Karen Bruns - ACMC Mentor Coach Directory

Biographical Info

For Karen Bruns, MCC/MCS/ACMC, mentor coaching is about much more than preparing coaches for an ICF credential. It is about helping coaches deepen their capacity to be with another human being.

Karen is an ICF Master Certified Coach (MCC), Advanced Certified Mentor Coach (ACMC), and holds the Mentor Coaching Specialist designations for ACC (MCSACC) and PCC (MCSPCC).  As the founder of Monarch Coaching & Training, she leads ICF-accredited Level 1 and Level 2 coach education programs and teaches Somatic Coaching & Neuroscience.  With four years of mentor coaching experience, Karen has supported coaches in developing toward both ACC and PCC credentials.  Her work reflects a deeply held belief: coach development is human development.

Mentor Coaching Philosophy

Karen believes the ICF Core Competencies are more than a collection of coaching skills or behaviors to demonstrate.  They are capacities that coaches develop, deepen, and eventually embody.  Her approach incorporates what she calls the Coaching Heartset:  presence, embodiment, attunement, curiosity, and trust in the client’s internal wisdom.  She invites coaches to explore not only how they demonstrate the competencies but also their relationship with them.  What comes naturally?  Where do they experience tension or uncertainty?  What internal patterns might be limiting their ability to be fully present?

Karen also helps coaches discover that the ICF Code of Ethics is not simply a collection of rules to follow but a foundation that supports and protects the coaching relationship, the client, and the coach.

Mentor Coaching Approach

Karen offers individual mentor coaching and small-group mentoring for ACC and PCC candidates, with groups limited to ten participants.  While ICF requires ten hours of mentor coaching for credentialing, Karen’s group mentoring experience includes seventeen hours devoted to exploring the competencies, examining actual coaching conversations, and engaging in the inner work of becoming a coach.  Her background in neuroscience and somatic awareness brings another dimension to mentoring, helping coaches recognize how their own nervous system patterns and internal responses can influence their capacity for presence and partnership.

Karen’s approach combines collaborative reflection, recordings of coaching sessions, competency-based feedback, and curiosity about the internal experience of the coach.  When listening to recordings, she listens for more than the presence or absence of competencies.  She listens for the depth of capacity being expressed, the natural flow of the conversation, what remains unspoken, and the sacredness of silence and space within the coaching relationship.

The Experience of Working Together

Karen’s intention is not to develop coaches who coach like her. It is to support each coach in discovering and embodying their own authentic coaching presence, because the most meaningful development happens when coaching shifts from something we know how to do into a way of being with another human.  Coaches who work with Karen often discover a deeper relationship with the competencies, greater appreciation for the ethical foundations of coaching, and an expanding ability to be with another human being without needing to direct, fix, or provide answers.

Connect with Karen

Whether you are pursuing ACC or PCC, Karen welcomes coaches who want to deepen their practice, honor their individuality, and grow into the fullness of their coaching capacity.