The Essential Role of DEI in Wave’s Mental Health Coaching
At Wave, we believe Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion principles create a strong foundation for our high quality care. As Wave Coach Megan Murk shares, holding an intersectional perspective helps coaches support their clients by “deeply understanding the uniqueness of people’s identities and how they layer to inform someone’s experience.” In other words, DEI-focused coaches believe that understanding and respecting a person’s identities is critical to coaching. Coaches don’t necessarily need to share the same identity as their clients (although there can be a special synergy that happens when they do) — but coaches do need to bring their own identity into the room and make space for their client to feel safe doing so. When everyone’s able to bring their full selves into the coaching relationship, there’s more possibility for safety, support, and growth.
Here’s why DEI principles are essential to Wave’s coaching:
The coaching relationship is more authentic. Coaching is most effective when people get to bring their whole selves into the session. That means their full identities and life experiences, in all their complexity. When a coach brings a strong DEI foundation into the coaching relationship, people feel seen and heard in a far deeper way.
Coaching honors each person’s uniqueness. The definition of wellbeing means something different to everyone. Each person’s set of circumstances, supports, and challenges are unique. Wave coaches honor each client’s unique path to health and help them define and follow their goals, rather than recommending a set path. (The set paths are usually based on straight, white, male standards of success that feel misaligned for many.)
It takes inequality into account. We need to stop assuming there’s an equal playing field when it comes to emotional wellbeing. Many recommendations assume an equal access to support and resources that just isn’t realistic. Wave uses a social-ecological model to look at the many layers that influence someone’s experience. In order to be truly open and nonjudgmental and partner with someone, Wave coaches believe that you can’t make any assumptions.
DEI-focused coaching sees people in context. As a society, we too often call something a moral failure when it’s really a systemic issue. You’ll never hear Wave coaches adopting a “mind over matter” philosophy. DEI-focused coaching sees people in their context, taking into account how social determinants of health and systemic oppression may be affecting someone’s experience.
We’re taking these steps to ensure DEI principles are deeply integrated into Wave’s emotional health coaching:
Our coach training program includes modules on DEI practices and trauma-informed care, so all coaches have a shared competency and strong DEI foundation.
Wave incorporates the ADDRESSING framework, adapting it from therapy to coaching. This framework intentionally and consciously brings client identities into the conversation.
We include and consider both client and coach identities in our case consults (while maintaining client confidentiality). This makes it possible to appreciate intersectionality when considering a client’s strengths, challenges, and opportunities for support.
There’s no one-size-fits all approach baked into our coaching model — we don’t make assumptions about someone’s experience, context, or access to care. Instead, our coaches ask specific questions about each person’s real life experience and coach to their unique circumstances.
We’re changing the face of coaching itself. Recent data confirms what we’ve known all along: most coaches are White women — increasing Coach representation has been at the heart of Wave Coach Training Program’s mission from the start.
What does DEI-focused coaching look like in action?
Leah* is a straight, Black, cisgender woman who started working with a Wave coach in her late 20s. She started coaching for support navigating a toxic work environment. As she and her Wave coach started to explore her experience at work, it became clear to both of them that Leah was experiencing racism and judgment in her work environment, specifically from her supervisor. Because Leah’s work environment didn’t feel like a safe place to report her manager, her Wave coach helped her process her emotions around the experience and search for a new role in a healthier and more respectful environment. While Leah says she originally came to Wave looking for help specific to her career, she eventually realized what she wanted to work on was bringing her whole self more fully into her experiences (not only in her work, but also with family, relationships, and friendships). She and her coach are still working on that together today.
Cathy* is a straight, Vietnamese-American cisgender woman in her early 20s. While she originally didn’t bring up her identities in the coaching space, her coach shared a bit about her own identity in their work together. When Cathy felt safe sharing, a lot of the coaching work started to focus on her Vietnamese-American identity and feelings of belonging and community. She and her coach were able to talk openly about how their identities overlapped and differed. While her coach may not have lived Cathy’s exact experience in her own life, she was able to have a deeper understanding and hold space for Cathy to explore and process.
Theo* is a queer, white, trans man in his early 30s. He originally came to Wave coaching because of panic attacks and feeling stressed and overwhelmed all the time. While he expected his Wave coach to dive right into coping skills, he was surprised when they spent a lot of the early sessions talking about his identity and day-to-day life. Living in Florida, Theo was feeling scared about his queer identity and safety. He realized his panic increased on his drives to work, passing by billboards that felt like an attack on his existence. They worked on coping skills and support, in the context of who he is and what he was going through each day, which made the work more powerful.
*Names and exact details changed to protect our clients’ identities.
Experience for yourself how a focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion makes mental health coaching more powerful and effective — download the Wave app today and connect with a coach who will always meet you where you are.