Core Competencies Fall Summit 2026
with Valerie Freilich, PCC & Shakti Radhakishun, CPCC
Date: Monday, November 9, 2026 • 12:00 PM
Relational Health in Coaching: Deepening ICF Competencies Through Awareness, Courage & Love™
Offered as part of the ICFSFL Wellbeing Committee’s contribution, this session starts from a simple observation: coaches spend their days holding space for others and may not receive the same quality of presence themselves. We treat the coach’s relational well-being as both a personal resource and part of professional practice – the latter, formally now acknowledged by ICF through the 2025 ICF Core Competencies – Competency 2: Embodies a Coaching Mindset.
Awareness, Courage & Love™ (ACL) is an evidence-based relational framework developed by Dr. Mavis Tsai and Robert Kohlenberg, PhD, grounded in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP). ACL is not a coaching model, but it offers coaches a precise language for what happens in the relationship itself: noticing what is alive in the moment (Awareness), taking interpersonal risks in service of the client (Courage), and responding to vulnerability with care (Love).
In this experiential session, participants will practice these three capacities with one another by first: noticing their own state, voicing a personal need, and receiving care. We will then briefly discuss how the same capacities carry into the coaching relationship and deepen specific 2025 ICF Core Competencies. We explore how relational wellbeing matters
beyond self-care. Research on coaching outcomes consistently points to the coach–client working partnership as one of the strongest predictors of results. A coach who is relationally resourced brings more of themselves to that partnership.
Learning Objectives tied to Core Competencies
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- Experience the three ACL capacities (Awareness, Courage, Love) as a resource for their own relational well-being.
- Notice and name their in-the-moment inner state and needs, supporting self-awareness and presence (ICF Competencies 2, 5).
- Name one ACL practice to sustain their own well-being as a coach (ICF Competency 2).
- Recognize how the same capacities strengthen the coaching relationship with clients (ICF Competencies 4, 5, 6, 7,8).
About the Speaker: Valerie Freilich, PCC & Shakti Radhakishun, CPCC
Valerie Freilich, PCC: Executive and leadership coach (Portable Compass). A lifelong experiential learner, Valerie brings 25+ years of wisdom to global organizations in developing individual and collective leadership and caring capacities to thrive in challenging and complex environments. She serves as Partnership and Impact Strategic Advisor at the ACL Global Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Dr. Mavis Tsai, co-founder of the ACL Miami Chapter and Board Advisor to the World Happiness Foundation.
Shakti Radhakishun, CPCC: Leadership and life coach. Shakti brings 18+ years of experience in finance/investment banking. As she partners with emerging leaders to create a supportive space for self-exploration, reflection, and growth. Through coaching, clients build confidence, strengthen values-based leadership, and create more purposeful, fulfilling lives. Shakti supports non-profit organizations that serve the wellbeing and growth of their members and communities, including ICF South Florida Chapter and ACL Miami Chapter (co-founder).