Why Traditional Coaching Often Fails With Burned Out High Performers.
After 20 Years Of Working With Nervous Systems, First As An Osteopath And Then As A Performance Coach, I Discovered What Makes The Difference.
You've Likely Worked With This Leader: Highly Capable And Resourceful, But Currently Stuck
Your usual tools, such as goal setting, productivity frameworks or cognitive reframing aren't working. This isn't a coaching problem.
When the nervous system is overwhelmed, thinking feeling and physical regulation are all compromised together. Traditional coaching assumes these systems are accessible. They're not.
Most coaches aren't trained for this. I've spent 20 years learning what works instead.
.webp)
Before I was an executive coach, I spent two decades in hands-on clinical practice.
I qualified and worked in osteopathy, biodynamic craniosacral therapy and other somatic modalities, working directly with bodies and nervous systems.
3,000+ clients taught me something fundamental: The body holds what the mind can't process.
Chronic tension isn't just tight muscles. It's a dysregulated nervous system.
Shallow breathing isn't just stress. It's survival mode.
These aren't separate from performance issues. They are the performance issue.
When you work with bodies every day for 20 years, you develop a different lens. You see what other coaching approaches miss.
Fifteen years ago, I started coaching high performers. I had all the traditional coach training tools.
And I watched them fail with one specific type of client: dysregulated high-performers. Not always. But consistently with the leaders who most needed help.That's when my clinical background became my coaching superpower.
I started bringing body awareness into coaching conversations. Helping clients notice their nervous system state. Using breath and interoception to create regulation first.
Then, and only then, applying my other coaching tools.
The results changed overnight.
Executives stuck for months made breakthroughs in weeks. Not because I became a better coach.
But because I created the regulated foundation where traditional coaching work could make an impact.
The Integration That Changed Everything
The breakthrough came when integrating somatic regulation with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Most approaches teach one or the other, body based work or cognitive flexibilty.
Embodied Performance teaches both because that's what overwhelmed high performers actually need.
Bottom-Up Regulation: Somatic tools for regulating the nervous system
%201.svg)
Top-Down Flexibility: ACTs psychological flexibilty and values driven action when clients are regulated.
Integrated Approach: Both pathways, applied based on nervous system state.
Most coaching programs teach only top-down. Think differently. Set better goals. Reframe your thoughts.
Perfect for when clients start from stability.
But research shows that up to 82% of executives start coaching closer to burnout than stability.
When the nervous system is overwhelmed traditional coaching tools often don't work.
This is where learning regulation skills first creates the foundation for your coaching to make a deeper impact.
The Coaches I Keep Meeting Were...
Skilled practitioners with strong coaching frameworks.
Effective with regular clients, struggling with burned out leaders.
Recognising the limits to their skillset, but unsure what to do instead.
Even referring out the transformations they most wanted to facilitate.
Traditional coach training focuses on cognitive tools, goal setting, productivity and strategic thinking. It doesn't teach nervous system regulation.
When up to 82% if your clients arrive overwhelmed this creates a gap.
Our framework fills this gap.
You don't need a clinical degree, you need practical nervous system regulation tools that integrate with your coaching expertise.
That's what Embodied Performance gives you allowing you to work with any client, in any state.
Enroll nowWhat This Training Makes Possible
Coaches who use the Embodied Performance System gain practical tools for nervous system regulation.
This isn't just theory, but applicable techniques that integrate with their existing expertise.
Here's what that creates:
Expanded Capacity: Work effectively across the whole spectrum from burn out to peak performance.
Genuine Specialisation. Evidence-based expertise in a high demand area.
Complete Toolkit: The somatic foundation and a powerful coaching framework to use it in.
Meaningful Transformations: Help the burned-out executives who need your help the most.
What coaches say
Transformative insights from our community
"After working with the Embodied Performance systems I have 'found' myself again. From feeling overwhelmed and anxious, I have transformed into a grounded, clear minded, forward thinking individual."
"After the training I can sit with the discomfort, ease the feelings of anxiety and make changes quicker. I trust my instincts more and feel at ease doing so."
"I can't tell you how grateful I am for the Embodied Performance framework and the techniques I learned had a huge impact on me personally"
%20(1)%201.png)
