Deborah's story

I'd heard about caba courses through my colleagues who all said great things about them. I thought I'd try the course in resilience and I really enjoyed it.

One of the reasons I did the course was that I was having difficulties with a colleague. I was finding her behaviour very challenging. She was charming to both senior and junior staff, but her attitude towards her peers was aggressive and unconstructive. She wouldn't collaborate, would disparage other people to senior staff and was actively bullying another colleague. It was difficult to be around.

While I was on the resilience course, I found out that caba offered coaching in other areas. I decided to give it a go. It was a real eye opener. My coach helped me see that this colleague's behaviour was being facilitated in part by the management, which meant that it was a management issue, not a personal one. This allowed me to approach the problem in a much more pragmatic way.

I had been avoiding this difficult colleague, but my coach encouraged me to hit reset on our relationship. I invited her out for coffee, even though I found it a hard thing to do. She avoided it, but it meant that when HR got involved, they could see that I'd made the effort to build bridges and she was being resistant.

The problem isn't over, but reframing it has really lessened the impact it has on me. The course and coaching provided by caba were invaluable.

how caba can help

caba supports the wellbeing of past and present ICAEW members, ACA students, ICAEW staff members, and their spouses, partners and children up to the age of 25. For advice, information and support please:

training and events

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your questions answered 

Who is eligible for support?

We support past and present members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), ACA students, ICAEW staff members, and the family and carers of members and students. 

  1. No matter where your career takes you, past and present members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England Wales (ICAEW) are eligible for caba’s services for life, even if you change your career and leave accountancy 
  2. ACA students (ICAEW Provisional Members) who are either an active student or have been an active student within the last three years are eligible for caba's services 
  3. Past and present staff members of the ICAEW or caba are eligible for caba's services for life, even if you leave either organisation. Please note, for former employees, our financial support is only available to those who have had five years continuous employment with either organisation 
  4. Family members and carers of either an eligible past or present ICAEW member, ACA student or past or present employee of the ICAEW or caba are eligible for caba's support. We define a family member as a: 
    1. spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner 
    2. widow, widower or surviving civil partner who has not remarried or cohabiting with a partner 
    3. divorced spouse or civil partner who has not remarried or cohabiting with a partner 
    4. child aged up to 25. Please note, children aged between 16 and 25 are not eligible for individual financial support 
    5. any other person who is dependent on the eligible individual supporting them financially or are reliant on the eligible individual’s care 
    6. any other person on whom the eligible individual is reliant, either financially or for care 

You can find out more about our available support both in the UK and around the world on our support we offer page and by using our interactive eligibility tool

Are your services means-tested?

If you need financial support, we carry out a means test where we consider income, expenditure, capital and assets.  

*Please note none of our other services are means-tested. 

I’m an accountant, but not a member of ICAEW, can you still help?

Unfortunately not. We only support past and present ICAEW members, their carers and their families. If we are unable to support you, where possible we will point you to help elsewhere.

caba has supported me in the past; can I receive support from caba again?

We understand that circumstances change. If we’ve helped you in the past there’s no reason why we can’t help you again. You can contact us at any time. Please call us if you need our help.

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