What is Group Coaching?

What is Group Coaching? The Value of Connection in Coaching

When you picture life coaching, what do you see? Lots of people picture an intense face-to-face conversation in a room so glaringly white that they need sunglasses. They think that the all-knowing coach is a kind of guru listening intently to what they’re saying, poised with pen in hand, to write them a step-by-step blueprint on how to achieve their biggest goal.

Sorry to disappoint but that’s not how it works! I’m not trying to be the fount of all knowledge on your life, and I can’t do the work for you. When it comes to my coaching sessions, think of them as more of a cosy structured chat to help you work things out and help you thrive (with no sunglasses needed!) But I get that a one-to-one session can feel daunting. That’s why I’m beginning to offer a coaching group session package including monthly group coaching sessions in Penwortham, guided exercises delivered on WhatsApp based on a monthly theme of the group’s choosing. It’s about building connections to support your growth, work through difficulties and celebrate your achievements.

This blog post will explore what group coaching is, how it works, and how it helps you in your personal growth journey. Let’s get to it!

Connection and Reflection

I don’t know about you but I’m tired of the media banging on about socialising and spending time with the people we value as a luxury. It’s become about who can host the fanciest dinner party or wear blingiest dress. In short, it’s become a never-ending competition to be the best and it’s exhausting. More and more people are feeling pushed out of making meaningful connections with other people with almost 3.8 million adults in the UK reported feeling lonely in 2026, it’s time to have a rethink about the value of connection.

Connection isn’t about one-upmanship. It’s about building relationships that anchor you to the world around you. I know that sounds a bit like mumbo-jumbo but it’s true. Sharing an experience or an emotion with someone else connects you to them and also makes it that bit easier for your brain to deal with the next time it’s faced with a similar situation.

Group coaching offers an opportunity to build connection with like-minded people in a way that cuts out the complexities of building new social connections and making friends as an adult. It’s a low-pressure environment where you can share what you feel comfortable sharing and you might just find that your challenges or thoughts are reflected in what another group member is saying.

It’s about sense of togetherness and having a laugh as well as sharing the serious stuff. If you’re not ready to share, that’s fine too.

Collective Growth, Not Cure

Let’s address that rather large elephant that constantly lurks in the corner of the room when we talk about coaching. As a coach, I’m not here to “fix” you because you’re not broken. Coaching can’t change what you’ve lived through in the past or cure your feelings about it, but what it can do is help you deal with similar situations in the future in a way that’s kinder and more compassionate towards yourself. That’s true growth to be proud of.

Take this hypothetical example: you were once not invited to the wedding of someone you believed to be a close friend. It’s left you with a deep-seated fear of being rejected in a similar way and you’ve noticed that you’ve stopped getting close to people because of it. You want to change that and turn to coaching for support. The coach supports you in developing techniques to reconnect with yourself and others and works with you to reframe this feeling of rejection when there’s a hiccup in a relationship.

One-to-one support is fabulous in this situation but imagine adding in a group coaching session. Simply by turning up or joining the group coaching WhatsApp chat, you’re beginning to reframe what connection means to you and exposing yourself to opportunities to connect with people. It doesn’t matter if you share something or not – what matters is that you showed up. Other group members instinctively understand this and will validate your growth, even when you’ve not acknowledged it for yourself.

Hopefully that’s gently but firmly guided that elephant out of the room but if you have any other questions about the purpose of coaching, just reach out.

A Space to Be Seen, Heard, and Accepted

As humans, we all need spaces in our lives that we can go to knowing that we’ll be seen for who we are, listened to, and respected. Sometimes growth starts with the courage to just be ourselves and group coaching creates a structured environment for you to do that.

I’ve seen group coaching being described as a “safe” space (and I really hope that group members feel this way) but I don’t think that label is particularly helpful. It’s not for anyone else to decide when and where you feel safe. A sense of safety is something that grows over time as you learn to trust me, other group members and most importantly, yourself. Only you can decide if and when you feel like you’re in a safe space. My promise to you is to create an open and inclusive environment free of judgement which will hopefully begin to feel like a safe space over time.

Coaching for the Digital Age

For me, coaching doesn’t just stop when you leave the room. It should continue throughout the week and leave you feeling as though you can nurture your connections and continue your personal growth at any time.

Each month, group members – or members of The Collective –  get the opportunity to choose a theme they’d like to focus on because it’s about what you want and need rather than me guessing what I think you want and need. I’ll then go away and create a hypnotic recording based on the theme and share it on the broadcast channel. I’ll also create guided resources to help your growth on the WhatsApp broadcast channel. It’s your choice whether you decide to use these resources and there’s no expectation to share. However, if you do decide to share, there’s a friendly group chat you can join and even some group socials you can get involved in.

Isn’t This Just a Support Group?

I won’t deny that group coaching and support groups share some similarities. Their overall goal is the same – to support people – but they go about it slightly differently. Rather than boring you with a yawn-inducing essay about why, here’s a handy comparison table.

	Group Coaching	Traditional Support Group
Core purpose	Connection, self-acceptance and growth	Discussing and managing a shared problem or diagnosis
Underlying belief	None of us need fixing	Often problem- or symptom-focused
Leadership	Led by a hypnotherapist/coach, with growth opportunities each session	Often peer-led, sometimes facilitator-led
Session structure	Fixed format: arrival, check-in, practical insights, reflection, optional sharing	Typically open floor for discussion
Topics	Monthly themes chosen collaboratively by members	Usually centred on the shared issue the group exists for
Sharing	Always optional	Often expected as the main activity
Tone	Growth- and possibility-focused	Often support- and coping-focused
Extras included	Monthly hypnotherapy recording, weekly WhatsApp tools/prompts, optional socials and group chat	Typically session time only

Group coaching is a structured environment designed to help you create lasting connection and meaningful personal growth in the areas that matter most rather than just a space to talk. Why not give it a try and see what happens?

If you’d like to find out more or reserve a space in The Collective (£50 per month), send an email using the button below.

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