ICF AR-OK Chapter upcoming events

Crystal Wagner, PCC, Coaching Every Brain: Creating Psychological Safety in Diverse Thinking Spaces- ICF AR-OK Chapter Community Meeting (Thu, May 28, 2026)

Thu, 28 May 2026 17:00:00 GMT

0.75 Core Competency and 0.25 Resource Development CCEs

Clients think, process, and communicate in many different ways, and coaches can feel uncertain when a client’s natural way of expressing themselves differs from what they expect. These moments can prompt assumptions or subtle pressure to direct the session, unintentionally disrupting trust and safety.

In this workshop, we’ll explore how coaches use attuned presence, curiosity, and collaborative partnership to create the conditions for psychological safety when clients engage or process in diverse ways. We’ll examine how coaches notice and respond to different forms of engagement, work with varying pacing, and co-create the session structure to support deeper thinking. By focusing on coaching behaviors that invite authenticity, autonomy, and spacious exploration, we’ll strengthen our ability to create coaching spaces where every brain can show up fully and think freely.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

Learning Objectives:

1. Strengthen the coach’s ability to recognize and respond to indicators of psychological safety, especially when clients think, communicate, or process in diverse ways.

2. Deepen the coach’s capacity to create psychologically safe coaching spaces through attuned presence, curiosity, and collaborative partnership.

3. Enhance the coach’s self-awareness and self-management so they can hold grounded presence, attunement, and non-judgment throughout the coaching process.

Bio:

Crystal Wagner is a professional life coach, coach educator, and facilitator. Her mission is simple and deeply personal: to support women to do what they love in a way that aligns with how they are uniquely wired. A multi-passionate, neurodivergent thinker with a love of learning and nature, Crystal integrates a variety of coaching approaches to help clients slow down, quiet the swirl of thoughts, and uncover what lies beneath the surface.

Known for her ability to “crystallize” what others are thinking and feeling, Crystal blends thoughtful reflection with creative tools, such as LEGO® Serious Play®, to help women move forward with clarity and purpose. Whether working with entrepreneurs, women navigating major life transitions, or those longing for a more grounded and intentional way of being, she delights in helping clients find peace, direction, and renewed confidence in their next right step. Women consistently describe feeling seen, understood, and more hopeful after working with her.

Crystal is an ICF Professional Certified Coach, an EMCC Accredited Coach at the Senior Practitioner level, a Professional Certified Life and Leadership Coach through PCCI, a trained facilitator of the LEGO® Serious Play® Method and Materials, and a Strengths Champion Certified Coach®. She also holds a Master of Accountancy and a Postgraduate Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring. In addition to coaching women, she serves on the faculty at the Professional Christian Coaching Institute.

You can connect with Crystal at https://crystalwagner.net/.

Co-Creating the Coaching Relationship: Cultivating Trust & Safety (San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Hosting) (Wed, June 24, 2026)

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 19:30:00 GMT

1.5 Core Competency CCEs

Trust is the foundation of every transformative coaching relationship.

In this interactive session, Debra Kopelman unpacks the ICF Core Competency — Cultivates Trust and Safety — exploring how coaches can create a space where clients feel truly seen, heard, and respected. Participants will have the opportunity to review and discuss a demo demonstrating this competency along with time for self-reflection on how they demonstrate this competency with their own clients.

Learn how to build genuine connections that foster openness, courage, and deep self-discovery — empowering clients to step into growth with confidence and authenticity.

You’ll learn how to:
Establish trust through empathy, respect, and consistency
Create a psychologically safe space for honest reflection and dialogue
Acknowledge client emotions while maintaining professionalism and compassion
Support clients in expressing vulnerability without fear of judgment
Build long-term relationships grounded in authenticity and mutual respect

Whether you’re an ICF credential holder or a practicing coach, this session will help you strengthen the relational core of your coaching — where safety and trust unlock true transformation.

Build connection. Foster safety. Cultivate transformation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Establish trust through empathy, respect, and consistency
Acknowledge client emotions while maintaining professionalism and compassion
Support clients in expressing vulnerability without fear of judgment

Speaker Bio:

Debra Kopelman, MCC, ESIA, EIA, MS
My approach to coaching is to focus on the whole person, creating a safe space for authenticity and self-expression. I am passionate about helping leaders who want to be more integrated, powerful, and even more aligned with their deepest values. My goal is to enable leaders to access greater levels of presence, wisdom and insight to maximize their contributions in environments of rapid change,
ambiguity and high levels of stress.

Some of my favorite areas of focus with leaders is transitioning to expanded or new leadership roles, managing managers/other leaders, team coaching and development, and embodying an enterprise-wide mindset. Leaders typically come to me for support around Strategic Communication, Managing Change, Influencing/Relationship Management, and Self-Leadership/Executive Presence. My work experience includes 20+ years of executive coaching in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry and consists of internal HR learning and development, leadership development and career development experience at Genentech/Roche and UBS Investment Bank.

Clients range from C-level executives of world-leading enterprises to highly technical hands-on directors in Biotech, Pharma, Technology, and Utilities. My coaching methodology combines 360 evaluations, personality assessments, business coaching, cognitive-behavioral techniques, somatic insights, therapeutic constructs, and practical in-the-field exercises across multi-month programs to elicit change within and around business leaders.

Clients (and their teams) appreciate the immediately noticeable impact on their ability to motivate, influence, inspire and govern as confident, authentic, well-respected leaders. My aspiration is to guide executives in exceeding their own ambitious expectations with whom they are and what they can achieve, from the inside out.

This is a 2-STEP registration process.

Since this webinar is being offered by ICF Global, registration requires a two-step process.

The first step is to register with our chapter. Once you successfully register and make the payment, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to register with ICF Global. Payment is only required during the first step. The second step authorizes ICF Global to send you the Zoom link for the webinar.

Paul Boehnke, PCC, From Adversary to Ally: How to Coach the Inner Critic - ICF AR-OK Chapter Meeting (Thu, June 25, 2026)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 17:00:00 GMT

0.5 Core Competency and 0.5 Resource Development CCEs

From Adversary to Ally focuses on how to coach the inner critic, a common obstacle in coaching practices. No matter what kind of coaching we specialize in, we all encounter that nagging voice inside our heads telling us we’re not measuring up somehow. We feel it firsthand as it stops us from confidently growing our businesses, makes us think we need yet another certification or course, or holds us back from charging our true worth. And it’s not just us—our clients face it too. Whether it’s in their struggles with confidence, battling feelings of being a fraud, or getting stuck in procrastination and confusion.

Despite various tools available, many only provide temporary relief without addressing the root cause. This session delves into an effective and sustainable method to help clients and coaches alike overcome their inner critic.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

Learning Objectives:

Understand the full impact of the inner critic
Discover what drives common inner critic issues.
Create a strategy for dealing with negative self-talk

Bio:

Paul Boehnke, sought after speaker, author and certified life coach helps solo entrepreneurs overcome the negative self-talk that hinders their business growth. This work results in his clients having more impact, making more money, and having way more fun.

As a classical musician, Paul Boehnke stumbled on a unique process that not only helped his performances but could easily be applied to taming the negative thoughts of his inner critic. Then he realized this process not only works for him but works for everyone, musician or not.

In his book, "Thoughts On Demand: Turn Negative Self-Talk into Unstoppable Confidence" he shares the process that he uses to help clients transform that little voice in their heads that argues for their limitations into a champion of their potential instead.

To learn more about Paul, go to paulboehnke.com

The Presence Playshop: Deepen your ability to Maintain Presence (San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Hosting) (Wed, July 08, 2026)

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 18:00:00 GMT

1.0 Core Competency and 0.5 Resource Development CCEs

Presence is the heart of transformational coaching—the ability to be fully conscious, attentive, and responsive in the moment with your client. In this “playshop", we will explore how to stay grounded, open, curious and in the moment with your clients. Through reflection, discussion, and somatic exercises, participants will deepen their capacity to be fully present and effective in real-time coaching conversations.

In addition to the Learning Objectives below you will also:

- Utilize silence, pause, and reflective space as intentional coaching tools to deepen client awareness and insight

- Integrate practical and somatic-based techniques to sustain presence and effectiveness, especially when working with strong client emotions

Learning Objectives:
- Apply the ICF Core Competency Maintains Presence in real-time coaching conversations, demonstrating focus, curiosity, and responsiveness to the client

- Recognize and regulate internal reactions (thoughts, emotions, and somatic cues) to remain grounded and fully present with the client

- Demonstrate comfort with not knowing and effectively support emergent, client-led exploration during coaching sessions

Speaker Bio:

Laura Geduldig is a Master Certified Coach & International Certified Mentor Coach, in her 13th year as an MCC and 26th in private practice. Known for her deeply attentive and embodied approach, Laura integrates emotional intelligence, somatic awareness, and strategic listening to help her clients increase their vitality in increasingly complex environments. Laura is also a Second-Degree Black Belt in the Nia movement technique, making her uniquely positioned to bring a holistic, somatic-centered lens to maintaining presence in today's distracting landscape.

This is a 2-STEP registration process.

Since this webinar is being offered by ICF Global, registration requires a two-step process.

The Listening Edge (San Antonio Chapter Hosting) (Thu, July 23, 2026)

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:00:00 GMT

1.5 Core Competency CCEs

Most coaches believe they're already good listeners. Research shows we process information four times faster than people speak — and our minds naturally wander, judge, or prepare responses rather than truly absorbing what's being communicated.

Drawing directly from ICF Core Competency 6 (Listens Actively) and supporting Competency 5 (Maintains Presence), this highly interactive session challenges coaches to expand their listening repertoire and develop agility to adapt their approach to what each unique client needs in the moment.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
• Identify their own listening style and default listening patterns

• Understand how to flex between listening habits for greater coaching effectiveness

• Gain tools to transform their listening and become more effective communicators

Speaker Bio:

Martha Tween

PCC · Global Listening Intelligence Certified Coach · Gallup Certified Strengths

Martha is an ICF Professional Certified Coach,

Mentor Coach, and ECHO Global LQ Certified

Coach specializing in Listening Intelligence. Through Sapere Vedere Consulting she helps coaches develop listening flexibility using the ECHO framework, with deep expertise in ICF Core Competencies 5 and 6.

This is a 2-STEP registration process.

Since this webinar is being offered by ICF Global, registration requires a two-step process.

The Resonant Coach: A Focused Refresh of Listening Foundations and Competency 6 (San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Hosting) (Wed, August 19, 2026)

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 19:00:00 GMT

1.5 Core Competency CCEs

In this interactive session, participants will revisit the essentials of Active Listening and explore how these foundations directly impact the coaching relationship. Drawing upon the presenter’s experience in coaching and education, this session will clarify the common barriers to effective listening and highlight why deep listening is so vital to coaching success.

The session will also include a practical look at how ICF Competency 6 shows up in real-world conversations, identifying the small shifts that turn regular hearing into truly transformational listening. Through quick breakouts and lighthearted exercises, coaches will have the opportunity to align with these markers and sharpen their existing skills in a high-energy environment.

This is an educational, reflective, and experiential session designed to support coaches in refreshing their core skills, regardless of their current level of experience.

3 Learning Objectives
Align their coaching practice with ICF Competency 6 markers, specifically focusing on the subtle shifts that move a conversation from simple hearing to transformational listening.

Differentiate between "functional hearing" and "transformational listening," identifying the specific behaviors that move a coach beyond simple information gathering toward deeper resonance.

Cultivate an adaptive coaching mindset by using lighthearted, high-energy interaction to overcome common listening barriers and maintain presence in a virtual environment.

Speaker Bio:

Shachi Patel, PCC, is the founder of SETU Coaching & Consulting. With SETU meaning "bridge" in Sanskrit, she proudly serves as a bridge between her clients' technical expertise and leadership excellence. Drawing on over three decades of leadership in technology and healthcare, she leverages her engineering, program, and people management background to help STEM professionals and women in tech thrive in complex environments. Her coaching, training, and specialized workshops focus on helping leaders navigate pivotal career changes and transitions through a creative, compassionate, and courageous approach.

With global experience spanning NORAM, EMEA, and APAC, Shachi offers a diverse approach to leadership development, change management, and strategic influence. As a Mentor Coach at UC Davis, she integrates a decade of coaching expertise to develop the next generation of coaches, helping them transform technical proficiency into coaching excellence

This is a 2-STEP registration process.

Since this webinar is being offered by ICF Global, registration requires a two-step process.

The Thing Beneath the Thing: Mastering Agenda Setting with The Genco Method (ICF North Florida Chapter Hosting) (Wed, August 26, 2026)

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 17:00:00 GMT

0.75 Core Competency and 0.75 Resource Development CCEs

As a Master Mentor Coach and ICF Assessor at all three levels, Tijen has seen firsthand that one of the biggest challenges for coaches is the agenda-setting process. It's easy to get caught on the surface of a client's request and miss the deeper need.

This meeting is designed to help you move beyond surface-level structure to the core of where true transformation resides. Using Tijen’s Genco Method Coaching with Precision© framework, which blends holistic listening with Lean/Six Sigma principles, you'll learn to sculpt an agenda with precision and presence.

This three-part, interactive session will provide you with the tools to help clients achieve their desired outcomes, from behavioral change to neural recalibration, ensuring that these outcomes are not only achievable but also resonant and sustainable.

What to Expect:

• Introduction to Genco Method Coaching with Precision©: We'll dive into the core principles of my integrative methodology for agenda setting.

• Collective Coaching Practicum: Watch and participate in a live coaching session. Under my mentorship, you'll practice shaping the agenda in real-time and get instant feedback.

• Integration & Reflection Circle: We'll close with a group dialogue to solidify your insights and learn how to apply them to your practice immediately

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

• Heightened awareness of common missteps that block deep listening and client-centered agenda development.

• Best practices for defining session outcomes based on the client’s authentic, underlying needs.

• Increased capacity to revise and evolve the agenda in alignment with the client’s emerging insights.

• Strengthened trust in intuitive listening and relational agility during sessions. paying clients.

Speaker Bio:

Tijen Genco, MCC, Advanced Certified Team Coach, and National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach, brings a wealth of experience coaching individuals, executives, and teams across Fortune 100 companies, government agencies, and non-profit organizations worldwide. Renowned as a coach, educator, mentor, and ICF assessor, Tijen is deeply committed to fostering coaching excellence and advancing the profession.

She is the creator of the Genco Method Transcendental Coaching©. This innovative approach integrates evidence-based practices with the art and science of the mind-body connection to deliver sustainable, transformational outcomes. A thought leader in cutting-edge coaching methodologies, Tijen is a sought-after speaker and trainer, inspiring coaches globally to unlock their fullest potential. Her passion for fostering mastery in coaching is evident in her innovative methodologies, educational initiatives, and role in developing MCC assessors for the ICF.

Discover more about her groundbreaking work and upcoming events at gencocoaching.com

This is a 2-STEP registration process.

Since this webinar is being offered by ICF Global, registration requires a two-step process.

ICF AR-OK Chapter Meeting (Thu, August 27, 2026)

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Join us for our August ICF AR-OK Chapter Meeting

Ask Better Questions, Get Better Results (ICF North Florida Chapter Hosting) (Wed, September 23, 2026)

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT

1 Core Competency CCEs

Most coaches ask questions to gather information or show active listening. But the right question can do much more - unlock breakthroughs, spark action, and align clients with their deepest values.

In this masterclass, renowned coach Laura Berman Fortgang reveals how to turn questioning into a powerful art form, blending insights from psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral change. You'll learn how strategic inquiry can create profound shifts in thinking, feeling, and action.

Key Takeaways
• The Neuroscience of Questions: Discover how transformational questions rewire the brain, unlock creativity, and break limiting beliefs.

• The Question Hierarchy: Move from surface-level queries to deep, transformational questions that inspire action and alignment.

• Advanced Techniques: Master the Challenge Frame, Solution-Finding Method, Values Excavation, and Resistance Dissolution techniques.

• Practical Applications: Apply strategic inquiry in coaching, leadership, team building, business development, and personal relationships.

The Experience

Through live exercises and role-play, you’ll refine your questioning style, receive real-time feedback, and create a toolkit of powerful questions for coaching breakthroughs.

The Ripple Effect
Masterful questions create lasting change. Your clients will gain deeper insights, take aligned actions, and build confidence - while you’ll transform every interaction, from leadership conversations to personal relationships.

Why book this session?
With Laura’s decades of expertise and cutting-edge research, this session equips you with actionable strategies to elevate your coaching and communication. The right question at the right moment doesn’t just gather information - it changes lives.

Speaker Bio:

Laura calls herself an OG coach since she has over thirty years of experience, had the first book by a professional coach published in the US and the UK and helped to found the International Coaching Federation. She was also the first coach on the Oprah Winfrey Show!

Her life’s work supports other people to find theirs and join the A-List of life. No, she doesn't mean becoming a celebrity, but does mean not settling for anything less than the best you want to reach for.

Her Now What?® Methodology for career seekers and A-List Business Mentoring Program for entrepreneurs helps those who are:

• ready to take the back burner dream and put it on the front burner

• unclear about what you want to do or have never known

• reinventing after a life hiccup

• a coach ready for your next level of impact and income

This is a 2-STEP registration process.

Since this webinar is being offered by ICF Global, registration requires a two-step process.

Fred Mandell, PhD, A New Coaching Paradigm; The Power of the Arts to Transform Individuals and Teams - ICF AR-OK Chapter Meeting (Thu, September 24, 2026)

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT

0.5 Core Competency and 0.5 Resource Development CCEs

When we think of the arts, we tend to conjure up museums, orchestra halls and theatres. But what if we found ways to actually bring the tools and practices of the visual, musical, theatre arts into coaching relationships in ways that drove transformation at the personal, team and organizational levels?

Thanks to a major 10-year grant through the National Science Foundation we now have research that demonstrates the power of arts-based experiential learning to do exactly that!

Roll up your sleeves!

Through a combination of art making, presentation, group discussion we will introduce you to a new approach to leadership and personal coaching that inspires and transforms. NO art background is needed!

Through this 50 minute, highly interactive program participants will walk away with:

An understanding of the theory and science behind Arts-Based Experiential Learning (ABEL)
Practical examples of arts-based experiential exercises immediately implementable in a coaching relationship
A case study which demonstrates the impact of ABEL on individuals and teams
Introduction to a breakthrough method for measuring impact of coaching and training on clients.
Opportunities to reflect on and share learnings in breakout sessions.

My firm, Creating Futures That Work, is the global leader in providing experiential learning that uses the arts to help leaders create dynamic, successful and sustainable futures. We have been pioneering this work in major companies and organizations worldwide for over a decade, including research funded by the National Science Foundation.

We are now on a mission to introduce the coaching community to Arts-Based Experiential Learning (ABEL), a process that draws on the arts to develop leaders and help people in transition navigate change and create the future that matters to them.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

1. Introduce the arts-based experiential learning framework to coaches

2. Provide practical exercises coaches can use with clients

3. Broaden coaches understanding of creative ways to support personal and leadership transformation

4. Introduce an innovative assessment tool for measuring coaching impact

Bio:

Fred is a founder and principal with Creating Futures That Work, a consultancy that draws on the precision and focus of science and the insights and skills of the arts to elevate leader effectiveness in the areas of collaboration, innovation, organizational culture and professional development.

Prior to establishing CFTW with Harvey Seifter, Fred served as a senior executive with American Express where he built leading marketing and sales businesses and ran a multi-billion dollar investment company. During his tenure, he introduced new business models for the practice of fee-based financial planning into a large financial services institution.

In 2014 Fred launched The Global Institute for the Arts and Leadership, a not for profit entity, whose mission is to build a more peaceful, sustainable and beautiful world by using the arts to catalyze social change. He currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Board.

Fred is the author of Can Art Save Us? (2016, TGIAL) He is also the co-author with Kathleen Jordan of Becoming a Life Change Artist; 7 Creative Skills to Reinvent Your Life at Any Stage (Penguin Avery.) He has been teaching the number one rated leadership series at MIT Sloan School of Management called The Leader as Artist since 2013. The Leader as Artist series is unique in the way it demonstrates the application of the art making process to innovative leadership and organizational vitality.

As an artist Fred has been featured in the national publication Gallery Guide. He has had one person shows in Minneapolis, MN, Providence, RI, Wellesley, MA, and South Africa. Most recently his bronze self-portrait has been commissioned for the international conference on “The Self/Le Soi” co-sponsored by the University of Chicago and the Sorbonne

Fred holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago and an Ed.M. in psychology from Boston University. He has three grown children, six grandchildren, and lives in Lynnfield, Massachusetts with his wife Karen, a writer and teacher.

ICF AR-OK Chapter Meeting (Thu, October 22, 2026)

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Join us for our October ICF AR-OK Chapter Meeting

Alison Nail-Malone, ACC, Grief Literacy for Coaches: Supporting Clients Through Invisible Loss - ICF AR-OK Chapter Community Meeting (Thu, December 10, 2026)

Thu, 10 Dec 2026 18:00:00 GMT

0.75 Core Competency and 0.25 Resource Development CCEs

Alison Nail-Malone, ACC, is an ICF AR-OK chapter member and will be our featured presenter.

Grief shows up in many coaching conversations—we just don’t always call it that. Whether a client is navigating a career transition, loss of identity, burnout, or anticipatory grief, they are often experiencing forms of loss that remain unseen and unnamed.

In this interactive session, we’ll explore how coaches can become more “grief-literate” — understanding the many faces of grief beyond death and learning how to skillfully support clients through emotional transitions without overstepping into therapy. Participants will gain practical language, tools, and reflective practices to recognize grief when it appears, hold space with compassion, and stay grounded in ethical coaching boundaries.

Drawing from my work as a Grief Coach, End-of-Life Doula, and former caregiver, this session offers a gentle yet transformative framework for integrating grief awareness into everyday coaching practice.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

Grief shows up in many coaching conversations—we just don’t always call it that. Whether a client is navigating a career transition, loss of identity, burnout, or anticipatory grief, they are often experiencing forms of loss that remain unseen and unnamed.
In this interactive session, we’ll explore how coaches can become more “grief-literate” — understanding the many faces of grief beyond death and learning how to skillfully support clients through emotional transitions without overstepping into therapy. Participants will gain practical language, tools, and reflective practices to recognize grief when it appears, hold space with compassion, and stay grounded in ethical coaching boundaries.
Drawing from my work as a Grief Coach, End-of-Life Doula, and former caregiver, this session offers a gentle yet transformative framework for integrating grief awareness into everyday coaching practice.