Brief background and timeline:

Going back to 2021, Dr. Kevin Harrington (AAP chair) and Dr. Patrick Williams began discussions to revive the previously known Coaching the Global Village  (CGV)  program, and around that time AAP members voiced their interest in providing affordable coaching. 

Since the initial program, 'Coaching the Global Village' has not been active for some time, the AAP announced in 2023 that it intended to begin carrying out this program under the umbrella of: Synthesis in a Global Community

Recently,  the AAP heard from then member and now steering committee member, Ruchira Chakravarty, with a request from the Uganda Bankers Association with a need for coaches who are willing to offer pro-bono services.

Synthesis in a Global Community is all about bringing trained psychosynthesis practitioners and collaborative organizations to areas that would not normally receive such services. It is not just coaching, but counseling and therapeutic practices are crucial for well-rounded programs.

**Right now there is a core-team of mostly coaches leading this initiative, but we are very welcome to developments of this initiative with trained PS practitioners who may be therapists or have additional specialties.**  

October-November-December:

• receive requests from our 'Call to Coach' for a core team interested in this pilot program
• 'Coach onboarding’ which will be a meeting of all selected coaches for the program.
  

• Walk-through of the program design based on Ruchira's work that she has been doing for multiple years and in the context of UBA’s Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) which contributes towards the Sustainable Development Goal 5 "Achieve gender equality and empower women and girls". All coaches on this initiative will be asked to submit their coaching profile. 

• ‘Client Onboarding’ call which will involve a webinar on ‘What is Psychosynthesis Coaching’ and what to expect from the program. This will also include housekeeping items like process and duration of the program. 
  

January - June:

• After the AAP provides an initial introduction between coach/client the pair will coordinate meeting times for their set of sessions during the first half of the year. 
• AAP will give an overview and ongoing progress from this program to all members -- as well as a larger presentation to highlight the potential of Synthesis in a Global Community -- particularly in the context of our collective Act of Will

June onwards: 

• We will review how the pilot program went overall and assess next steps forward for future programs. 

Our ‘Call to Coach’ campaign generated responses from PS coaches from different continents spanning those based in South America, Africa, Europe and North America!

How do we select coaches and also hold ourselves accountable?

For this pilot we do not have a large group (less than a dozen pairs of coaches/clients). 

We are consulting with Dr. Patrick Williams and looking for trained coaches who have years of practice and have expressed significant expertise and credentials when 'vetting'. We are fully aware of how important this work is and do not want to have very young coaches going into any deep waters or getting overwhelmed.

We are also sharing our presentations with a variety of trainers / leaders in psychosynthesis based coaching (e.g. Didi Firman, Aubyn Howard) so that we are all speaking consistently and advancing / evolving our practice of psychosynthesis life coaching in an aligned approach.

If you have currently have any feedback we are very welcome to comments/suggestions!! (: 

We are looking forward to learnings that come out of this initiative and scaffold them into our growth story and make way for more initiatives that allow PS Practitioners across the world to manifest their ‘Will to Goodness’. Each step in this direction build a stronger ‘I-Self’ Connection and honors the journey of the Soul as envisioned by Assagioli. 

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Hearing the call from members -- more context for this initiative:

This AAP initiative aims to make pro-bono coaching available in countries and communities where coaching has been difficult or too costly to access. 

This initiative aims to offer AAP coaching members the opportunity to broaden their client experience and to work with people from different cultures and backgrounds. This reflects our wider goal to act as a resource for the global psychosynthesis community, and to broaden our membership from its traditional North American base.

Through our international networks already we have efforts underway to work with the One World Leadership Institute in Kenya through their trainings and activities for empowering women and the youth, the non-profit Uganda Bankers Association to offer pro-bono coaching to support businesswomen within their programs to uplift their economic status and address the fact that more than 50% employed in the banking industry are stuck in junior/middle management positions (see below).

The team leads for this initiative are currently Kevin Harrington and Ruchira Chakravarty. Upon discussions we decided that although trained psychosynthesis coaches can offer a great deal of positive services on the grassroots and local levels, it behooves us to consider a well-rounded approach that includes counseling and therapeutic techniques. 

In the context of writing grants for research, the AAP will seek funding to bring this program to life once again. The vision for this would be:

• Secure steady funding to send a handful of coaches to different parts of the world each year

• Establish long-lasting connections and equip local communities and schools with psychosynthesis-based coaching tools and techniques

• Work with other professionals and NGOs to develop programs over time. 

UBA-AAP:

For those members interested in further knowing the context of this UBA-AAP program here are some background information that will help you understand the genesis and aim of the program and partnership with UBA;

According to the World Bank, women in Uganda own 1/3 of the business enterprises and these are in sectors that are unable to scale and less profitable. Most women are entrepreneurial but challenged by, lack of collateral, limited access to affordable finance for women and limited capacity to use digital channels. In addition, there is limited knowledge on financial opportunities which further exacerbate the problems of sustained economic growth.

• According to Uganda Banker’s Association (UBA) Annual Report 2022, 52% of the total employees (19,362) of financial institutions are female. Statistics further reveal that majority of the positions below junior management and supervisory are held by females. This calls for intentional strategies to support these women rise to seniority positions. 

• In the Sub Saharan African region professional women in banking and finance are constrained by challenges like career growth limitations, no confidence, inadequate training, limited opportunities to apply their competencies as well as pressures from social/family demands. This puts an unequal and oversized burden on women to carry both family and professional responsibility.

• Uganda Bankers Association (UBA) is pioneering a Social Impact initiative called Women Economic Empowerment (WEE)  that will contribute to the Sustainable Development Goal 5; Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all women and girls.  This program aims to create an enabling environment that promotes the growth of professional women in Banking & Finance and women entrepreneurs, ensuring their participation in equal opportunities within the economy.

• AAP, through the practioners involved in the Synthesis in a Global Community intiative, has partnered with UBA to support UBA’s mission to strive for social and economic empowerment of women and support the WEE initiative. The role of the AAP is to facilitate the connection of trained practitioners interested in doing such pro-bono work. 

Calling psychosynthesis training centers to support Synthesis in a Global Community:

The advancement of psychosynthesis entails having on-the-ground activities and working with local communities. The AAP recognizes and supports the various PS training programs, and seeks to connect to offer students resources and research/project opportunities. The 'Synthesis in a Global Community' project is a great way to continue one's training and to get involved!

Please contact us:

This initiate is available to all trained psychosynthesis coaches who are members of Association of Advancement of Psychosynthesis (AAP). If you are interested in getting involved in one of these initiatives - or you are doing similar work and would like to collaborate -- please let us know. 

Please contact Kevin Harrington and Ruchira Chakravarty at: coaching@aap-psychosynthesis.org