Anna Whitehead
MA Honours in Psychology
Anna is keen to use her coaching skills to help people improve their mental wellbeing and to create more inclusive communities for neurodivergent individuals.
Clients have described Anna’s coaching as calm, non-judgemental and honest. Her warmth and empathy enable her to quickly build relationships of trust. Anna designs with clients how they will work together. She creates a safe space for whatever arises during coaching sessions. Coaching exercises can help clients explore stress, anxiety, overwhelm, burnout, self-criticism and inner dialogues. Coaching approaches which resonate most for Anna focus on the whole person, evoking awareness and being in the moment.
Anna supports her clients to tap into their own wisdom and design their own actions and strategies. Anna is guided by coaching principles, which enable her to respond with creativity and flexibility. Clients appreciate being able to have a laugh in sessions. Anna regularly reflects on her own practice and is committed to further developing her skills and expertise.
Anna completed her practitioner diploma in Executive Coaching and qualified as a coach in October 2019. As part of her commitment to professional development and deepening her coaching practice, she completed her Professional Practitioner diploma in 2024.
Before working as a self-employed coach, Anna spent 15 years working in local government. As a change management specialist, she facilitated managers and teams to design and deliver transformation projects. She worked closely with the NHS and voluntary sector and has in depth knowledge of how organisations work and different approaches to improvement, change and transformation. She has also been Chair of Trustees and a Director for a charity. Her professional background helps her understand work-related topics that clients may bring to coaching.
Anna’s experiences of learning to manage her own work-related stress give her great insight and empathy into some of the issues her clients may face. Anna has lived experience of Autism in her family.
Qualifications
MA Honours in Psychology
Professional Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching (2024) – Academy of Executive Coaching
Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching from the Academy of Executive Coaching
Member of the Association for Business Psychology (NorthWest Committee Member since 2015)
