Ana Paula Nacif

Ana Paula Nacif

Senior Lecturer

Department of Professional Psychology , School of Childhood and Social Care

Areas Of Interest

  • Group coaching
  • Coaching for wellbeing
  • Coaching for social impact
  • Positive psychology coaching
  • Coaching women in leadership
  • Positive leadership
Ana Paula Nacif

OVERVIEW

Ana Paula is a senior lecturer and module leader for the Master of Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology. She is an experienced executive and group coach, consultant and facilitator, who works with a range of clients in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Ana has extensive experience in coaching for leadership, wellbeing, inclusion and career transition. She is also a coach supervisor, with expertise in groups. Ana is an EMCC Master Practitioner, and ICF Professional Certified Coach, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is the co-editor of the Philosophy of Coaching: An International Journal.

Ana's consultancy work expands over 20 years. During this time, she supported organisations in the statutory and not-for-profit sectors in various capacities, including communications and engagement; organisational development; and the design and delivery of wellbeing and leadership programmes.

In the private sector, her focus has been on executive coaching, group coaching and facilitation, particularly in professional and financial services.

In the social sector, Ana has managed and delivered various projects, working in partnership with National Lottery Community Fund, Kent Police, NHS, The Young Foundation, Department for Work and Pensions, Clore Social Leadership, Catch 22, Vital Regeneration, local authorities, amongst others. She was an approved Big Assist provider (funded by the Lottery) and supported the development and growth of several infra-structure organisations, including community voluntary services in Kent.

CERTIFICATIONS

  • Professional Certified Coach, ICF
  • Master Practitioner Coach. EMCC
  • European Supervisor Individual Accreditation. EMCC
  • Association for Coaching

AWARDS

Recipient of the Janice Cook Prize (2021), offered in memory of the late doctoral graduate Janice Cook, to the doctoral student who overcame great adversity during their doctoral study at Oxford Brookes.

PUBLICATIONS

Peer reviewed articles

Nacif, A. P. (2023). Group coaching: The new'Wild West of coaching'?. Coaching Psychologist, 19(1).

Nacif, A. P., Giraldez-Hayes, A., Finn, K., & Valdivielso-Martínez, E. (2023). Online group coaching: the experience of postgraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 16(2), 190-204.

Nacif, A. (2021) BeWell: a group coaching model to foster the wellbeing of individuals, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, S15, pp.171-186. https://doi.org/10.24384/t7td-p612

Books

Nacif, A. (2023) Coaching for Wellbeing: An Evidence-Based Guide for Practitioners. McGraw Hill.

Book chapters

Nacif, A. (2022) Focus on what is possible. In van Nieuwerburgh, C., & Williams, P. (Eds.). From Surviving to Thriving: A student's guide to feeling and doing well at university. SAGE.

Nacif, A. (in print, 2024) Coaching and mental health. In Passmore, J. (Ed.) The Health & Wellbeing Coaches Handbook. Routledge.

Reports

BACP Coaching for Social Impact report

Professional coaching publications

There is magic in numbers: the power of group coaching, Coaching Perspectives, Association for Coaching, January 2024.

Contemplating the mind: Including the shadows, Coaching Perspectives, Association for Coaching, October 2017.

Conferences

  • BPS Coaching Psychology Conference (2024)
  • EMCC UK Festival (2024) 
  • IPPA World Congress on Positive Psychology (2023)
  • Wales Coaching Conference (2023)
  • 17th Annual Coaching and Mentoring Research Conference (2021) BeWell Coaching for Wellbeing model (doctoral research)
  • EMCC Global Provider Summit (2021) Group coaching in organisations: influencing change in a hybrid world
  • Wales Coaching Conference (2021), presented the BeWell Coaching for Wellbeing model (doctoral research)
  • EMCC Global Summit Provider (2020) Group Coaching
  • University of East London Positive Psychology Symposium (2020) There is power in numbers: Group Coaching
  • East Midlands Coaching Conference (2019) Positive Psychology & Coaching
  • International Recovery to Wellness Coaching Conference (2015) Fostering Health and Wellbeing among HIV Positive Gay Men

TEACHING

  • Group coaching
  • Coaching psychology
  • Positive psychology coaching
  • Positive leadership

Publications

The last four years of publications can be viewed below. 

Full publications list

Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications

Research repository