Promoting wellbeing through peer support, mentoring or coaching supervision: Barriers and enablers

In recent years, coaching and coaching psychology have flourished, with the inception of a full Division of the British Psychological Society (BPS, 2021) in the UK and the development of coaching practices in a number of industries including education, business executive leadership, social care, elite sport, creative arts and health. The growth of coaching psychology has seen the emergence of debates around the role of reflective practice, and supervision both at individual and peer group levels and this topic continues to create discussion amongst coaches, professionals and supervisors. This article aims to share professional experiences collated from a small group of coaching practitioner psychologists and coaches with different levels of experience and skills who have regularly met since 2020 on a monthly basis for peer group supervision held exclusively online. Four main themes emerged from the analysis of reflections discussed: 1) Peer Practice, Individual & Group Supervision Commonalities & Differences 2) Strengths and Enablers for Effective Peer Group Supervision 3) Challenges and Opportunities 4) Self-care and Ethical Commitments to Oneself (and Others). Different perspectives and reflections are summarised, with barriers and enablers, and final reflections are offered for future directions on this ongoing debate.