The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy

Why Do Therapists Feel They NEED to be Coaches? An Interview with Jo Muirhead

09.04.2023 - By Curt Widhalm, LMFT and Katie Vernoy, LMFTPlay

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Why Do Therapists Feel They NEED to be Coaches? An Interview with Jo Muirhead

Curt and Katie interview Jo Muirhead about the increasingly common trend of therapists becoming coaches for other therapists. We talk about what coaching actually is, mistakes therapists make when pursuing coaching, how therapists can identify if someone is a good (or bad) coach, problems with some coaching for therapists, and how therapists can future-proof their business (rather than turning to coaching for the answer). 

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

In this podcast episode, we look at the therapist-coaching-other-therapists trend

We’ve received feedback from listeners that they are overwhelmed and disillusioned by some of the business coaching available for therapists. We reached out to our friend, Jo Muirhead, to talk through the current landscape and how therapists can find (and be) better business coaches. 

What is coaching?

·        Coaching is working with someone to help them become the person, professional, etc. they would like to be

·        A Coach is someone who helps you with your mindset or helps you with how you think

·        Coaching is not training

·        Mentorship

What are mistakes that therapists make when pursuing coaching for themselves?

·        Unreasonable expectations

·        Lack of implementation support

·        Seeking out lots of free consultation (versus paid consultation)

How can therapists identify whether someone is a good or bad coach?

·        You need to know how you learn, so you can find someone who matches your learning style

·        Coaching should make you feel uncomfortable

·        Understand whether you’d like a done with you approach versus a done to you or for you type of program

·        Avoid people who focus only on themselves and what they’ve accomplished versus helping you find the right path

·        Find someone who can help you think (not tell you what to think)

What are some problems with coaches who work with therapists?

·        They create a program based on a single success

·        They believe that they have to tell people what to do

·        Marketing practices, manipulation

·        Urgency as a tactic works, but can feel manipulative at times

·        Fake friending is not effective and pretty awful

·        Failing to deliver on promises

·        Becoming a business coach because they are tired of listening to peoples’ pain

·        If you’re too tired to be a therapist, don’t coach

·        There is a problem with their relationship to work

·        Needing coaching clients rather than identifying best match clients

How can therapists future-proof their businesses?

·        We need to listen to the experts who are focusing attention on how the business is advancing

·        Understand that we’re not “fit for purpose” based on the changes in the industry

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Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Creative Credits:

Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano https://groomsymusic.com/

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