Ruth Harrison-Swift

Professional Coach, United Kingdom

Ruth is an experienced facilitator of adult education, specialising in parental transition and support of new parents. She works with families directly by offering a fresh perspective on how to embrace change, whilst maintaining balance in all areas of life. Ruth is resourceful, innovative and flexible and believes in continued professional and personal growth.

With over 10 years’ experience, Ruth has worked with new parents from a variety of backgrounds, from directors, lawyers, and health professionals to teachers and farmers.

Background

Prior to becoming a parent herself, Ruth worked in IT Project Management for 15 years, both in the UK and Australia, across a variety of sectors which included Communications, Banking and Travel. This included managing teams of people and supporting them in their personal and professional growth, and this aspect she found to be more rewarding than the projects themselves. She gravitated towards ways of sharing her knowledge and skills with others, in order to help them through. Having gone through some major transitions of her own, Ruth began formally studying Psychology and is in her third year of four, of a BA.

Approach to coaching

Ruth’s experience of coaching her teams, together with her years of breastfeeding counselling and post natal specialism, make for a coaching approach based in non-judgemental, person centred, and forward-thinking methods that meet the needs of both parents and professionals. She seeks to guide her clients in all aspects of life, thus creating a balance which is supportive of positive mental, emotional, and physical health.

Experience and qualifications

In Australia, Ruth worked with Flight Centre and Suncorp Metway. This experience of understanding the demands of the professional world compliments her three years of supporting parents with breastfeeding which led to gaining a DipHed in Breastfeeding Counselling through the University of Bedfordshire and NCT. Qualifying in 2013, she was nominated for practitioner of the year in 2015 and 2016. Ruth continued her CPD annually, furthering her knowledge in all things post natal and counselling. She trained as an OCL/NCT Breastfeeding Peer Support Trainer so that other women could offer support in the community. This aspect gave Ruth continued coaching and supervision of others’ experience, whilst following her strong values of personal and professional growth and development.

Ruth transferred her experience and skills into coaching as a member of the AC (Association for Coaching), further training as an NLP Practitioner, ANLP (Association for NLP), and a specific Parental Transition Coaching Qualification certified by the ICF. Ruth has also recently received a First Aid Award for Mental Health (RQF).

“I would wholeheartedly recommend Ruth. Working with her helped create the time and space to grapple with the mixed emotions and changing identity that comes with motherhood. She offers practical advice and tools to help build your confidence as a parent.” Coachee

“Ruth was gentle and gave me the tools to aid me in my growth, I am living life again.” Coachee