Specialisms
I specialise in the following areas:
- Career Coaching
- Leadership Coaching
Rather than adopting a ‘typically corporate’ approach, Denise’s style is grounded, practical, and respectful of the real pressures people face, particularly during stress, uncertainty, or organisational change.
She has over 25 years’ experience as a psychological coach and facilitator, working independently, along with lived experience of building real‑world resilience following traumatic change.
In recent years, Denise’s work has focused heavily on councils and public‑sector teams. She has delivered 1:1 coaching, resilience workshops, staff support, and listening sessions for organisations including Chelmsford City Council, Colchester City Council, Castle Point Borough Council, Southend City Council, Vine HR Essex, and the North Essex Parking Partnership.
Key Strengths/Area of Expertise
- Psychological resilience, mental and emotional wellbeing
- Leadership and change management coaching (including during LGR)
- Facilitation and listening diagnostics
- Psychological safety & emotionally aware team support
- Working with high-pressure teams (HR, enforcement, frontline roles)
- Simple, practical, human-centred delivery
Professional Qualifications
- MSc Coaching Psychology
- BSc (Hons) Social Sciences
- Certified Trainer of NLP
- Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator
Case Studies
Chelmsford City Council were preparing for significant shifts linked to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and wider structural change across Essex. Teams at multiple levels were experiencing uncertainty, increased workload pressure, and concern about the unknowns ahead.
The Senior Leadership Team, including the CEO, sought a psychologically informed approach that supported staff wellbeing and helped leaders navigate the emotional landscape of change.
Objectives
• Provide safe, grounded opportunities for staff to speak openly about the impact of LGR
• Strengthen resilience and coping capacity across teams
• Equip managers with practical communication and boundary‑setting tools
• Support senior leaders and the CEO with insight into the emotional climate
• Offer 1:1 psychological coaching for senior individuals navigating significant change
What Denise Delivered
1. Resilience Workshops
Denise delivered interactive sessions covering:
• The emotional impact of uncertainty
• Managing threat and overwhelm responses
• Grounding techniques and resilience habits
• Navigating “the messy middle” of organisational change
• Communicating needs and setting healthy boundaries
Her approach was deliberately accessible, human, and rooted in real day‑to‑day pressures.
2. Engagement With Senior Leadership (Including the CEO)
Denise worked directly with members of the Senior Leadership Team to:
• Understand the emotional climate across services
• Explore leadership responsibilities during prolonged uncertainty
• Identify practical approaches to maintaining psychological safety
This ensured the psychological support was aligned from the top down.
3. 1:1 Coaching for Senior Staff
Denise provided individual coaching sessions for senior managers and leaders, focusing on:
• Managing personal pressure and uncertainty
• Strengthening confidence and clarity
• Supporting decision‑making under ambiguity
• Navigating the emotional demands of leading during LGR
• Developing personally sustainable leadership habits
These sessions complemented the group work, offering deeper, personalised support where needed.
Notable Achievements/Value Added
- Delivered resilience and wellbeing workshops for multiple Essex councils
- Designed a listening‑session and thematic‑analysis approach used during LGR work
- Developed the Survive–Strive–Thrive resilience framework
- Supported both HR professionals and frontline teams
- Created accessible tools and reflective exercises used across her programmes
- Equine‑Assisted Coaching: Denise also offers carefully facilitated interactions with horses to help individuals develop emotional awareness, confidence, and grounded presence. Horses respond honestly to human energy and behaviour, making them powerful partners for exploring boundaries, self‑trust, nervous‑system regulation, and relational patterns. This approach is gentle, non‑ridden, and focused on creating calm, reflective experiences that support personal insight, leadership, and sustainable wellbeing in a fresh and engaging way.
Relevant Sector Knowledge
- Local government service pressures
- Organisational change and LGR
- HR and People Team challenges
- Public-facing service dynamics
- Trauma-aware and psychologically-informed approaches
Training/Coaching Programs/Workshop offers
- 1:1 psychological coaching (limited availability)
- Survive–Strive–Thrive resilience workshops
- Emotional resilience for enforcement/frontline teams
- Listening sessions with summary of themes
- HR/People Team resilience and change support
- Psychological Self-Defence (for high-pressure or high-conflict roles)
LGR Experience & Expertise
Denise has already supported several Essex authorities during Local Government Reorganisation and related organisational change. This work includes listening sessions, staff resilience workshops, analysis of themes, and supporting HR professionals and managers to navigate uncertainty and change.