Life Coaching for Doctors and Medical Marriages - Part I

Ever since I became a Certified Life Coach for Doctors, I have been contacted by more spouses of Doctors than the actual Doctors themselves. There are a lot of unique life challenges that arise in a Medical Marriages and it is my intent to be the go-to coach that helps the spouses of Doctors address their specific issues and improve their overall quality of life. Whether you are a Doctor's wife or a Doctor's husband, you may be looking for that perfect support to help you with the hectic lifestyle of your spouse and the slim to none amount of time you have with them. I am sure that you dream of the time where she or he is home on time or at least early enough to spend some quality time with you (and the kids).

A while ago, I had a Doctor's wife contact me and asked if I would be open to being interviewed and have my answers posted on her blog in order to share with people how a Life Coach for Doctors can be an invaluable resource for Doctors AND their families.

Bea's blog, Finding Equanimity, is about medical marriages and relationships. She writes about ways to find evenness of mind (equanimity) despite the myriad of stresses that a medical marriage can encounter. Bea started her blog because she wanted to chronicle her research on medical relationships and tips that have helped her (and others) along the way. As a result of her research, Bea found my site, and she interviewed me to learn more about life coaches for doctors and the type of advice I give to doctors and their families.

Here's part I of the interview with the answers to the questions that Bea posed to me:

1) What got you interested in becoming a personal coach for doctors?

I was doing Health & Wellness Coaching & specializing in working with people who were dealing with health challenges (especially chronic health conditions and stress-related health issues). Then I met an ER doctor at a business conference who told me that if he ever had any health issues, that I would be the coach he would hire. He also told me that my expertise was extremely needed in the Medical community and that I should consider getting Certified as a Life Coach for Doctors. I went through an intensive Coach Certification Training Program geared towards understanding the Doctor’s lifestyle and the issues that they have to deal with on a regular basis – both personal and business-related. I was trained by a Doctor who had the inside scoop to the Medical Community and the challenges within it. It’s still an untapped resource that many Doctors don’t know exists. Hopefully, with this blog post far more Doctors will take advantage of this professional resource (i.e., Life Coaching) which will help them to avoid burnout and improve their personal relationships with their spouses and families.

2) Why should doctors have personal coaches?

Doctors are human too. They deal with a lot of stress on a daily basis, which impacts their own overall health & well-being. Even though they are in a profession where they are looked at as the one who is supposed to have all the answers, many times, they don’t – especially when it comes to their own life challenges. If more Doctors worked with Life Coaches like me who have been trained to coach Doctors, they would have more balance in their lives, manage the stress more effectively and be an even better physician to their patients than they already are. Their personal lives would also improve because “relationship issues” often come up in the coaching sessions since this area of their life seems to suffer the most as a result of their demanding and hectic schedule. Stress is just a part of a Doctor’s life, but there is a much better way of managing the stress so that it doesn’t have a negative impact on their own overall health and ability to provide the superior service their patients come to expect.


3) What does a typical session with you involve? (For example, do you usually have weekly meetings; do you ever go to their office to meet them or do they come to your office to meet you; what is the typical span of your relationship with a doctor?)

Each month, a typical coaching client has three 1-hour coaching sessions by telephone. It is important that my clients are willing to invest in the coaching process for a minimum of 3-6 months. Some of my clients even hire me for an entire year. Permanent changes happen over time, not over night. If the Doctor wants to see a significant improvement in the quality of their life, then there has to be a commitment on his/her part to invest in the time to do so.

I also make myself available via e-mail and for laser coaching via telephone (brief 5-10 minutes) in between sessions for those moments that my clients need that extra support and guidance, especially when they feel stuck or something “came up” that has thrown them off their path. I want to make sure that all my clients feel fully supported during our coaching relationship and that they know they have a resource that they can tap into when they need it most.

I have a special 12-week Doctors Coaching Program was designed specifically for the medical professional to help Physicians improve their overall health & well-being. This curriculum is weaved into our coaching sessions, along with any other area that they want to address. The ultimate goal for any of my clients, Doctors and non-Doctors, is that they want to be happy more often. It’s all about being happy with your life, right? I am sure that you have noticed that when you are happy and more at peace with your life, you manifest more positive things into your life. But when you are stressed and overwhelmed, you attract more things to be stressed out about!

All my coaching is based on the principles of the Law of Attraction and my clients learn how to shift their thoughts and feelings so that they attract more of what they want into their life and less of what they don’t! Helping doctors manage their stress level more effectively and to improve their personal relationships are two popular concerns that we address during the coaching process. I also have them rank other areas of their life to get a complete snapshot of how they perceive their current state of happiness & wellness.

Stay tuned for Part II of my Interview with Bea (a Doctor's spouse). You can find her blog at http://equanimityfound.blogspot.com/

To find out more about my Coaching Services for Doctors & their families, contact me via e-mail at Maria@MariaLesetz.com. You can also visit my Doctors website for Life Coaching.

Have a Lovin' Life day!

Maria C. Lesetz, Certified Life Coach for Doctors

Life Coaching for the Doctor's Wife / Doctor's Spouse & Family!

What about the doctor's wife ... or more generally, the doctor's significant other -- doesn't he or she deal with stress and have challenges just by being the spouse of a doctor? Of course they do!

Doctors have long hours, stressful days, deal with government interference all day long (Medicare and HMOs are cutting back), patients are demanding, the list of admistrative work is overwhelming and taking over the type of work the doctor loves to do ... treating patients, solving medical mysteries, helping people feel better! I don't think that being a doctor is the same job that it was 20 or 30 years ago. The culture of being a doctor has changed. Things have become more complicated. Doctors are being taken away why they came to the profession and beginning to say "boy, if I knew then, what I know now, I wouldn't have entered this profession!"

Sometimes you may even see that your spouse (that is the doctor) is starting to come home "run down", not appear as healthy, vibrant and energetic as he or she once was. But dare you address the issue of his health? Sometimes, that topic is like the pink elephant in the room -- it exists... but no one wants to talk about it!

Now, back to the doctor's family .... Your loved one comes home ... whatever time that is and then he or she has to shift to "family" mode. Do you think that is an easy shift to make? Do you think that the spouse or kids get their doctor family member at his or her best? Or do they get the left over of that exhausting, long and stressful day?

So, as the Doctor's wife or husband or significant other, how do YOU deal with that stress? How do you maintain a healthy relationship with your loved one? What type of stressful situations do you experience by being a wife of a doctor or a significant other of a doctor?

Do you sometimes wish that you could have more free time with your spouse? Do you wish that he or she wouldn't have to work such long hours? Do you wish that more money was being made so that it would free up time for both of you and you could start living life together, enjoying the things you love, vacationing as long as you want or maybe even starting your own little side business together that you have talked about but never got around to doing?

Maybe you are worried about the closeness of the relationship because the two of you do not spend as much quality time with each other as you would like to. You feel that your relationship is getting lost in all that stress that exists when being married to the Medical Profession.

But it doesn't have to be that way!

As a Certified Life Coach for Doctors who specializes in Law of Attraction Coaching, I will often work with the spouse of the doctor in addition to the doctors themselves --- this can be quite productive and enhance the relationship and the dynamics of your family. You will see improved communications and learn how to shift your focus so that you DO attract a more healthy relationship with your loved one!

Physicians ... Avoid Burnout with a Life Coach for Doctors!

Most of my Doctor coaching clients initially came to me where they were at the point of "total overwhelm" mode. Do you know the feeling? They told me that if they continued at the pace they are going, they will definitely burn out! That's one of the main reasons why they have hired me as their life coach.

Who really suffers when you are under a lot of stress? Well actually ... everyone, especially you! But your patients, your spouse, your children all feel the pressures of the medical profession and as a result those relationships are less than optimal.

The question is ... What do you REALLY want?
* More personal time with your family
* A new career that is less stressful
* Better health
* An office staff that helps make your schedule more efficient instead of hindering it
* To be more productive in your day and run "on time" instead of always running late and making your patients & family wait for you ...

Yes, the list can go on. But you need to identify what you really want to change in your life and then you must believe that there is some way that your desire can manifest.

Many of my physician clients want major change, but their belief around whether it can happen or not is slim to none. Why? Because, they are trying to figure out the HOW. Now, I understand that in your profession, it is important for you to figure out things and come up with a plan to assist your patients to wellness; however, in life, you sometimes have to let go of the how it is going to happen.

One of my doctor clients would love to have her own business which allows her the flexibility to be home by 5:00 / 5:30 pm to spend time with her family. She gets stuck in her head trying to figure out how that is going to happen and then, as a result convinces herself that it is not possible. But it is!

If you had a patient who had a defeatist attitude around their overall health before they even started any wellness plan, what would you say to them? You probably would tell them that their attitude & belief are the most important factors in their success! Well, the same goes for you.

Whether you are a physician, nurse or any other Medical professional, you deal with a lot of stress in your profession and that stress will impact your overall health & well-being. But you know that, except you don't do anything about it because you don't have the time to or you think you are invincible, or you just don't want to invest the money in yourself and your overall health & well-being. Whatever the reason -- they are all excuses - every single one of them. Excuses keep you from living your passion and your dreams; Excuses keep you from true Happiness!

If you want to listen to my Top 7 Secrets to Reducing Stress and Avoiding Physician Burnout, visit: LifeCoachforDoctors.com and download my free audio coaching tips!

Get rid of those excuses and hire a Life Coach to help you to reduce the stress and avoid total burnout! Your overall Happiness depends on it. If you are not happy in life and enjoying life with every fiber of your being, what's the point?

Somewhere along the line, the passion for what you do dwindled because you got caught up in that feeling of overwhelm that is prevalent in the Medical Profession. You have lost sight of what is really important - -to be happy and to Love Life!

Contact me today and find out more about Life Coaching for Doctors and how it will benefit you!