Somerset Emotion Coaching Project Evaluation Report: Phase Two

This project forms part of the Somerset Children and Young People Health and wellbeing in Learning Programme. The Somerset County Council Public Health team commissioned Bath Spa University and EHCAP (a social enterprise company) to deliver a programme of Emotion Coaching training to the children and young people’s workforce across the five districts of Somerset. The training is based on Bath Spa’s Attachment Aware Schools programme, the Tuning into Kids programme from Melbourne University, Australia, and the research on Emotion Coaching by John Gottman and colleagues, along with the research on mindfulness and the work of Dan Siegel in the USA.
To date, the project has spanned over two years and consists of three phases of training. During this time, the two organisations have worked together to train over 160 champions to take on leadership roles within their own organisations and across services working with professionals and young people. This has included working with Somerset Education Psychology Service and Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) to embed Emotion Coaching into their practice. The 2015-16 phase of the project was led by Dr Sarah Temple, a Somerset GP and director of EHCAP and Dr Janet Rose, a Reader in Education from Bath Spa University, now the Principal of Norland College. The 2016-17 phase of the project has been led by Dr Sarah Temple, Richard Parker, Head of Consultancy at Bath Spa University, and Rebecca Digby and Eleanor West, Research Associates at Bath Spa University. The project began its final phase in May 2017 and will complete at the end of December 2017. This will focus on facilitator training and is led by Dr Sarah Temple.
The project has had far reaching impact on both children and young people, parents and those adults who work alongside them. Over the two years it has run, there have been continued reports that engagement in an Emotion Coaching approach has led to: increased empathic behaviours and understanding of a repertoire of emotions; increased self-regulation of behaviour; increased enjoyment and engagement in education settings; improved relationships and communication; and an increased culture of openness. Additionally, those working in the children and young people’s workforce have identified joined-up communication across services and increased wellbeing in the workplace.