1st International Congress of Coaching Psychology 2010-2011

To bring together the coaching psychology community

Welcome

Welcome to the website for the First International Congress of Coaching Psychology.

This is an on-going event held in late 2010 to 2011 in a number of countries around the world, sponsored by their national psychology professional membership body (or one of its interest groups) or the relevant national coaching psychology society or association.

The congress has a key aim of bringing the global coaching psychology community together over the next two years. The strategic partners will promote and hold the congress in their own region. At this current time eight coaching psychology interest groups from around the globe are collaborating and we will keep you informed as this collaboration grows.

Each participating society has a page on this website where you can find details about their aims and purpose as a society, and of their planned congress events. Over the coming months the website will have more information about the regional Congress events as they are announced. Watch this space.

The Co-convenors for this ongoing initiative are Professor Stephen Palmer and Peter Zarris. They each share their personal thoughts and hopes for the congress below:

 

Stephen Palmer, Director of Coaching Psychology Unit, City University, London, UK

Over the past decade the coaching psychology profession has gone from strength to strength. We have seen an increase in the number of professional psychology bodies with their own coaching psychology special groups. The international organisation, the Society for Coaching Psychology has also set up an accreditation and certification scheme for coaching psychologists. In addition there are two peer reviewed coaching psychology publications, both abstracted in psycINFO.
 
There have been national, European and international coaching psychology conferences and symposia. However, this is the first time the coaching psychology community has come together to run the 1st International Congress of Coaching Psychology event. One aspect that makes it rather special is that the congress will consist of a series of events run over a 12 month period taking place in different major cities around the world, from London and Dublin to Johannesburg. It promises to put the coaching psychology profession firmly on the global map.
 
The international steering group co-convenor is Peter Zarris who was there right from the beginning when the International Congress concept was being developed. He has been doing an excellent job bringing together the coaching psychology groups in countries in the Southern Hemisphere. 
 
 
Peter Zarris, Convenor, Australian Psychology Society Interest Group in Coaching Psychology  

The concept for the first ICCP was borne from discussions between the British SGCP and its Australian sister the IGCP. Both interest groups are aligned to the professional psychological bodies respectively in Britain and in Australia and have a long history together.  This history includes jointly publishing the International Coaching Psychology Review (ICPR) and supporting each other in the quest to further the profession of coaching psychology. Further, there is no doubt that whilst Stephen Palmer and I have been co-convening this concept that Steve has been a wonderful driving force behind it and I can only commend his efforts thus far.

The aim of this note is to state what the ICCP means for myself and for the Australian group.  We in Australia have watched coaching/coaching psychology become increasingly important in both the personal and professional lives of people throughout the country.  In particular those of us who work in organisational life (both government and corporate) have noticed that increasingly the need for coaches/coaching psychologists to assist people in dealing with the pressures and challenges of work becomes ever so more important.  Of course there are a number of bodies globally which seek to represent coaching, and the role of the coaching psychologist in coaching and psychology more broadly is becoming increasingly more important to define.

For me moving coaching psychology to the realm of a profession is paramount.  I feel that psychologists and coaching psychologists in particular have a significant and crucial role to play in modern organisational life and in also assisting people in their personal lives.  The development of coaching and coaching psychology as professions in the coming years will no doubt move forward at a greater pace and the need to have a professional component that provides evidence based solutions, that provides research, and that provides important fundamental skills and professional requirements will be crucial.

My deep hope is that the 1st International Congress of Coaching Psychology will bring the coaching/coaching psychology community together in not only understanding the latest research and advances in our understanding of what we do, but also in beginning the dialogue globally that will assist us in having the voice and central role that I personally believe we must have in the profession. 

Thank you for your involvement and I look forward to seeing you all in London in December 2010 and Johannesburg in 2011.