Barbara StClaire-Ostwald

Barbara was born in London, United Kingdom, into a traditional Polish family who were first generation WWII refugees. As an adult, she started her career in London in Public Relations and Advertising but moved to Brussels to work for the “Common Market” (EC) and then on to North Africa where she married and lived and worked on and off for 18 years with stops in Europe and other continents before returning to Poland.

I love the sea and the forest. Living in Sopot I have the best of both these worlds. Long walks along the beach and in the forest help to clear her mind and to get in touch with her thoughts and with nature. I am tri-lingual English – Polish – French and can converse in German, Dutch, Czech and Slovak.

I have had an interesting career working with International Diplomats, Financial Services i.e. Investment Banking and Asset Management including IFI’s, the UK Civil Service and Government. I have been self-employed as an Interculturalist and Coach since 2005 after graduating from Oxford Brookes University with an MA in Coaching & Mentoring Practices. I am a former Board Member of APECS (Association for Professional Executive Coaching & Supervision) as International Director, ED&I. I bring sustainability, inclusiveness and a safe space into my professional role as coach, mentor and supervisor to support my clients through social pressures on decision making, utilising and developing embodied self-awareness.

My practice in the field of Trauma Sensitive Coaching and Neuroscience which I have been studying and working in for some years now, lies deep within my own lived experiences of trauma and traumatic stress and the conditions which may have played a role in that!

What we can learn from Barbara, a Master Executive Coach & Supervisor, Interculturalist and expert in Trauma Sensitive Coaching and Neuroscience….?
The human system must have a regulated nervous system to learn, heal and transform the body and mind. Trauma impacts our nervous system, specifically the flight – fight – freeze mechanisms which are driven by our autonomic nervous system that not only governs our flight, fight, freeze survival strategies but is in charge of all our other systems which run on ‘auto-pilot’ such as the simplest thing as the process of drinking a glass of water. In short, research is showing us that those who have more stress and adversity in their lives, if left untreated, then physical and mental conditions will often come to the surface later in their lives.

I am developing a new programme to support trauma sufferers like myself, to shift from a dysregulated to a more regulated state and will be sharing tools and more, that will enable my clients to regulate and come back into recovery.

nb: programme to be launched later in the year 2022

Relevant information:

• Member of SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research)

• BSc(Hons) Psychology

• MA Coaching & Mentoring Practices which included:

  • Psychological perspectives on the Self

  • Non-violent communication

  • Psychotherapeutic dimensions of coaching, mentoring and therapy/counselling

• IAFPD Primary Certificate in Health & Wellbeing Coaching

Studied intensively the work of:

• David Treleaven: Mindfulness and Trauma – I am a practitioner

• Peter Levine: founder of Somatic experiencing

• Alan Fogel: Professor of Psychology at the University of Utah. Rosen method bodywork practitioner.