Case of the Winner Kateryna Derkach in the 'Community Support' Category

Congratulations to Kateryna Derkach on winning first place in the "Community Support" category of the COACHING.UP case competition!

An inspiring story that gives hope and faith in humanity.

I am a business and life coach, PCC ICF, business mentor, crisis and military psychologist,

PTSD prevention and treatment practitioner, and psychotrauma therapist.

Coaching entered my life back in 2020. At that time, I had already transitioned from being a co-owner and manager of several businesses to a business consultant and mentor. However, I quickly became disillusioned with its effectiveness, as people still listened very selectively, and the responsibility lay with the consultant. So, I was looking for more effective and systematic ways to help people solve their problems, both in business and personal development. That’s when coaching caught my attention, and I realized—yes, this is it! And since then, I have never regretted my choice! Coaching became not only a logical extension of my competencies as an independent tool but also a powerful structuring foundation for all my existing and future knowledge and skills.

Thus, in the same year, 2020, I received my ACTP certificate (confirming the session's compliance with the PCC level). My happiness knew no bounds because, at that time, it was only the middle of my training! This meant that from then on, I was not just studying to become a professional coach—I already was one and continued to enhance my professionalism! I am infinitely grateful to my alma mater, COACHING.UP University, and all my teachers for such a high level of instruction!

After that, I was studying almost 24/7: I was fascinated by exploring human nature from all its angles to understand a person as a holistic system with all their facets, manifestations, and combinations that make each of us unique. Naturally, this helped me better understand myself, recover from burnout, and systematically build my new life and professional career. Gradually, clients began to appear who came specifically to me as a coach. I also started seeing client cases where they increased their income tenfold thanks to our work together!

But the real challenge came in 2022. The war began—a very difficult psychological period for all Ukrainians. And already in April, I joined the university’s project "Coaching Support for Ukrainians" as a coach, and later became its curator. Our team helped those who had lost their homes, loved ones, and stability. We worked with crisis requests, helping people find inner support even in total chaos. And this proved how effective coaching is in stressful conditions. It’s not just about questions and answers—it’s about the strength we uncover in a person.

A little later, when the enemy's advance was contained, the situation somewhat stabilized, and crisis requests from civilians noticeably decreased, I realized that those who truly needed our professional support going forward were the military—those who had been defending our country all this time, no matter what! Thus began the next stage—total immersion in military and crisis psychology and psychotrauma therapy. And in 2023, I had my first visit to a battalion! This was as part of a volunteer organization, of which I am still an active member.

Today, I conduct individual and group sessions (consultations, trainings, workshops, etc.), helping military personnel overcome the consequences of combat stress, veterans reintegrate into civilian life and restore their mental health, their families adapt to changes and understand their loved ones who are at the front, companies create conditions for the fastest reintegration of veterans into the workplace, communities build effective interaction between civilians and those returning from the front, and fellow coaches and psychologists understand the specifics of working with the military. And, of course, I continue working as a coach and business mentor. Coaching remains the foundation of my work—it is both the base and structure, the approach and the set of working tools. Its principles and methods allow for a more structured, systematic, and profound result.

For example, in one of the women entrepreneurs’ support projects, where I regularly participate as a business mentor, in each of the three cohorts, almost all my mentees reached the finals, and one of them won a grant to develop her business. Another participant completely changed her field of activity after our meeting, finally finding what truly inspires her and where she genuinely wants to invest her resources after years of struggle. At the same time, all of them noted that, although it was disappointing not to win, the value of our work exceeded the value of winning the competition!

Participants in my workshops highlight the relevance of the topics, the ease of understanding, and the practicality of the material, and they are eager to recommend such events. All this is thanks to coaching approaches, which help adapt materials, engage the audience, and integrate knowledge into real life.

As a coach, I take part in several socially significant projects: the joint project of ICF Foundation and DTEK Academy "National Coaching Program 'Restore Yourself'" (working with leaders from various fields and sectors of Ukraine's economy), the "On-Support. Coaching Support for Ukrainian Business During the War" project, the volunteer support project of the Future For Ukraine foundation, which takes care of our wounded veterans, and more.

By the way, it is interesting to note that my research on the benefits of coaching, which I conducted as part of my thesis in crisis psychology (topic: "Coaching as an Effective Tool for Psychological Support of the Civilian Population in Crisis Conditions of War"), showed a very high effectiveness of coaching as a tool for stabilizing the psycho-emotional state—even compared to classical psychological methods. Surveys showed a 50% reduction in overall stress levels, and for more detailed aspects, the improvement ranged from 30% to 85%. Additionally, 79.4% of respondents rated the effectiveness of psychological support at 4 or 5 (on a 5-point scale), while the effectiveness of coaching received such ratings from 86.3% of participants, with a significant majority giving it a perfect score.

Thus, the importance of coaching in these challenging times we are living in is difficult to overestimate—whether at the level of individuals, communities, the country, or the world!

Coaching helps people find their own solutions, feel in control of themselves and their lives, regain resources and internal support, and enables specialists to create an atmosphere of trust and partnership, uncover the true cause of problems that may be deeply hidden, and select or adapt tools that will work for a specific person or community in their unique context.

As for me—I feel every day that my work is valuable, that it benefits people and my country, and that I have a reason to wake up in the morning!

Author: Kateryna Derkach,

Coach PCC ICF

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