The Intersection of Therapy and Coaching in Trauma Healing

How Do You Approach A Discovery Call To Ensure Clients Feel Safe, Understood, And Confident About Taking The Next Steps In Their Mental Health Care?

Discover the transformative possibilities of trauma recovery as we engage with Demetria Nickens, a respected trauma recovery coach and mental health professional. She offers profound insights into the nuanced differences between traditional therapy and trauma recovery coaching, highlighting how each approach uniquely supports healing and empowerment. Demetria paints a vivid picture of therapy’s structured, diagnosis-driven method, facilitated by licensed professionals, while contrasting it with the personalized, empowering journey of coaching, where healing, courage, and self-discovery are prioritized without the confines of a diagnosis. This episode equips listeners with a deeper understanding of what might be the most supportive path for their individual recovery journeys.

In our conversation, we shed light on the dual approach to recovery, where therapy and medication management can be integrated with coaching to provide a full-spectrum support system tailored to personal needs. By addressing complex issues such as shame and its impact on personal goals, we guide listeners through the process of finding the right combination of therapy, coaching, or other support methods that best align with their healing journey. The ultimate aim is to empower individuals with the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions about their mental health and move forward effectively in their lives. Demetria’s expert guidance serves as a beacon for those navigating the complex waters of trauma recovery, ensuring that each listener can find their way to a more empowered future.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Doves Inner Beauty Podcast, where we
foster emotional awareness oneindividual at a time.
Leading the way is DemetriaNickens, a certified mental
health first aid instructor andtrauma recovery coach with over
two decades of experience infostering emotional awareness in
others by engaging their mentalhealth.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Therapy or coaching.
Demetria Nickens explains thedifference between these two
approaches to trauma recoveryand how to decide which one
might be best suited to yourneeds.
Welcome back everyone.
This is Garfield Bowen, co-hostslash producer, back in the
studio with Demetria Neekins.
Demetria, how's it going?

Speaker 3 (00:57):
So far, so good.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Okay, so, Demetria, how does trauma recovery
coaching differ from therapy andhow can someone choose between
them?

Speaker 3 (01:09):
So a couple of different ways when you think
about therapy.
You think about this idea ofsomeone that has a license,
someone that is going to provideyou with some sort of diagnosis
.
They're going to have atreatment plan for you, kind of
all pulled up from basicinformation that you kind of
told them from probably onemeeting, and they're going to

(01:31):
meet with you and it's going tobe you know a certain number of
sessions that they have for you.
It's a whole planned outsituation.
They're going to have a therapytheory model, kind of already
ready that they come with.
When it comes to therapy, right, very traditional, good thing.
I'm not saying anything badabout therapy.
I think therapy is important.

(01:52):
I think, when it comes tocoaching, this idea of coaching
for me, at least when you thinkabout trauma recovery coaching.
When I think about traumarecovery coaching, it is really
more.
So I have years of experience.
I have a certification.
I am certified a traumarecovery coach from the
International Trauma RecoveryCoaches Association, so it is a

(02:12):
certification, not a licensedifference.
I don't provide any type ofdiagnosis.
I don't like to diagnose folks.
This is not about a diagnosis.
This is about healing right,this is your journey and healing
and getting past the thingsthat are keeping you stuck.
I walk with you in this journey,right, so I don't create goals

(02:33):
for you.
Right, this is your journey.
So when you think aboutcoaching, coaching is about you
coming with this idea of how youwant this thing to go.
Right, what are the things youwant to work on?
What are you stuck at?
What are the things that youknow?
You have this trauma in yourlife and you feel like it's
impacted you, but maybe youdon't understand how.

(02:54):
Right, this is aboutunderstanding who you are,
understanding what you want toaccomplish.
These are not my predeterminedgoals.
Right, I come with tools,resources, knowledge, education
to help you through the journey,because I've been there, done
that, and so when we think aboutthis idea of coaching, I'm

(03:14):
walking with you in this journey.
Right, it is not from a placeof hire or anything like that.
Right, like I said, I walk withyou.
Right, I want to be there toprovide you with a resource.
I want to be there to provideyou with a tool.
I want to be the person thatyou confide in.
I want to be a person that youdecide that you feel like you're

(03:36):
gaining trust back in your lifebecause you've been
consistently able to have ourconversation right.
There's this idea of the threeC's in trauma recovery coaching
this idea of courage, compassionand curiosity.
Right, I'm going to come inthis idea of courage.
Right, that you can sit throughand deal with anything that you

(03:59):
got coming at you in your lifeand you can do it Right.
Compassion I've been there anddone that.
I've had the compassion formyself.
I'm going to hold a space whereyou can have compassion for
yourself, right.
And curiosity I'm going to askthe right questions.
Right, I'm not here to find adiagnosis.
I'm not interested in that.
I am here to help you find whatyou need for whatever goal that

(04:20):
you decide you want in thisjourney.
Right, based on what I knowabout trauma recovery coaching,
based on what I know abouttrauma, what I know about mental
health, I'm helping you build aliteracy, if that makes sense,
right?
My business is called BuildingEmotional Awareness.
Understand you the beauty?
Right, because that is exactlywhat I do as a coach.

(04:41):
Right, I'm going to help youbuild your mental health
literacy right, andunderstanding trauma.
And I'm going to help youunderstand that, how it lives in
your body right, how you dealwith it on an everyday basis.
And that all comes from myeducation and how I provide that
to you and help you put thepieces of your life together
right.
And so sometimes people come tome first and then they're like I

(05:05):
still want to see a therapist,and that's totally cool, because
maybe I just helped lay afoundation for you.
And then you go see a therapistto get a diagnosis.
It depends on the person.
Some people are like nope, Ijust want to go straight to the
diagnosis.
I know that's what I want,that's what it is and that's
what they go for, and that'sfine.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But there are some people whothere is a stigma, right.
The stigma is there.

(05:26):
Right, they don't trust thetherapist.
They've tried that before.
That's not for them, that's notwhat they want.
They don't want to be judged inthat way, right, I'm a no
judgment zone.
So the idea is, this isn'tabout any of that.
I'm going to hold space for you, no matter what you say, no
matter how bad it is right, nomatter what is going on.

(05:46):
I'm going to hold space for youin that and what you told me,
I'm going to hold space for you.
In the situation Right now.
Are there things that are likereportable Absolutely, I'm not
going to sit and you know, just,oh, there's child abuse going
on.
No, ethically, absolutely thereare ethic rules and regulations
that I am held to as well.

(06:08):
So, absolutely there's ethics.
So and I don't want people tothink that either People think,
oh, you know, oh, there's noethics.
Of course there's ethics.
Of course it is a coachingassociation.
Of course there's ethics.
So it's important to rememberthat right, that if there is
mandatory reporting, things thathave to happen just like there
are in therapy, but this ideathat the relationship is just
different, it's not a powerdifferential right, I don't have

(06:31):
that.
I'm not trying to create that.
So that is important to me,that you understand that I come
from a space of.
I have been here, let me helpyou through this.
It's almost similar to peersupport, if that makes sense.
That's why it's different,right?
Some people prefer it that wayand some people don't.
Some people need a stepladderto get to therapy and I feel

(06:54):
like that kind of is who I am aswell, so it's just another
option to me.
When you think about coachingversus therapy, it's an option
for people where that isstigmatized.
Maybe this step is easier first, before they get to therapy
right, and that's fine too.
I can work with therapistswhere we can work in tandem
together, right.
Maybe the therapist is workingon something specific and I'm

(07:16):
working on something specificand we come together to manage
the person as a whole.
So it can be a collective, itcan be individual.
It really depends on the personand what they're looking for in
terms of healing.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
So if coaching is like the pep talk version of
therapy, does that mean thatyou're like a life cheerleader?

Speaker 3 (07:42):
You know what I like that actually?
Yeah, I would totally do.
I feel like I'm a lifecheerleader, yeah, for mental
health.
Right, a life cheerleader formental health.
I like that.
I might use that.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
You know you talked about both of them overlapping.
Is it okay to have both onspeed down, the therapist and
the coach?

Speaker 3 (08:02):
absolutely.
You know your therapist may beprescribing you medication.
I have no interest inprescribing you meds.
That is not my life.
However, meds may need toreally seriously be a part of
your life, so maybe thattherapist is in your life to
help provide those meds.
They help to stabilize thatwhole situation around your
medication.
I'm not, and so maybe me andyou are talking about your shame

(08:26):
and how that shame impacts howyou move forward in life with
your goals Two very differentthings still helping the person.
So, absolutely, I think it'sbetter when you have both, but
it just depends on the personand what you feel like you need.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
I guess the ultimate word is recovery.
So if you need a coach, atherapy, whatever you need to do
, just get recovered.
Demetria, you have a wonderfulrest of the day.
We'll see you in the nextepisode.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
Thank you thank you for tuning in to the doves inner
beauty podcast, where we fosteremotional awareness, one
individual at a time.
For a complimentaryconsultation, visit
dovesinnerbeautycom or call336-298-6599.

(09:16):
That's 336-298-6599.
That's 336-298-6599.