About Tracey

My Story

It was shortly after the turn of the Millenium when I realised life wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I was a senior leader, working too many hours to support others with nothing left to support myself. Life felt hollow. I felt hollow. Hollowed out and burnt out.

My first period of burnout and was joined by a vicious inner critic who told me I just needed to try harder. Work harder. Push myself beyond my boundaries. To be strong and self-sufficient. I treated myself like a machine but without the care for any kind of maintenance or service schedule.

It came as no surprise that a second period of burnout hit me a few years later. I wasn’t listening to myself and hadn’t learned from my experience. The well-intentioned advice of others was ignored because I no longer knew how to listen. At my lowest I wondered what had happened to my younger self who was clever, bright and quick. What would she say if she saw me now?

We hear a lot about what advice you would give to your younger self but I was curious about the reverse. What advice would 7 year old me offer? I asked myself, “Who do you want to be when you grow up?” The answer was simple, me, and I hadn’t been me for years.

This was a pivotal moment in my life and was the start of over 10 years of change. Jobs, career, relationships, identity, home were all considered and reviewed with one thing in common: what was right for me.

It was scary and sometimes high risk but a great coach and an amazing therapist supported me when I needed it. For the first time in years I wasn’t alone with my thoughts.

The Accountancy and leadership roles were dropped. I retrained as a Coach, a Psychotherapist and a Supervisor. A complete career change which felt like swapping a pair of ill-fitting work boots for a pair of comfy slippers. In case you wondered, younger me wanted to be a Psychiatrist, older me now listened and, whilst too late for a medical career, made something even better happen.

My private practice grew and thrived and I witnessed firsthand how people often found themselves stuck in professional or personal transitions without clear support. I saw how clients moved between therapy and coaching as they tried to find a way through. I realised that traditional therapy, while valuable, wasn’t always the best framework for the kinds of challenges my clients faced—particularly those in leadership roles, navigating high-pressure careers and personal crossroads.

I wanted to offer something different: a space where individuals could develop self-awareness, regain confidence, and create meaningful change. My approach integrates the depth of therapeutic insight with the action-oriented nature of coaching, ensuring my clients receive practical guidance and emotional resilience-building strategies.

Today, I work with professionals who are at a turning point—whether it’s a career decision, leadership challenge, or personal transition. I also mentor and supervise coaches who want to enhance their practice with therapeutic coaching skills. My work is driven by the belief that people thrive when given a safe, structured space to explore possibilities, understand themselves, and take action towards meaningful change.

If you’d like to take action towards meaningful change, either for yourself or your clients, I’d love to help.

Professional Bio

Credibility counts so I’m not shy about listing my relevant qualifications and memberships. It may also help to know that I spent 30 years building a successful career in the public and voluntary sectors. This included 14 years in Local Government, 4 years with the NSPCC, and 11 years with the NHS where I concluded my public sector career as a senior leader for the Post Graduate Medical Deanery in the East Midlands. You can view my LinkedIn profile here.

Since 2012 I have supporting various charities as a volunteer Psychotherapist and a Trustee.

I am currently an Executive Committee member of the BACP Coaching Division and am proud to support the strategic development of dual-trained practitioners working in this growing field.

Qualifications & Training:

  • Founder of The Blended Approach

  • ILM Level 7 Executive and Performance Coach

  • Diploma in Clinical Supervision

  • PGDip in Person-Centred Psychotherapy

  • Certificate in Interpersonal Mediation

  • Chartered Management Accountant

Memberships

  • BACP Accredited Psychotherapist

  • Fellow of the Association for Coaching

  • Member of the Trusted Coach Directory

  • Member of the Better Bolder Braver Community

  • Proud to offer Coaching support for the East Midlands Councils Network

Approach:

My unique method, The Blended Approach, incorporates transformational coaching, therapeutic insight, mediation tools and leadership strategy. This is ideally suited for clients who are high-achieving professionals, particularly women navigating career and life shifts.

For clients exploring life changing events, I also bring in the deeper transformational elements of existentialism and philosophy.

For coaches, my approach sits broadly within the Cyclical Model of Supervision and is non-directive. You bring the issues which are of most benefit for you, your clients and your practice.

To read more about The Blended Approach, click here.