Next Level - The Neuroscience School

Master the Art of Coaching with Neuroscience

Hone your coaching skills, boost your confidence, and deliver

outstanding results in less time

Apply to Join the Next Level Program

“I can create significant change in 25 minutes.”

That’s what my friend and colleague Caroline told me recently.

Caroline has been integrating neuroscience into her coaching practice for years now – and the results have been dramatic.

Caroline was already a very good coach – but now she’s even more present with her clients and her coaching process has become hyper-efficient:

“I can zero in on what the client needs. The neuroscience has helped me not go down rabbit holes. I know exactly which avenues are going to bring me where I need to go. Neuroscience helps me filter out the noise.”

In fact, Caroline’s coaching has gotten so effective that she is thinking about eliminating her hour-long sessions.

And she’s not the only one to get results like these!

April Scott works with a company that offers 30-minute coaching sessions. At first she was nervous about getting results in such a short time – but with her neuroscience knowledge, she’s found that 30 minutes is actually plenty of time!

And Will Russell’s coaching sessions are so effective that he now enrolls 25% more clients from introductory sessions!

And more streamlined and transformative coaching sessions are just the beginning.

Coaches who incorporate neuroscience into their practice report that they feel more confident, have more control over their sessions, are able to build trust and rapport faster, and help clients achieve more profound results.

And that doesn’t even get into the business benefits of being able to coach like this:

Rising reputation
More referrals
More enrolments
Higher rates
Bigger contracts
Working less
Earning more

Sounds great, right?

So how do you become a sought-after coach who

produces rapid client transformation??

You’ve earned your Certificate in Applied Neuroscience – so you already have a lot of the knowledge and tools you need to elevate your coaching skills.

But I’ve heard over and over from past students that the Certificate Program is like drinking from a firehose. Students learn a lot… but they sometimes struggle to actually coach what they’ve learned.

That’s because it’s one thing to understand the neuroscience…

It’s another thing entirely to embody the neuroscience. To have integrated it so thoroughly into your coaching practice that you use it without thinking.

In other words, to achieve coaching flow.

That kind of integration takes practice – and lots of it.

I want you to have that kind of confidence and flow in your coaching practice.

And it’s why Caroline and I put our heads together to offer…

THE NEXT LEVEL COACHING WITH

APPLIED NEUROSCIENCE PROGRAM

The Next Level program is an applied learning experience – open only to students like you who have completed the Certificate Program in Applied Neuroscience.

I lead this program, alongside my friend and colleague, Caroline Leroux-Boulay. Caroline is a talented coach who excels at integrating neuroscience into every aspect of her coaching. Between the two of us, you’ll know the neuroscience inside and out… and you’ll know just how to apply it in your practice.

In the Next Level program, you work at 3 levels:

1
You dig deeper into the neuroscience concepts and their practical applications.
2
You explore how those concepts apply to you as a coach.
3
You explore (and practice) how they apply to your clients.

The program is designed to fully integrate neuroscience tools and insights into your coaching. It involves lots of deep practice and personalized feedback – so you can confidently coach major transformations for your clients.

Master the skills that will make you stand out as a coach

Here’s what you’ll master in the Next Level program:

Coaching Flow: Thoroughly integrate your neuroscience learning with your coaching practice, so you can easily access flow and enjoy heightened focus, enhanced creativity, and effortless performance during your coaching sessions.
Swift Problem Solving: Hone in on the specific neuroscience concepts that apply to your coaching niche, so you use your strategies and tools with more intention and intervene more effectively.
Precise Interventions: Set up yourself and clients for the shortest, fastest route to success. Avoid using incorrect information that can derail progress.
Overcome Client Hesitation: Develop your own powerful strategies for dissolving client resistance, so you can build a seamless pathway to open dialogue and transformative insights.
Hyper-Efficient Sessions: Streamline your coaching, avoiding distractions and rabbit holes, making every minute count. Forge deeper connections faster, laying the foundation for genuine, transformative conversations.
Get to the Heart of the Issue: Quickly and clearly identify the client’s deeper issue, so you can offer more impactful coaching in less time.
Confidence Boost: Emerge more self-assured in your coaching competencies.
Psychological Safety: Practice psychological safety with your peers, so you understand how to create it in your own sessions and transmit it to your clients.
Objective Coaching Excellence: Perfect the art of holding space, empowering clients without imposing biases, and ensuring they lead their own journey of change.

Apply to Join the Next Level Program

Experiential learning to transform your coaching practice

We've designed the program to be experiential and profoundly transformative -- so you can find your own coaching flow and routinely coach from an effortless state of mastery and competence.

Here’s what you can expect inside the program:

Experiential Learning: You will go through the same steps of changes as you will later guide your clients through, so you understand the process of transformation at a deep, experiential level.
Personal Development: We teach the course using the actual mechanisms of neuroplastic change, so that you experience deep learning and integration in your life and your coaching practice.
Professional Transformation: You will work with your own coaching practice, to identify your own preferences, learning strategies, and blindspots and to help your clients identify theirs.
Peer Learning: Program participants are selected with great care, so that you are in a supportive environment of skilled practitioners who contribute to one another’s growth.
Diverse Learning Modalities: From interactive sessions to hands-on practices, case studies to participant sharing, breakout groups to guided reflections… every element of the program is a stepping stone toward practical skill mastery.
Aligned to ICF Competencies: The program is designed for coherence in process and material. You’ll strengthen connections between the neuroscience research, your own personal journey, and your professional development. And you’ll do it all through the lens of the ICF (International Coaching Federation) competencies.

Apply to Join the Next Level Program

What our students have to say about the Next Level program

William P. Russell, NED, PCC, EIA

Executive 1:1 /Team Coaching

I now create safe, trusted spaces where clients achieve greater clarity, reduced emotional reactivity, and lasting breakthroughs.

The Next Level Coaching with Neuroscience program was a game-changer for my coaching practice and personal growth. It deepened my understanding of neuroscience and its practical application, equipping me with powerful tools like body budget management, emotional contagion awareness, and the critical role of sleep in brain fitness.

One of the most profound shifts was how I view my clients—as whole beings, integrating the head, heart, gut, and body. The program challenged me to reflect on my assumptions, reframe my approach, and create safe spaces for self-directed neuroplasticity. As a result, my clients experience greater clarity, reduced emotional reactivity, and transformational breakthroughs.

Personally, I’ve gained a more curious mindset, improved self-awareness, and a stronger foundation in empathy and compassion—not just in coaching, but in my personal life as well. If you’re a coach looking to integrate neuroscience for deeper, lasting impact, this program is unparalleled. It has truly transformed the way I coach and live.

Susan McLean Begalka

Coach

This program has transformed the way I coach, fostering fact-based, non-judgmental conversations that help clients move from blame to understanding and lasting change.

The Next Level Coaching with Neuroscience program was exactly what I needed to deepen my understanding and apply neuroscience effectively in my coaching practice. Building on Dr. O’Brien’s Certificate in Applied Neuroscience, this course provided invaluable strategies to integrate science-backed insights into my work, making my coaching more impactful—especially with data-driven professionals.

Having a deeper understanding of how the brain operates has transformed the way I approach my clients. I can now provide them with actionable, science-based insights that foster fact-based, non-judgmental conversations. This shift helps clients move from blame to understanding and acceptance, empowering them to make meaningful, lasting changes.

The program has also boosted my confidence as a coach, elevating both my approach and the value I bring. I highly recommend it to any coach looking to integrate neuroscience and make a greater impact in the coaching world!

James. G. Wetrich, LFACHE, PCC

Management Consultant | Executive Coach

We dove deeply into key neuroscience concepts specifically applicable to coaches and coaching

I participated in the Fall 2022 Certificate Program in Applied Neuroscience, a program I recommend for all executive coaches. Without hesitation, I signed up to participate in the follow-on program, The Next Level program, with Irena and her coaching colleague, Caroline Leroux Boulay. The follow-on program is more fabulous than the introductory program as we dove deeply into key neuroscience concepts specifically applicable to coaches and coaching. The process of the Next Level Program required the participants to go back and review some of the key concepts from the introductory program, which was of great value and benefit to me. I HIGHLY recommend the Next Level Program to any coach looking to incorporate key neuroscience concepts into their practices.

Sylvia Becker-Hill, Certified Master Neuroplastician, PCC (ICF)

Executive Coach, Leadership Mentor, Stage Edutainer

Being able to explain to clients how they are sabotaging their own goals from a neuroscience perspective, raises their motivation, deepens their understanding and ultimately shows them how to self-direct neuroplasticity in their everyday life.

Next Level was truly next level! Dr. Irena combined her deep neuroscience expertise with Caroline's ICF core competencies expertise and group facilitation skills to create a deeply challenging learning space in which we participants not only grew personally and professionally yet also as an intimate community. I believe it is a sign of their success that the group will keep meeting to practice what we learned! Being able to explain to clients how they are sabotaging their own goals from a neuroscience perspective, raises their motivation, deepens their understanding and ultimately shows them how to self-direct neuroplasticity in their everyday life. Thanks to Dr. Irena's certification programs 1 and Next level I was able to successfully apply and pass the exam interview for certification by the Institute for Organizational Neuroscience ION. I'm now a proud Certified Master Neuroplastician.

Amy E Bracht

Coach

My clients now benefit from a powerful blend of empathy and neuroscience-based strategies.

The Next Level Coaching with Neuroscience program was truly transformative. It deepened my understanding of goal-setting, prioritization, and the neuroscience behind lasting change—insights I now confidently apply in both my life and coaching.

The biggest 'aha' moment was realizing the science-backed reasons why habits are hard to change and how to effectively support that process. This has made me more compassionate toward myself and has elevated the value I provide to clients. They now benefit from a powerful blend of empathy and neuroscience-based strategies.

This program was a game-changer, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to integrate neuroscience into their coaching or personal growth!

Mariel Tablan, PCC

Coach

This course provided me with an avenue to better understand and apply Neuroscience concepts

This course provided me with an avenue to better understand and apply Neuroscience concepts on myself first and then to my coaching clients. Each session allowed me to reflect, refresh and reset. Reflecting helped me understand my own internal processes in relation to the specific focus of each session. Refreshing allowed me to review Neuroscience concepts as it applies to internal processes and Resetting paved the way to how I may apply insights from the first two R's both to myself and in my coaching practice.

How it works

The program runs in workshop format, calibrated for intensive learning and significant progress.

Over 10 weeks, we’ll meet for six 3-hour workshops, over Zoom, including breakout groups, case studies, participant sharing, guided reflection assignments, and supplementary - supportive materials.

Each session will deepen your understanding of the Certificate program content, giving you a chance to practice, apply, and make them an integral part of your practice.

The program runs from February 11 to April 22, 2025.

The 6 sessions run from 11 am to 2 pm (EST, Montreal) on the following Tuesdays:

February 11 & 25 | March 11 & 25 | April 8 & 22 |

Apply to Join the Next Level Program

Elevate your coaching – and earn 38 CCEUs

The Next Level program is designed to be deeply transformative – and we’re proud to say that the International Coaching Federation has recognized the depth of learning we provide.

When you complete the program, you’ll earn 38 CCE (Continuing Coach Education) units – 21 Core Competency and 17 Resource Development.

Alongside ICF’s required ethics course, that’s enough to renew your 3-year certification in just 10 weeks!

So what’s the investment?

You can join the program for just $2995 or 6 payments of $575, USD

But you should know – admission to this program is by interview only. And the class is limited to just 12 participants.

So be sure to complete the form below.

Investment

$2995 or 6 payments of $575

All amounts are in USD

Admission to this program is by interview only, and the class is limited to 12. Click here

now to register your interest.

Apply to Join the Next Level Program