Coaching Behind Bars: Facing Challenges and Creating Hope in a Womens Prison

A common perception of coaching is that it is a high value service for highly paid executives But what if you offered it to some of the most marginalized people in our society - women in prison? With more potential in any one of our prisons than in any Oxbridge college, discover how coaching can unlock clients, whatever their context.

Clare McGregor celebrates the amazing resilience of the human spirit and her book will challenge a lot of your preconceptions about prisons and prisoners. Willingness to take risks and learn from mistakes helped coaching adapt and thrive, even behind bars.

The process and questions for a prisoner are the same as for any client: Who are you? What do you want to change? How are you holding yourself back? Equally importantly, the book asks: What does it take to work in this challenging environment?

Dozens of fascinating stories bring reality to life: that coaching changes lives as readily in a prison as in a boardroom. All coaches have something to learn from this book that they can immediately use in their own practice.

"Remarkable book” “Dark humour"

The Times

"This remarkable book tracks McGregor’s work giving life coaching to women in HMP Styal. Focusing not on what offences have been committed but practical and tough solutions to help 'clients' achieve inner strength, Clare McGregor has changed the lives of women and staff at HMP Styal, largely with nothing more than a prisoner number, a bicycle and optimism. Clare is a star and the outcomes are stellar. To understand the reference, read the book - it will change your life and the lives of others – inside and out."

Professor Felicity Gerry QC

"I rarely suggest that a book should be required reading on coach training courses, but I have no hesitation in doing so in this case."

David Clutterbuck, Professor and Co-founder European Mentoring & Coaching Council

"This is a great book; it oozes humanity on every page. It is a challenging read - people not acquainted with the realities of crime and punishment will learn a lot about both from the powerful case studies and from the author’s personal reflections. Those well acquainted with crime and punishment, through their work, will be challenged to rethink what they do and how they do it. Clare McGregor tells us that humans come up with better solutions by 'being curious (rather) than furious' (p6) but I think I disagree; it is the combination of both insatiable curiosity and consuming fury at human suffering and injustice that makes her and her book so special. As one woman she has coached puts it: 'you ask all the right questions'. Readers of this book should be prepared to be challenged (like anyone else Clare coaches) to come up with their own answers; but the author certainly helps us along the way."

Fergus McNeill, Professor of Criminology and Social Work, University of Glasgow, UK

"A stark and thought provoking read, that totally makes sense! Having witnessed first-hand the importance of coaching, assisting and empowering a person who may have made a few ill-judged choices in life, to turn a bad situation good; I applaud the author for keeping it real, whilst demonstrating the true value of coaching."

James Timpson OBE, Chief Executive of Timpson and Chair of the Prison Reform Trust

Clare McGregor founded Coaching Inside And Out in 2010, a charity coaching men, women and young people on both sides of the prison gate. Clare is a creative coach, writer and speaker with over 25 years’ experience working with leaders, running businesses and developing services for those dealt the toughest hands in life.