Welcome
I come from a back ground in acting, writing, and teaching. I am also an ICF accredited coach and NLP practitioner. This combination of experience and training has enabled me to work with people in creative roles across a spectrum of areas. My mission is to help people to clear the weeds and find the strategies and steps to move them into the lives they want to lead. Lives that align with their values and hold purpose and meaning for them. Making changes, even the ones we long for, can be daunting. I know. As someone who made a huge transition from working for an institution, high status and well paid, to live a freelance life, I understand the fears surrounding change. I understand the changes that come with ageing, with children, with redundancy, with just trying to function in a world that keeps on shifting. It is so easy to feel lost. It is so easy to feel blocked. It is so easy to feel overwhelmed. But I believe in the potential in all of us to transform the situations we find ourselves in. Sometimes we just need the space and the right questions asked of us to gain clarity, reignite motivation, boost confidence, and above all to take action.
Coaching is practical, sometimes challenging, but always supportive. If you know what it is you want, then there are ways to make it happen.
My services
Coaching for clarity and change
What do you want? Is that really what you want? What makes that important to you? What is getting in the way? What can you do about it? What WILL you do about it? How will you reframe your thinking? How will you do things differently so that you are no longer held back by habits or patterns of behaviour?
Using a variety of coaching strategies and tools, sessions take a pragmatic approach towards problem solving, making changes, and achieving your goals.
Sessions facilitate an exploration of your needs and values, what is happening in your current reality, and what actions to take to bring about the outcome you desire. We will work together to address any limiting beliefs, challenge the blocks that may inhibit you, understand all the possibilities open to you, and discover the confidence to move forward and make a change.
Coaching can take place either online or in person, but it always happens in a space that is non-judgemental, supportive, and where you will be held with unconditional regard.
This could be for you if:
- You want to make a change to your lifestyle.
- You are feeling stuck or lost in an area of your life.
- You have a specific goal you want to achieve but lack the confidence or know – how to make it happen
- You have a decision to make and need clarity.
- You are feeling the effects of change in your life and need to adjust to the transition.
Coaching for
Presentation Skills
It is often not what we say that makes people listen. It is the way we say it. Breath, focus, tone, energy, clarity, eye contact, posture, stillness, movement. Words only tell a fraction of the story.
Whether making a presentation at work, a speech at a big occasion, interviewing for a job, auditioning for a role, or engaging in any other form of public speaking, there are tools and strategies to help you.
Sessions will focus on specific technical aspects such as breath, articulation and delivery, the importance of physiology, and the ability to overcome any anxiety or nerves associated with speaking publicly.
Find your authentic voice, say what you need to say, engage with your audience, and ensure that you are seen and heard the way you want to be.
This could be for you if:
- You deliver presentations at work.
- You have an important speech coming up.
- You want to present your best self at an interview or audition.
- Your job involves talking to groups, eg. a team manager.
Coaching for
Writers
Sometimes the process of writing can be an agonising one. Block, doubt, lack of motivation, even just the loneliness of the process. Writers find writing difficult!
Writing is a complex process and there are many issues that writers have to deal with. You may find your flow of creativity becomes blocked. You may experience a significant drop in confidence, doubting your ability to tell the story or finish the work. You may be procrastinating a lot, trying to find the motivation to get going. You may be struggling to meet a deadline, or even just struggling with managing your time in general.
Some writers find it difficult to talk about their work or read extracts to an audience. That is part of the process you may have to deal with too, and not everyone is comfortable discussing and promoting themselves and their words.
Writing can be a lonely process and sometimes support is needed to help maintain focus, motivation, and self-belief, as well as, when the time comes, to present your work.
This could be for you if:
- If you have lost your motivation.
- If you are lacking confidence or feeling fearful.
- If you are struggling with time management and deadlines.
- If you have to present your work or do a reading.
Ready to take the next step?
What my clients say
Mathilde Petford Producer/Director/Theatre Maker
Working with Thomasina the last 10 months has been a truly transformative experience.
From the very first session, she created a safe, relaxed, and supportive space where I felt comfortable enough to explore myself. Tom helped me find clarity in my thinking, she listened and reflected back to me without judgement where there were blind spots and each session we would came up with practical ways to help me move forward with confidence.
I can’t recommend Thomasina enough to anyone looking for genuine, compassionate, and effective coaching!
Rosie Fleeshman Actor, Writer, Singer
Thomasina is a powerhouse, innovative, uber intelligent and insightful. Thomasina understands so much about the mind body and soul. She understands what drives a person instinctively and has helped me through some very tricky and challenging times in my life emotionally. I highly recommend Thomasina’s services the wealth of experience and empathy bought to each session is amazing and always supportive.
Carol Harvey Barnes. Academic.
I approached Thomasina as I was feeling a degree of anxiety about a play I had written, which I was also about to act in. Sometimes that anxiety bordered on panic. Thomasina was an empathetic and calming presence, who also felt deeply invested in my particular dilemma. She offered me not only a plethora of very practical tips and tricks in order to deal with both writer’s stress and actor’s anxiety, but was also somehow always in my corner if and when I needed her. It’s one thing getting opportunities, it another being able to enjoy them. Working with Thomasina definitely helped me to allow myself to do much more of the latter. I wholeheartedly recommend her.
Neil De Souza Actor and Writer
As a self-employed creative artist, it’s easy to get caught up in a single direction. Through my sessions with Thomasina, I’ve learned to organize my work regimen and build my mental confidence, recognising my full potential and abilities. It’s one thing to have others praise your work, but truly believing in your own talent propels you to greater heights. These sessions have strengthened my self-confidence, clarified my goals, and transformed my work ethic and mental well-being. Thomasina’s patience, respect, and thoughtful consideration in our sessions have been invaluable in helping me find and understand myself.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lee Payne. Dancer and teacher
I worked with Thomasina for 5 sessions. I went to her because there was a growing dissatisfaction with my work and the direction of my career. I had lost confidence in the ability to make choices. Thomasina was immediately clear on the way we would work together which was very reassuring. What was absolutely brilliant from her first session was that Thomasina guided me to find my own solutions. Through gentle but clear questioning, empathy but also challenging enquiry, Thomasina enabled me to clarify my own thoughts. Thomasina was also practical, setting, what felt like reasonable goals, specific times to do these goals and we visited them each time we met to discuss outcomes and reasons why they may or may not have happened. The act of commitment with someone supporting and challenging you really helped me to move forward. This felt a very safe environment which, although clearly led and guided by Thomasina, empowered me to have confidence in my own voice again.
Fiona Dunn. Director, Writer, Actor
“It is always hard for a writer to talk clearly and eloquently about their work in public, but it is especially difficult for a writer whose mother tongue is not English. In just a short time with Thomasina I immediately felt more confident about my breathing, pronunciation and presentation. She gave me useful skills that I remind myself of every time I have to talk about my books or films at festivals or on the radio or TV”
Xialolu Guo, writer and filmmaker
Thomasina gave me a completely non-judgmental space in which to first identify the issues making me feel “stuck” and then discover practical ways to address them. The solutions I came up with in conversation with Thomasina were simple but potentially life-changing.For example, instead of trying to fight my procrastination by berating myself (useless!) I decided to take a “reduce rather than eliminate” approach, consciously shortening the periods I spent procrastinating. I realised I work better in mornings, so decided to get up earlier and shift the pattern of the day. I also worked on ways to tackle my difficulty in making small decisions by putting a list of tasks into a ‘hat’- surprisingly effective! Thomasina’s approach was the perfect mix of common-sense, empathy and warmth.
Tania Thaler, Writer
Thomasina is an outstanding coach who has allowed me to discover so much within our sessions.
Sometimes I have attended a session thinking that I’d like to discuss something specific, or indeed not knowing what I’d like to discuss, but then within the hour I can be surprised at what topics have come up. There is always a moment (at least one!) within each session where I make a discovery, and at times these have been profound.
There is a mixture of exploring feelings and reasons for these, understanding my current circumstances, and planning pragmatic solutions and actions.
There is a lot of information I have written down, reflected on, and used to inform direct action in my life.
Thomasina has helped me to unpick a lot of different thoughts and confusion that has at times felt overwhelming, and to create an approach that is more manageable and feels hopeful.
Thomasina is patient, calm, understanding and makes me feel very comfortable to share honest thoughts, information and feelings. Thomasina has also helped me to believe that I can achieve the changes I am looking for, and to also take time to value the positive attributes I possess/aspects of my life I can enjoy and build on.
Adam Davenport, College Principal
The eight sessions I had with Thomasina Unsworth were extraordinarily helpful. I started the sessions thinking I needed help to make a decision, but rapidly realised, through Thomasina’s careful guidance, that I had already made the decision and in fact needed help implementing it.The sessions helped me with every aspect of that implementation: Planning on a practical level in terms of prioritising and timetabling, clarifying what needed to be done and why, coping with the fear and anxiety that came with the decision, overcoming the lack of confidence and assertiveness that was holding me back from implementing the decision in the right way. The way in which Thomasina used language to adjust my thinking – helping me rephrase the way I was expressing things in order to lead to better understanding and better actions – was skilled and illuminating. Her warmth, companionship and encouragement made what could have been a lonely, frightening process much more enjoyable and happy. I found the experience of working with her transformative, and was deeply impressed by her expertise.
Rebecca Carter, Literary Agent
I found my coach Thomasina exceptionally supportive and intuitive with her coaching approach. She was an attentive listener and was really able to challenge me to explore current issues and obstacles head on. She ensured I remained focused on my intentions and goals whilst exploring my way of thinking and values. Thomasina allowed space and time for me to reflect on patterns and repetitive language I was unaware of using.
The sessions with Thomasina really helped me gain clarity and enabled me to move forward and make big decisions with ease and confidence.
Thomasina is incredibly professional and non judgemental, she created a safe space for me to talk freely and allow for new ideas to appear and self awareness to grow.
A Big thank you!
Chloe Cockburn, Life Coach
It is safe to say I needed to make a change in various aspects of my life but I had no clue where to begin until I met Thomasina.
Thomasina helped me break down each area that felt confusing or was creating a negative impact on my life. She challenged me to rethink in a more positive mindset. She helped me to realise my strengths along with working with me to fight my challenges step by step.
Thomasina is a fantastic coach. She brings warmth and genuine care in a safe space. I felt really listened to and heard. I wouldn’t have had the courage to move forward without her support.
Katie Davy, Head of Admissions
I began speaking with Thomasina at a turning point in my personal and professional life. I was very unsure about my goals.
During our first session, I can remember the plethora of times it crossed my mind to say “I’m not exactly sure. I’ll have to think about this and get back to you.” Thomasina challenged me to dig deeper and say what I was thinking in the moment. She helped me to iterate how I envision an ideal life/job when I wasn’t sure what the end goal would be, and eventually, to figure out what the end goal(s) was/were.
Thanks to Thomasina’s support, I started a career that offers me security and stability and suits all of the goals I discovered during and between our sessions. I also dug deeper into other passions and projects that I was not pursuing as much as I wanted to and honed in (or out, rather) on the activities I found myself to not be all too interested in.
I would (and have) highly recommend Thomasina to others for life coaching support.
Cailynn Chase, Environmentalist
Thomasina really helped me to look at situations in a different way and question the way I view myself and my abilities. She had a very calm and reassuring approach which made me feel safe and secure. I never felt judged or anxious when talking to her about the aspects of my life that I wanted to change. After every session, I felt calmer and more positive. I felt Thomasina enabled me to find strategies to deal with sitautions I was unhappy with. I found the goal setting after every session so useful, as it helped me to focus on specific aspects before our next session. It was very rewarding to be able to report back successes at the start of every new session. It made me feel empowered that I had been able to make changes which were beneficial to my happiness and well-being.
I loved the way that Thomasina challenged me on my thinking in a very kind and calm manner. She would gently ask me for evidence on my preconceptions, and she would help me to see situations from a different stance without telling me what to do. This really helped me to believe that I could achieve my goals and that I wasn’t being unreasonable for wanting to change certain aspects of my life.
I would always look forward to my sessions with Thomasina, as I knew that by the end of every session I would come away feeling more positive and enabled in my quest to achieve my goals. I felt that things were clearer in my own mind about what I needed to do and change.As a result of my sessions with Thomasina, I feel that my dreams could become reality, and that there is no reason why I can’t take the steps I need to take in order to turn my life around. I feel that I can move forward in the direction that I want my life to take, rather than stick with old ways which were not making me happy. This feeling of empowerment is priceless, as is the feeling that I can make change happen.
Katerina Mills, Teacher
About me
I trained and worked as an actor for many years. Although I went from job to job, I always felt that something didn’t fit. It was fun, sometimes crazy, rewarding in many ways, but still a little voice inside me told me it wasn’t right. Like so many people do, I didn’t stop and listen. Then one day when I was heavily pregnant with my first daughter, and so unable to take acting work, I covered for a friend teaching at a drama school. I loved it. The realisation dawned that what really made me happy was facilitating others to reach their potential. Years went by, more teaching, less acting, a second daughter, two books published. I am not sure I quite chose the destination, but I ended up as the principal of a different drama school. Life just went that way, and again I didn’t listen to the little voice that told me that it wasn’t right, or at least I didn’t know what to do about what the voice was telling me or about how I was feeling. I got stuck. There are periods of time when feeling stuck or lost almost becomes a way of being, and the problem is that when this happens, we can lose sight of our own potential and power to take charge of our lives and make a change. I was lucky. Alongside my regular work I also trained for two years as a Personal Development Coach and as an NLP Practitioner with an accredited provider and began to work with clients. This work led me to quit my job as a principal. From feeling helpless, I came to understand that it really is possible to move forward with clarity and confidence. I have since become accredited directly by the International Coaching federation as an Associate Coach and now spend my time coaching in a variety of contexts with private clients, in an educational or group setting, and for companies promoting wellbeing in the arts. I love working with people who hold creative roles or who want to bring creativity into their lives. I value kindness, humour and transparency. And I am so relieved that the little voice that told me things weren’t right has finally gone quiet.
Latest blog posts
Why did I let him get to me?
Yesterday I got really shouted at... I mean screamed at really. I hadn't done anything dangerous. But I had done something annoying. It meant the other driver had to reverse and then wait for a couple of minutes. If I was him I would have been a bit pissed off too As...
When does the dream become a nightmare?
Is it ever time to let go? You know we are told never to give up on the dream, right? We hear stories about wonderfully tenacious people who reap the rewards of their efforts years down the line. I happen to believe in pursuing your dreams and goals. Tenacity...
They are with us still
Tattoos used to be seen as a mark of rebellion Or something that only the wilder souls amongst us used to get done. Not so much now. Everyone seems to have one. (My daughters have got at least 14 between them) I got this written on my arm when my mum was slipping over...
Proud to display my garden produce
Ah well….
#garden #sizeisnteverything
I wanted to share this, sorry it is a little long but you need the whole thing to make sense of it. So hang in there!
When my girls were little, at bedtime I would ask them to put all their negative thoughts and fears into an imaginary basket which had strings attached to each side. We would then imagine two seagulls with beaks clamped to the strings, carrying the basket off far away and dropping it out to sea. It was a way of finding a place for all the unwanted feelings really.
However, what I love about this speech is that it embraces the fears, the failures,the shame, the doubts, the mistakes, as being part of who we are, an important and fine part of who we are. To find a safe and peaceful place to let them rest. We don’t need to banish them, like I banished my girl’s worries when they were little.
We can embrace and live with them and they’re part of the whole vast unknowingness of being alive.
Anyway, this speech comes from Rachel Blackman’s brilliant play ‘You’re not doing it wrong (If no one knows what you’re doing. )’ Have a listen and see how it makes you feel.
#@rach_blackman #thomasinacoaching #lifecoach
Just so lucky to be here in Greece. Pressing a pause button. Having a reset. Feeling grateful
I just heard this, and wanted to share.
Happy Friday all
#lifecoach #makeachange #together
#lifecoach #nlp #transformation #mindfulness
What a lovely testimonial to receive today.
If you want to find out whether coaching could be one of the best decisions you will ever make contact me for a free consultation.
#decisions #personaldevelopment #change #freshstart #lifecoach #creative
My favourite new word.
I hold onto this word
I have come to think of it regardless of the quantity of sunlight
The comfort of a hot cup of coffee in the morning
A Robin sitting in the bare branches of a tree
My daughter coming home for Christmas
A client finding their way forward
There is a lot of apricity to be found
Even on the greyest day
It’s just that sometimes you have to look for it
Where will you find yours today?
#wintersun
#light
#lifecoach
#joy
Contact me
Once you get in touch I will arrange a time that suits you to discuss the process in more detail; what you can expect, how it all works, and most importantly what you need from coaching.
It is important that you feel comfortable in these sessions to really pursue your aims and goals, so this initial discussion will give you the opportunity to ask any questions and get a sense of who I am and how we would work together.
Any information you send will be treated as confidential.