Being at Cause versus Being at Effect:
When To Seek Assistance

I've walked you through how to find limiting elements of your personality, and given you some reasons to change them. Sometimes people are eager to make these changes, and proceed with enthusiasm into becoming better versions of themselves. More often, though, people experience a lot of hesitation. They know they need to make changes, but the idea of "meddling with their own brain" can be really intimidating. Or perhaps a person isn't quite convinced they have found the right obstacle to fix, and/or have selected the right technique to fix it. So they are caught in a limbo of wanting to take action, and being either afraid to move, or uncertain which direction to go.

That's when it's time to call in a pro.

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Who Ya Gonna Call?

For work like this, an individual wishing to make changes can generally select a few different types of professional assistance. Here are some of the more common types, and the pro's and con's of using them:

A Physician or Primary Care Provider: This is often a person's first point of contact, particularly for issues that have a negative impact on physical health.  Examples could be unhealthy weight issues, a desire to quit smoking, and fears or phobias that interfere with normal daytime activities and/or sleep problems.  Even issues like work/life balance, chronic anxiety or depression, or "busy mind" issues that keep a person awake will frequently bring an individual to his or her doctor's office.   

The advanrtage of consulting with a physician is actually twofold.  First, your doctor can prescribe medication that can provide short-term relief.  Second, your doctor is also usually tied into local resources who can help provide longer-term solutions.  This approach also has a few disadvantages.  One is that some patients and/or some doctors will be content to stay in the "medicate it away" phase, thus never actually fixing the problem.  Another is that some potential patients or clients don't have health insurance to cover those visits and/or medications.

A Mental Health Clinician (a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, Licensed Social Worker (LSW), Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), etc): This is another common first choice.  The advantage here is that these professionals have exactly the skillset to provide both short-term relief and long-term resolution of many emotional issues.   This option, unfortunately, has the same disadvantage for anyone who doesn't have sufficient insurance for therapy.

A Success Coach: Most people think of success coaches in terms of business consulting, academic performance or sports achievement.  However, in the last 10 years coaching has expanded to encompass many topics including physical health, mental health, professional development, personal improvement, relationship improvement, even financial improvement.  A success coach doesn't tell the client what to do or what goal to set.  Instead, the success coach is familiar with what kinds of processes can help a person succeed in whatever he or she is trying to accomplish.  The coach is also familiar with the kinds of obstacles a person will face, typically in the form of skillset or mindset issues that must be addressed.  However, a coach can't diagnose or treat specific physical or mental health issues.  Coaching is also rarely ever covered by insurance.  One potent approach is to team up with a mental or physical health provider for their diagnostic and prescription abilities, then work with a coach to help ensure a client or patient stays on the treatment path.  

A Hypnotherapist: A hypnotherapist can help with these issues.  The major advantages for using a hypnotherapist is the speed and cost effectiveness of the approach.  Hypnotherapy can often address mild to moderate emotional issues within 1-4 sessions, enough that the issue is no longer a problem.  However, this approach does have disadvantages.  Some insurance companies don't cover hypnotherapy sessions.  Also, some hypnotherapists are only licensed to treat mild to moderate issues without major underlying trauma or dependencies.  For instance, a hypnotherapist can help a person to quit smoking, but would need further training to help someone with alcoholism or drug addiction.  The good news is that some hypnotherapists are also licensed mental health counselors.  As such they have advanced training to deal with advanced and/or deep-seated issues.  Other therapists know of and partner with hypnotherapists to provide a full suite of services.

An NLP Practitioner: An NLP practitioner has a skillset that is similar to both a hypnotherapist and a psychologist, yet distinct from both.  The NLP practitioner will often have much of the same training as a hypnotherapist, and some of the training of a psychologist, but with tools and techniques to help clients on either the conscious or subconscious level.  So an NLP practitioner is well-positioned to help with mild to moderate emotional issues.  The main disadvantage for an NLP practitioner is that insurance rarely covers NLP sessions.

A Combo Professional: One of the most potent combinations of professions is a person who has a combination of hypnotherapy, NLP and conventional psychology training.  The advantage to this approach is that such a combination gives a therapist multiple tools to address the entire range of emotional and behavioral problems a client may face.  Additionally, many of these professionals offer insurance coverage.  The downside is that this combination, while potent, is relatively rare.

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Which Option To Select?

This actually varies a lot, depending on a person's goals, a person's access to the various treatment options, and that person's financial situation.  Bottom line, get plugged into whatever resources you have access to, at whatever affordability level you can manage, and get started.  There is no one perfect answer, but all the above professions can help in some way.  Many practitioners will provide at least a free consultation call and/or first meeting so that you can discuss your needs or goals, at which point they'll let you know what services they can provide to help you.  They can also refer you to others within the local network of providers, if/when such a referral is appropriate.

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Take Your First Step

Whatever your circumstances, whatever your obstacles, whatever your goals, the first step is ........... take that first step!  Take a class.  Call someone.  Contact someone.  Do whatever it takes to start moving beyond where you are, towards where you want to be.  Talk to whoever seems to be the best most appropriate professional you have access to, and keep pushing forward.  You CAN reach your goals.  You CAN improve your life.  The resources are out there to help you.  If you really don't know who to contact, Contact Me.  I can help you get moving forward, toward whatever goal you may have.

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Contact Me For Help Reaching Your Goals

When you're ready to move forward, push through obstacles and make real progress towards your goals, Contact Me today.

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