In the post yesterday I received my Diploma in Coaching from the Centre for Coaching. This was the culmination of long study, residential courses in Bromley, Kent, thoughtful reflection on my therapeutic process and practice, and analysis of sessions, quite apart from countless written assignments and a long dissertation.

The temptation was to file the diploma certificate away with all the others, but this time I am not going to do that. I realise that I have always shied away from making public my achievements, but that this has consequences both for my clients and for me. Why not frame it and put it on the wall? There is nothing wrong with celebrating achievement, and it helps boost our sense that we are qualified for what we do and proud of it.

So this is the first thing that is going on the wall in my new office on 1st December. And I may even get the counselling diploma out as well and frame that too!

Kim Richardson
the therapists' coach
01453 751457
www.therapysuccess.com
www.linkedin.com/in/therapysuccess

I have been ill for a week. Although this is disruptive for clients, especially clients who rely on us on perhaps a weekly basis, or even more frequently, it's also good for everyone concerned to be reminded that we are only human - and that in most cases we are not indispensible!

Can you as therapists allow yourself to be ill, and to take time off, without feeling guilty? It's important!

Kim Richardson
the therapists' coach
01453 751457
www.therapysuccess.com
www.linkedin.com/in/therapysuccess

Funny how things happen. I have moved from thinking about how to soundproof the office above, to looking around for a new office altogether. What has become a 'nightmare scenario' has turned into an exciting opportunity to upgrade to a splendid office nearer to the centre of town, Georgian built and therefore with hugely think walls, and with easier access for clients. There's even a sink and a fridge down the hallway so I can keep my milk cool in the summer!

Sure this is going to cost me more, but I reckon both I and my clients deserve it.

I guess this is a secular version of the saying, 'When God shuts a door, He opens a window.'

Kim Richardson
the therapists' coach
01453 751457
www.therapysuccess.com
www.linkedin.com/in/therapysuccess

Further developments on the 'new person upstairs' front. I am doing well at being pragmatic and 'problem-solving' rather than panicking about the situation or ruminating uselessly about how bad it's going to be.

So I have got some advice from the landlord of the building, who is himself a builder and carpenter, and I am going to order some insulation board, some chipboad to go on top of that, and take up his offer of a carpet he has going spare to go on top of that! Karin, the new tenant, is very open to me getting this done, and I don't think it will cost the earth.

She has also said that she regrets saying she would adjust her working hours around my own client work, as she's like to be more flexible. I respect her assertiveness, and say that the best we can do is just keep channels of communication open.

It's a challenging business, but I feel very happy with the way it is panning out at the moment. In a way I am aplying many coaching principles to my own life, and seeing how they really benefit all concerned!

Kim Richardson
the therapists' coach
01453 751457
www.therapysuccess.com
www.linkedin.com/in/therapysuccess

I have been ill these last three days. (Man flu.)

Being ill as a therapist raises more issues, it seems to me, than being ill normally does! Can we allow ourselves to get ill? What is the effect on our clients when we suddenly announce that tomorrow's appointment is cancelled? What will they think? Will they even survive? (The answer is almost always Yes.) What is the balance between looking after others and looking after ourselves? Can we afford to take time off in this way?

All sorts of questions which, paradoxically, being ill allows us the time and the space to consider. So that I find that now I am back at work I am approaching my work in a subtly different way - letting go a bit more, perhaps, stepping back in a therapeutically appropriate way, noticing more, not attaching so much of myself and my needs to my clients.

For it is certainly true that if we can't look after ourselves correctly we will struggle to look after others.

Kim Richardson
the therapists' coach
01453 751457
www.therapysuccess.com
www.linkedin.com/in/therapysuccess

Why do so many counsellors and psychotherapists omit to ask their clients for testimonials that they can use in their marketing materials?

I have been including testimonials on my website for some time now. They build up to an impressive narrative of how our practice can really benefit people. The success speaks for itself. But in addition the detail of specific complaints or issues that clients have brought can be very helpful in reassuring potential new clients of the fact that (a) others have suffered the same thing, and (b) there is a way through it.

I have read through the Ethical Framework document of BACP, our professional body, but can find no reference to testimonials. There are general references to protecting client confidentiality, and not abusing clients' trust for financial or other advantage. This is vitally important, which is why I make sure I do put clients 'on the spot' when asking for a testimonial - I make it quite clear that they should only do so if they are perfectly happy to provide one. Usually I email the client after we have ended, as asking in the final session could be seen as pressurising. I make it clear that anonymity is preserved.

Doies anyone have any comments on this issue? I'd be interested to hear your views.

Kim Richardson
the therapists' coach
01453 751457
www.therapysuccess.com
www.linkedin.com/in/therapysuccess

I've just made contact with the new occupant of the room above me. This took a lot of courage, as I was building myself up to confronting the worst - ie someone who would be oblivious to my concerns and inflexible about any arrangements. It has been very salutary to me to find myself 'catastrophising' at times - imagining the worst - then feeling the anxiety that inevitably attends that state of mind. I guide my clients through this kind of mental morass, pointing out the thinking errors and wondering how they can think more realistically and effectively, and yet here I am doing the same thing!

It's good to be reminded of what it's like to be fallible, vulnerable and ineffective at times, isn't it? It breaks down the barrier between 'therapist' and 'client', which is often an artificial barrier anyway.

The long and the short of it is that the occupant upstairs, called Karin, is delightful and fully open to working with the issues. That's the good news. The bad news is that she is a jeweller who uses a hammer a lot in her work, and spends the rest of the time listening to the plays on Radio 4!

To be continued ...

Kim Richardson
the therapists' coach
01453 751457
www.therapysuccess.com
www.linkedin.com/in/therapysuccess