Which Approach Works For You?

I have to admit, I think a fair amount about what my clients might want. Sometimes I’m surprised. For example, I was at physical therapy last night rehabbing a knee injury and doing whatever I needed to to avoid more surgery. Out of three physical therapists working in the room, one was really busy with multiple clients all over the room, including me. Sean is consistently busier than all of the other therapists. Because he’s really tough. He makes us work very hard in there and although he’s no Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser he’s from that school of training. And the rehabbers (different kind of rehab) are flocking to him. I rearranged 3 weeks of appointments to work with him only- once I’d had a session with him I didn’t want any part of the other “nice” therapists. I wanted to get things done, I wanted my workouts back and I wanted to avoid surgery. Schedule me in with the bald tough guy please.

Sometimes I think people want emotional safety, lots of hand holding, a gentle approach. But maybe more than that people want results, and to see what they’re made of. Most people like to be pushed, to be challenged, to go beyond their perceived limitations and they like to be around the people that inspire that. And it’s kind of an art. To push people to that point of “optimal frustration”- an old psych term I learned decades ago that described the point at which we stretched ourselves enough to grow, but not so much that we became overwhelmed and shut down.

I know in my work with clients who come to me in spite of their shame around not being to “control” their eating need an essential mix of inspiration, straight talk, great information, mixed with lots of compassion, optimism and hope. Regular doses of humor help too, among other things.

I love seeing that people are not really afraid of working hard, when there is somebody there holding the vision for them. Somebody who know they are capable of way more than they may believe at that moment. I love holding the vision and finding ways to get somebody to move past their limiting beliefs and image of themselves.

When you’re ready for a change, you’ll choose people who know you can do it and ask you to stretch yourself.

Love and blessings to you-

xox

Lisa

PS- Whether you’re ready for changes or still thinking about it, you can get lots of helpful information with my ebook, “The Energy of Weight Loss: 7 Essential Secrets” on the home page of IntuitiveBody.com