This weekend, the National Congress of Coaches 2025 took place at the International Humanitarian University - a key professional event for specialists in the field of psychological coaching, facilitation, and human capital development.
The event brought together over 200 participants from different regions of Ukraine, including practicing psychologists, coaches, methodologists, and educational leaders. This year's theme of the Congress — "Modern Coaching Practice: Integration of Approaches and Interdisciplinarity" — aptly reflected the main demand of the profession: to go beyond the boundaries of individual schools and start working holistically, systematically, and adaptively.
Architects of change
The key voice of the event was Natalia Lebedeva, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, organizer of the Congress, and one of the most influential figures in the field of coaching. Her opening set not just the tone, but a new professional framework.
“Today, a client often does not need just a tool. There is an increasing demand for results, energy, meaning, and inner transformation. We are dealing with multidimensional requests, and this makes us think: is it enough to simply follow methods? Modern practice requires flexibility and depth,” notes Lebedeva.
At the heart of her message is integration. Not as a fashionable trend, but as a response to the complexity and multi-layeredness of the modern world. It is not just about combining approaches, but about the ability to think at the meta-level. A coach today is not just a carrier of knowledge, but rather a facilitator of the process. Someone who sees holistically, acts flexibly, holds the field, moderates group dynamics, works with the unconscious, with the energy of the group and the cultural context.
The Congress program was clearly structured, and this was especially noted by the guests. The main emphasis was not on the areas of psychology - family, clinical, or other - but rather on methods that work effectively in different areas and disciplines.
All speakers were specialized specialists from different fields. A special event was the speech of Nikita Permyakov, a novelty in the format of the event. His stand-up with a humorous look at typical challenges in the work of psychologists gave the event an informal sound and caused a lively response in the hall. This part became one of the most emotional highlights of the Congress.
Another innovation was a panel discussion with the participation of five speakers, including representatives of the event partner, Strateg. The topic of discussion was the impact of artificial intelligence on the coaching profession: does it help or, on the contrary, complicate the work of specialists, and where is the limit beyond which technology should stop. The discussion turned out to be lively, sometimes controversial, but extremely productive.
The main idea that ran through all the speeches was that a modern specialist works in a synthesis of methods and interdisciplinary approaches. In addition, within the peer-to-peer networking format, participants discussed the most pressing crises facing psychologists and jointly formulated practical ways to overcome them.
It is worth noting the aesthetic design of the Congress space, which became part of the professional impression. Photo zones, including the symbolic "Freud's couch", which became a favorite place for photos, an exhibition area with metaphorical maps and other trainer tools - all this created the atmosphere of a professional holiday, where the form harmoniously supported the content.
Congress as a platform for integration
In the end, the participants agreed on the main thing: integration is not a trend, but a vector of professional survival. “The instrument is the notes. Integration is music. And the coach is the one who plays,” concluded the event Natalia Lebedeva.
The National Coaches Congress 2025 left behind not just presentations, but a deep sense of a shift in focus within the profession itself. Less and less about techniques. More and more about awareness, integrity, and willingness to be in the difficult. This is how a new coach ethic is born.
