How To Help Women Achieve Long Term Recovery for Hypothalamic Amenorrhea
As a fertility coach, are you finding yourself constantly striving to prove your value and worth to your clients by inundating them with extensive protocols or oversharing your knowledge?
It's not uncommon for new coaches to fall into the trap of over-coaching, and we understand the desire to showcase your expertise. However, this insecurity often leads to overwhelming your clients and fails to foster meaningful, lasting changes. Instead, it becomes more about boosting your own ego.
We refer to this as a "scarcity mindset." The good news is that once you recognize this mindset and understand why it's happening, you can make the shift to coaching with confidence.
In this previous blog post we emphasized the importance of avoiding over-coaching and adopting a client-centered coaching style. Our primary objective is to guide our clients toward self-discovery, respecting their unique paths, rather than imposing our thoughts and solutions.
So, let's dive deeper into how over-coaching typically manifests in new coaches, the reasons behind it, and what you can do to maintain a client-focused approach
What Over Coaching Your Fertility Clients Looks Like:
One of our HHAP students recently received feedback from a client expressing disappointment with their protocol. It was described as "generic" and not offering any new insights.
This feedback can be disheartening and can validate the belief that your coaching isn't "worth" the investment. But, when I met with her 1:1 to better understand how things were presented to her client and why the client was disappointed, we discovered that the protocol was extensive and incredibly detailed, taking her HOURS to create..
Why we over coach:
She said “I want to give a really thorough protocol so they feel like it's worth the investment.”
However, this is often not what the client actually wants or needs.
Over-coaching, with an abundance of information or lengthy protocols, can stroke our ego and protect us from feeling unworthy. But it can inadvertently send a message to the client that the protocol isn't tailored to them. It may seem like generic advice readily available on the internet or on social media. AND we end up doing the EXACT thing that we wanted to avoid...which is giving them something that they feel at the time is not worth their investment.
What to do instead:
To create true value and impact, focus on keeping protocols minimal and specific to each client. They already know they need to eat more, but what does that look like for them? How can you take their existing habits and make them work to their advantage?
For example, suggest adding protein to the meals they already prepare and concentrate on mastering one goal at a time, like consistently eating breakfast, before addressing all meals and snacks. We believe that "slow is fast."
The real value lies in offering personalized and specific feedback (which requires more listening and less talking). The more individualized your guidance, the more your clients will feel seen and understood, rather than receiving generic advice readily available online.
Now, as we look ahead to March 2024 when round 3 of the HHAP certification kicks off, I invite you to take this knowledge and apply it to your coaching.
If you're ready to hone your coaching skills and make a lasting impact on the lives of those struggling with hypothalamic amenorrhea, I encourage you to explore our certification program further. Together, we can empower individuals to regain their health and vitality through self-discovery and holistic healing.
Learn more about the HHAP Certification program today!