About David

My story

My journey begins with experiencing emotional neglect as a child, my parents separated when I was a baby, and they were emotionally unavailable for me. I was a quiet, shy child, and very emotionally withdrawn.

When I was 11 my elder brother took his own life. That was a catalyst for change, but it took about 30 years to get there.

My career started out in the science field. I have a master’s and bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and worked at the University of Cambridge researching neuroscience.

For 30 years I have been learning and teaching martial arts, Japanese sword, and adopting a zen philosophy – which influence my work as a coach – supporting people to be clear about their values, adopt boundaries and live life in a way that feels meaningful.

Martial arts and coaching complement each other – the thing that brings them together is working with the body. In 2019 to help bridge the gap between the two I took a course called the Embodied Facilitators Course (EFC). It provided a deep dive into developing a greater awareness of my own body. This is the only way to truly help people work with the body in life coaching.

I started Potentiality Coaching in 2013, being driven to enable people to move on from being emotionally stuck and reach their full potential. Living in that state creates much pain. People will end up doing things in their life to themselves and others and not understand why they did such a thing. It’s a frustrating and disempowering place to be. I help people move through this and become more present, compassionate and loving. If people can get to a place of emotional awareness and emotional expression it puts them in a much stronger place to be present partners, present parents, present children and present work colleagues.

My coaching training is with the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI). The Co-Active model of coaching appeals to me due to the flexibility that it provides to both coach and client in the journey to getting to awareness, transformation and freedom. the roots of what a client is struggling with.

I also volunteer for the Samaritans – which formed part of my training around listening and empathy – giving people the chance to be heard is powerful.

You can donate to the Samaritans here. Every penny goes towards volunteers working together to make sure fewer people die by suicide.

Aside from my work I embrace time spent in nature, music, and spending time with people – enjoying the wonder of them.