business is about relationships

Clinical expertise in mental health counseling (for individuals, couples, and groups) leads to a skillset that makes one effective at identifying, understanding, and resolving relational issues. While other business coaches may understand leadership and relevant skills, few will be able to understand and navigate the deep interpersonal dynamics that are the true reasons for team dysfunction.

Business are about relationships, and the same dynamics that appear in platonic or romantic relationships affect our work relationships. Familiarity with the nuances of skillful communication, emotional safety, and trauma responses lead to an ability to accurately understand relationships in any context and identify corrective actions.

A background as an “everything person” at a successful startup has led to familiarity with all levels of the corporate environment, as well as insight into the unique challenges that come with corporate culture.

Ongoing experience and training in clinical mental health has provided models, skills, and interventions that are as effective in the corporate environment as they are in the counseling room. Rather than providing common-sense advice about how to resolve a complex relational problem, recommendations are rooted in understanding of how people work when stressed/traumatized, how to understand and navigate resistance, and how to create the conditions that lead to growth and change.

A background in leadership training through INVST Community Studies at CU Boulder has led to familiarity with, comfort in, and the ability to navigate team dynamics, even amidst high conflict. Ideas about how to structure a team will be based not only on psychological insight but also on knowledge of practices that are proven to increase team effectiveness and satisfaction.

Power, privilege, and oppression are factors at the systems level as much as they are factors at the relational/interpersonal level. Ongoing training and an education in social and environmental justice has led to an ability to identify, communicate, and work with complex social power dynamics that many ignore or shy away from.

Just like in therapy, our path to well-being is discovered and designed together. Rather than force clients into a singular picture of what success looks like, we collaboratively discover what we are creating and what will be helpful.