Transitions: Navigating Change — Holding Space for Ourselves and Our Clients

As OD professionals and coaches, we stand beside our clients through times of profound upheaval—organizational restructures, job loss, economic instability, social unrest, and the quiet losses that follow change. We hold space for their despair, growth, and renewal. Yet, how often do we pause to examine our own internal transitions—the ways we metabolize uncertainty, loss, or transformation in our personal and professional lives? 

Nature offers a timeless mirror. After storms come stillness. After endings come new beginnings. This session invites practitioners to reconnect with nature’s wisdom as a lens for understanding both the turbulence and opportunities that come with change. Through guided reflection, discussion, and grounding practices, participants will explore how to deepen presence and expand their capacity to accompany others in transition.

By the end of this workshop, participants will: 

Differentiate between change and transition.

• Reflect on personal and professional experiences of transition to identify current needs and opportunities for growth.
• Recognize nature as a model for resilience, cyclical renewal, and wholeness within organizational life.
• Strengthen their ability to hold space for clients and teams navigating disruption with empathy and steadiness.
• Leave with tools to maintain personal balance and support organizational transformation.

Presenter — Tanara Bowie

Tanara is a trauma-informed and ICF (ACC) and National Board of Health and Wellness certified coach. For 30 years she has applied Gestalt theory to her work with groups and individuals. 

Tanara is a former Vice President at The Nebo Company where she facilitated several cohort programs for senior leaders and designed leadership development strategies for healthcare and nonprofit entities. She is a trainer for Mentor Agility’s Veterans Talking to Veterans program in which veterans are trained in a trauma-informed approach to coaching that uses storytelling to aid veterans on a path of healing and resilience. Her coaching clients include military veterans, family caregivers, those navigating identity after loss and in the second half of life. She uses myth, somatics and her extensive study and practice of Gestalt and Jungian principles to help clients navigate shadow stories, loss, and find renewed purpose.