Martin Firstbrook
BA (Hons), PgDP, MBACP (Accred)
 

If you are a senior professional, business owner, founder or executive, you may be used to operating in environments where there is considerable pressure to perform, make decisions and have the answers. But the challenges we face at work rarely stay neatly within work. Relationships, identity, ambition, uncertainty, meaning and questions about what we want from life have a way of crossing those boundaries.

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You may be facing a particular difficulty or transition. Or things may be going well on the surface, while you find yourself questioning what you want next, noticing patterns that keep repeating, or wondering whether some of the ways of thinking and behaving that helped you succeed still serve you as well as they once did.

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I offer a regular, confidential space to step outside those demands, understand yourself more deeply, and explore what is happening in both your professional and personal life with someone who understands the environment you operate in.

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A different kind of support

What I offer is not standard executive coaching. It brings together psychotherapy and coaching, with the balance shaped around you and what emerges through our work.

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There is no predetermined agenda, competency framework or requirement to arrive with a particular goal. We can work with an immediate problem when that is what you need, while also remaining curious about the patterns, relationships and experiences beneath it.

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Sessions are typically more frequent than executive coaching and the work can be open-ended, allowing us to develop a deeper understanding over time. The aim is not simply to perform better, but to create greater freedom in how you work, relate and live.

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If you are primarily looking for executive coaching focused specifically on leadership development or professional performance, you can find details of my executive coaching work at citypsychepartners.com.

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My background

Before training as a psychotherapist, I spent 20 years working in the City as an HR Director and Director of Leadership Development within global financial services organisations. Alongside leading large, multi-site functions and holding several board positions, much of my time was spent assessing, developing and coaching leaders and investment professionals around the world.

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I continue to work with global organisations as an executive coach alongside my psychotherapy practice. This means I understand demanding professional environments from the inside, while my psychotherapy training enables us to explore aspects of your experience that conventional coaching may not reach.

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What people bring

There doesn't need to be a crisis or a clearly defined problem. 

 

Some clients come because something in their professional or personal life has become difficult - perhaps stress or anxiety, conflict, anger, imposter feelings, burnout, a career transition or the pressures of founding and running a business.   

 

Others are at a less easily defined point in their lives. They may be questioning what they want next, reconsidering relationships or priorities, wondering about meaning and purpose, or wanting to understand themselves and the patterns that have shaped their lives more deeply. 

 

And some simply value having a regular space in which they can think, reflect and explore without needing to perform or have the answers.

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Recent clients have included

My clients have included founders and business owners, CEOs and board members, investment professionals and senior leaders across financial services, technology and other sectors.

I have worked with people from organisations ranging from start-ups and founder-led businesses to some of the world's largest financial institutions.

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How I work

I am professional but down to earth. There will be times of serious reflection and others of lightness and humour. I am actively engaged rather than a blank screen: sometimes listening carefully is what matters most; at other times I may offer an observation, ask a question, challenge your thinking or help us make connections between what is happening now and wider patterns in your life.

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Our work can be analytical, exploratory, practical or reflective depending on what is useful. I also draw on ideas from psychology, psychotherapy and neuroscience where they help us understand your experience.

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Above all, this is a space where you don't need to perform. We can be curious about what is happening, what has shaped you, and what you might want from the next part of your life.

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If you'd like to find out more before committing to anything, you're welcome to get in touch with any questions via WhatsApp or email.  If you decide to move forward, I offer an initial consultation so that I can understand your situation better and we can get a sense of whether working together feels like the right fit.

 

Feel free to contact me at martin@psycheinthecity.com or on +44 (0)7932 045742.

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