Catherine Jacobs, CPsychol, AFBPsS

Welcome to my website

I'm a Research Psychologist and an Executive and Leadership Coach. 

In both roles, I work collaboratively and with high professional standards to help understanding of our below the surface patterns of coping and how we relate to others and the wider organisational,  or family systems we are part of. Based in London, I work with people both online and face-to-face. I've have worked for thirty years as an academic and trainer bringing evidence-based assessments for relationship patterns, attachment styles and mental health risks and resiliencies to children's services. I am now a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and  also have an honorary research and training position for the Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies, Middlesex University where my specialism include working with our social support systems and patterns of relating and attachment styles. 

For an overview of my research papers please see my consultancy and research page. 
For information on training for social workers and psychologists please visit https://www.lifespantraining.org.uk. 

What can coaching with me help with?

I bring all my psychological experience to my Executive & Leadership Coaching, helping leaders and managers working in today's complex and often stressful environments; building rapport and psychological safety to work together to clarifying roles, the impact of wider systems and to better achieve developmental goals and value for stakeholders. coaching covers a very wide area! With my background in psychology, I bring an evidence-based approach to working collaboratively with leaders and specialise in the following:-  

BUILDING SELF-AWARENESS - for greater resilience and less reactivity in leadership roles

EXPLORING ROLE BOUNDARIES - looking at the organisational contexts, wider systems that effect our ability to effectively undertake our work tasks and how we take up our authority, and how these  might be playing out in our work relationships.

IMPROVING WORK RELATED STRESS - working with overwhelm, long hours and burn prevention.

WORKING WITH CHALLENGING relationships and dynamics and improving team management, time and task management

EXPLORING SOCIAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS - , patterns of relating and attachment style

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT - Building confidence and working with limiting beliefs and towards promotional goals.


I work in-depth with my clients, building trust and psychological safety to go 'beneath the surface' , and uncover together what might be going on in our work roles and team dynamics and build goals around these for further action. This approach to executive coaching focuses on developing our capacities to analyse the impact of the wider system on the individual, and navigate complex processes in today's often stressful workplaces. I work with a 'PRO Model -  engaging with the person, P, of the client, and even work with the personal, because we always link it to the role, R, and organisation, O. Making sense of any situation always means understanding the context from all three perspectives, and exploring the role structures, organisational history, and system pressures brings new perspectives on an individual experience. As well as looking at formal and informal leadership roles,  we work together to consider the impact of wider systems around the organisation and to better achieve developmental goals and value for all the business's stakeholders.

I am currently working towards Senior Practitioner coach status with the European Mentoring Coaching Council, on Tavistock Consulting’s renowned Executive Coaching Programme, 2024-2025, and work strictly to the EMCC codes of ethical practice. 

What coaching contracts do I offer?

I work with leaders and directors from a wide range of organisations including universities, local authorities and charities, corporate directors and creative firms/small and medium businesses. My current clients include: - Associate Professors in Higher Education, a Director of an Architectural Firm, Head of Marketing for a Sporting organisation, Head of Service for a Local Authority, Director of a Youth Services charity,  a Manager of Consumer Experience and a Public Health Consultant.  

Typical coaching contracts are for 6-8 sessions of ninety minutes each, taking place at monthly intervals, giving us time to explore your leadership goals in depth. Whilst I complete my training as an EMCC Senior Practitioner, I am offering contracts with lower fee sessions of £90. All coaching conversations start with a free 'discovery' call to see if we are a good fit working together and to start to look at the important themes and goals.

Contact Me

Here's what my clients have to say about me

Attachment Style Training 

Social Worker, Yorkshire

The Attachment Style interview Training course fulfilled my aims and helped me to look at ways to focus my work during assessment. It gave me a better understanding of the support people need.. The trainer, Catherine Jacobs, gave very good examples, listened and helped me work through the practical applications of attachment theory. She was very approachable and encouraged discussion. 

Residential Worker, London

Excellent attachment training – great having the gap to do a pilot – really helped to consolidate the learning. An excellent tool which will be valuable in developing support/treatment plans for young people.

Leadership & Executive Coaching

E.M, Senior Lecturer, London

With her mental health background and professionalism, I built a rapport and trusting relationship with Catherine quickly. Over the six coaching sessions, we worked together on specific goals around promotion and NED roles. Many other themes emerged from our in depth conversations, that are helping me in my new management role and in my personal and professional development.

Continued Professional Development 

In addition to the Executive Training Programme, I am undertaking CPD to bring a wide evidence-base into my coaching practice. Continuing Professional Development, or CPD, is the term used to describe the learning activities professionals engage in to develop and enhance their abilities. As a Coach CPD shows a clear commitment to personal-development and professionalism. Senior Practitioners with the EMCC are required to undertake 32 hours of CPD every year. My recent CPD includes;- 
  • 'Coaching Leaders in Times of Crisis: Achieving Personal and Organisational Transformation', 20 week course, Animas Coaching, Summer/Autumn 24: We are in an era marked by unprecedented complexity, leaders are increasingly facing unique challenges as they navigate the current organisational and global landscape. This course is helping me work together with  leaders to empower them to  thrive in crisis and achieve personal and organisational success. Topics covered have been psychology of leadership, and creating resilience, as the course aims to provide an understanding of exactly what happens when leaders are faced with crisis, our role as coaches'  in navigating this with our clients and exactly how we can adapt our practice to meet the needs of their clients. Speakers have included Simon Cavvicchia, Peter Hawkins, Eric de Haan, Jonathan Passmore, David Clutterbuck and Astrid Korin. 

Further information

The photographs on this website are all artworks of mine, as I'm also a professional artist, working for over twenty years with positive aspects of uncertainty and ambiguity in art. You can follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/catherinejacobsartist/ or visit my art website https://www.catherinejacobs.co.uk 

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