support my clients. I work with people who are committed to finding ways to heal from chronic stress responses and live a more embodied compassionate existence.
Why coaching?
A conversation…
Coaching is a therapeutic intervention for when you feel like something in your life isn’t working as you would like. Like counselling, coaching happens through a conversation between client and coach, exploring the area/s of your life where you would like to see improvement and experimenting with new approaches. Coaching can be very relaxed and unstructured, or it might be more formal with elements like CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and somatic therapy depending on your needs and what you prefer.
Thinking space…
The goal of coaching is not for the coach to ‘fix’ the client, but for the coach to assist you in thinking more deeply about the issue/s you want to address, and in finding your own authentic solutions. That’s why the coaching I offer is based on a person-centred approach that validates every client’s unique goals, values, and strengths. I work with you to help reframe your internal narratives and find practical ways to move forward that work for you.
Life Long Learning…
Coaching is present and future orientated, looking at what ‘is’ right now, and what ‘could be’ for the future. As such, coaching is about building your personal toolkit of resources and self-knowledge so that you can find better ways to manage life, and move forward with confidence in yourself. As a trained coach and trauma specialist I will offer you approaches and tools that you can experiment with, but the journey forward is your own. I look forward to supporting you.
My qualifications
I am a fully qualified EMCC-registered life coach with a Certificate in Coaching from the University of Cambridge, and a diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. I am currently undertaking a diploma in Clinical and Pastoral Counselling with Glasgow Caledonian University. I offer coaching on a person-centred model that is trauma-informed and nervous system aware, including using somatic therapy to support talking modalities. I engage in regular supervision and ongoing professional development, and am a regular contributor to the Journey to Wellness online platform.
I completed my PhD in cultural history and cultural studies at the University of Edinburgh in 2017 and worked as an RA and lecturer before setting up my coaching practice. You can read my short article on trauma awareness in historical research and practice here.
Client testimonials
Francesca’s support and coaching was life-saving and life-changing. Not only did she support me through every aspect of my life, but I came through that time stronger, more courageous and willing to take risks that would have felt threatening in the past, but now seem natural and sometimes easy. Her ability to take me from being an emotional mess to understanding what is going on physiologically and explore the emotions, rather than be run by them, is masterful.
I will be forever grateful for her care, compassion and support. I can’t recommend her highly enough.
― Anisa
My experience of coaching with Francesca has been incredibly beneficial. It has enabled me to better identify my professional values, identity and meaningful priorities, while supporting me to take forward focused actions towards setting and attaining goals aligned with these. With her trauma informed approach, and experience of working in HE, Francesca offers a unique skillset of informed, practical and realistic strategies to help navigate the complex landscape of academic work. Tailoring to individual need via both community and one-to-one coaching, I have no hesitation recommending her services. I leave each session feeling enthusiastic, with greater clarity on the approaches I not only want – but feel confident – to enact to get the best from life and work!– Jenni
The coaching I’ve had from Francesca completely shifted my perspective on how my body responds to external stressors. She has broken down complex nervous system concepts into clear guidance that has helped me realise how reuniting my body and my mind through somatic practices is fundamental to dealing with some of the deeper rooted issues around stress, that I’ve had almost my whole life. I cannot recommend her somatic approach to therapy more, it has helped so many things click into place for me!
― Zoe
Francesca is incredibly talented, diligent and effective in her approach–I recommend her regularly to anyone looking for coaching and career development because I really like her approach (evidence-informed, critical, caring, compassionate, working in different modalities, etc and with a deep knowledge of the current academic constraints) and because she is so good at what she does and I have personally benefited immensely over the last couple of years working with her.
– Melissa
A massive thank you for the writing workshop last week- it was absolutely what I needed and gave me a boost in the middle of a slight stress overload. I’m still mulling over how to incorporate writing in my week, but I’ve at least come to the conclusion that its something I really need/want to do again
― Charlotte
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