New Staff, IMKona/Fall racing hightlights

INTRODUCING KELLY ADAMS
MENTAL PERFORMANCE COACH

A HUGE welcome to Kelly Adams, B. Music (Performance), M.Ed. (Educational Psychology), ACC (Accredited Co-Active Coach) who has joined the Team Triumph team as our new Mental Performance Coach! We all need a little help to realize and become the best version of ourself and Kelly is here to help us with just that. Read on to hear more about Kelly:


I always wanted to be an accompanist! While completing my Bachelors degree in (solo) Piano Performance I always made sure I had plenty of vocalists, strings and woodwinds to work with, and frankly this gave me more joy and feelings of being part of a community than “going it alone” ever did. I found accompanying was also challenging in many ways, because it was not all about me- it’s about the composer of the music, the historical period, and the unique interpretation of the soloist. My job is to listen closely, find connections with the music and the performer, and get to know their personality and style so well that under intense pressure I can follow them wherever they go without hesitation, even when they skip parts of the score due to extreme nervousness! So while I excelled at piano and flute performance, it was never my true home.
 
Same holds true for my ten years playing competitive tennis. I found doubles and mixed doubles incredibly fun- and felt freer there about pushing myself and stretching my limits. When others were depending on me to win, it became imperative to perform well. It took some time before it became equally important to do well for myself.

After a few years of teaching piano, flute (and tennis in the summer) I realized that working with people and discovering how they learned was of more interest to me than the actual subject matter. This prompted me to complete a Masters degree in Educational Psychology and enter the realm of therapy and counselling. Much to my delight, it turned out this was also an accompaniment journey of sorts! It required listening intently, asking key questions, and being with people as they went back in time to re-visit earlier troubling experiences. Once encountered, analyzed and placed in current context, clients were freer to make conscious choices. I found the two decades of work in this field to be meaningful, challenging and mentally strenuous.

In 2010, two worlds came together for me in terms of finding a more goal-oriented way of working: the world of sports, and the practice of co-active coaching. I embarked on a year long certification program in coaching, and at the same time, started to steer my counselling practice away from crisis intervention and more towards a short-term, very focused process. It seemed a natural way to combine my previous passion for tennis, my love of music and my excitement about the psychology of learning. It allowed me to assign homework and be firm about accountability and progress.

This style suited me because I tend to be goal-oriented and prone to move to action quickly myself. It is this more recent approach to working with athletes, coaches and teams that seems a perfect fit! I still begin with lots of listening, key questions and exploration of personal history but we quickly move to setting goals and creating ways to be both inspired and accountable. 

In October of last year (2017) I completed a bucket list item by writing my first book, Mindful Team Making: a Guide for Coaches, Athletes, and Parents, and in it I invite readers to accompany me on the last decade of my journey working in this area. If you read this book you will get a clear sense of how I work and the in-depth nature of my approach to people. It’s all about discovering who you are, what unique things inspire you, and what and how we can propel you into keeping that constant flame alive during competition and in down times.

I am feeling thrilled about starting this phase of the journey with members of Team Triumph and look forward to working with you!
Kelly Adams

SAVE THE DATE! - On Sunday, Nov 18th at 9:30am we will be holding a Fall Renewal Retreat with Kelly at the Chelsea Pub.

To book a consultation with Kelly, please email her here: insightsinc@bell.net

For more information on our newly priced introductory packages click here and go to Personal Coaching and Memberships tabs https://www.amilia.com/store/en/team-triumph-ottawa/shop/programs/34699