Most therapists and many life coaches choose to present themselves as neutral. They do not indicate political preferences or social views. This is generally seen as the most professional thing to do so that they can appear as neutral as possible and assist as many clients as possible. From a business point of view, it makes sense: In order to attract the most clients, one does not want to present any potentially offending characteristics.
However, those human preferences and beliefs that we all have do impact therapists and life coaches. No matter how neutral they attempt to be, their advice will still be framed from their own education and belief systems. When I was choosing a personal therapist and a marriage therapist in the past, I was seeking therapists who were more open-minded than average. To that end, I looked for those who included “LGBTQ issues” as one of their specialties. I looked for therapists who did not advertise prayer based healing but did give imaginary bonus points those who utilized Buddhist thought in their work.
As a life coach, I am not constrained by many of the professional obligations that therapists are limited by. I still hold myself to high moral standards, and for me, that includes being honest enough to live with myself. I don’t use my business blog or business Facebook page to push my political views, but I do post about social perspectives that are part of the healing work I do. Because I am an open LGBTQQI ally, that means I will repel many of those who work from a position of hate. However, I would much rather work with those who do not intentionally discriminate rather than work with those who hate other people for their fundamental qualities. The work I do requires people to open themselves up to ideas that may be foreign to them; those who are already somewhat open-minded are going to be more likely to be able to successfully work with me.
It’s not a hard choice to me to decide how I want to present myself. I want to help those who are approaching life from a place of love, not fear. So for me, being honest about what I believe furthers my career and my personal growth as well as helping others who might not feel welcome in many places in our society. To me, it’s the loving thing to do.
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
However, those human preferences and beliefs that we all have do impact therapists and life coaches. No matter how neutral they attempt to be, their advice will still be framed from their own education and belief systems. When I was choosing a personal therapist and a marriage therapist in the past, I was seeking therapists who were more open-minded than average. To that end, I looked for those who included “LGBTQ issues” as one of their specialties. I looked for therapists who did not advertise prayer based healing but did give imaginary bonus points those who utilized Buddhist thought in their work.
As a life coach, I am not constrained by many of the professional obligations that therapists are limited by. I still hold myself to high moral standards, and for me, that includes being honest enough to live with myself. I don’t use my business blog or business Facebook page to push my political views, but I do post about social perspectives that are part of the healing work I do. Because I am an open LGBTQQI ally, that means I will repel many of those who work from a position of hate. However, I would much rather work with those who do not intentionally discriminate rather than work with those who hate other people for their fundamental qualities. The work I do requires people to open themselves up to ideas that may be foreign to them; those who are already somewhat open-minded are going to be more likely to be able to successfully work with me.
It’s not a hard choice to me to decide how I want to present myself. I want to help those who are approaching life from a place of love, not fear. So for me, being honest about what I believe furthers my career and my personal growth as well as helping others who might not feel welcome in many places in our society. To me, it’s the loving thing to do.
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
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