Frequently Asked Questions
What's your coaching philosophy? What's the coach/client relationships like?
As a business coach & consultant, I dip into my formal academic education (BBA, MBA), my real-world business experience, and my continued education in Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) from the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), a non-hierarchical framework for value-based decision-making.
As a fellow trauma survivor, I am on my own journey of processing, healing, and education. When we're not meeting for a session, it's a pretty good bet that I'm either meeting with one of my own team of coaches, mental health professionals, or mentors or reading, researching, or taking a class on some badass subject that helps you do you more confidently and easily.
Coaching sessions with me also incorporate adaptations from my previous career as a Suzuki cello teacher (highly-trained pedagogical education!) The Suzuki philosophy emphasizes experiential holistic learning by enhancing strengths, not eliminating weaknesses.
Our work together is founded upon a defiant expectation that practicing bravery *can* feel easy for you. We'll spend our time together discovering the methods, tools, routines, and habits that do just that. My goal is to make your practice of personal bravery feel as easy as possible for you.
Other philosophies clients get to benefit from:
- You're in the driver's seat—As a trauma resilience consultant and coach, this process is client-directed and client-centered. You're the only one with access to your unique resources: economic, relational, emotional, practical, etc. You are the only one who knows your capacity for growth and tolerance for the discomfort that comes along with it. My job is to help you find the perfect tools to enhance, empower, and enrich all of that.
- You choose where I sit—I can coach from wherever you'd like, metaphorically this could be the sidelines, shotgun, back seat, nosebleed section, etc. I don't do "my way or the highway." There are no gurus here. Of course, I'm honored to cheer, advise, guide, warn, and ease with solutions. Together, you and I will brainstorm endless creative ideas... But at the end of the day, I am not the one in the driver's seat, you are.
- You've got the steering wheel—coaching sessions are for discussing whatever area of life, career, or business you'd prefer. I'll let you know if I think a topic might be better suited for another professional, so no worries there. We can change topical directions, avoid certain areas, re-address your initial goals or modify them as needed. Just say the word and I'll be on board.
- You've got the gas & brake pedals—go as slow or as fast as you'd like. Prefer lots of homework or zero homework? Cool. Want to meet more often? As long as I've got the space in the calendar, that time can be yours. In every session, my hope is that you'll grow beyond the just-getting-by patterns of coping. It is possible to find business and career solutions for thriving as a professional and trauma survivor that are creative, reliable, and sustainable. This is accomplished at any speed.
- U-turns are encouraged—questions, hesitations, second-guessing, fixing mistakes and changing your mind is a natural part of our evolution as humans. I'm cool with it. For instance, an idea mentioned in a session might need to get tweaked a bit before it really feels awesome. At times, it might feel a little bit like trying on shoes or throwing spaghetti against the walls. Whatever doesn't stick or feel quite right can absolutely be discarded or replaced with a comfier version or new attempt!
- There is an eject button—If you decide to pause our work together and want recommendations for another coach, just let me know. A coaching relationship is not permanent nor obligatory. Besides, I love giving recommendations to my favorite colleagues.
- Different is good! Different is fun!—I was diagnosed as neurodivergent late-in-life. There *is* a silver lining to riding the undiagnosed struggle bus for decades. I strengthened a massive adaptation and mitigation muscle for my clients. The culmination of my experiences continues to give my clients countless methods of adapting to a world that at times feels triggering, alien, and scary. My approach to coaching is experimental, progressive, efficient, light-hearted, and fun!
What type of client is a good fit to work with you?
I work with three types of clients:
- Career professionals seeking greater workplace well-being and balance for burnout and trauma recovery.
- Entrepreneurs and small business owners seeking sustainable tools and business strategies that support their trauma recovery.
- Mental health practitioners & other helping professionals seeking ethical, trauma-sensitive, consent-based marketing and business strategies that do no (further) harm.
YES, PLEASE!
I work with trauma survivors of many kinds—cumulative, acute, or complex. Here are a few examples:
Adverse Childhood Experiences such as: witnessing or experiencing violence, abuse, neglect in the home or community; experiencing sudden or prolonged death of a family member (i.e. suicide, cancer); growing up in the foster care system or a household with substance abuse or mental health problems; instability due to parental separation or household members being in jail or prison
Adverse Religious Experiences (AREs) aka Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS). I've worked with clients who are former or hopeful-former members of cults, high-control sects, fundamentalist spiritual communities, or new age groups with undue influence. Many of these clients are self-labeled or labeled by others as: Exvangelical, Ex-Mormon, Post-Mormon, ex-missionary, ex-pastor, ex-hun, a "suppressive person", SP, heathen, ex-moonie, ex-Scientologist, disfellowshipped, ex-catholic, excommunicated, shunned, sinner, etc.
Adverse Organizational Experiences or (AOEs) such as enduring a toxic work environment or receiving physical, emotional, financial, sexual, or intellectual abuse from boss(es), teammates, employer(s), or organization such as WeWork, Theranos, Dave Ramsey Solutions, Tony Robbins Research International, NXIVM, Enron, etc. This might include experience(s) with direct marketing or multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) like Vector Marketing, Scentsy, LulaRoe, HerbaLife, AdvoCare, MetaboLife, Young Living, Equinox, Amway, Avon, Rodan + Fields, etc. Might self-label or be labeled by others as "whistleblower, snitch, "not a team player", devil's advocate, or a failure.
Traumatic or Abusive Relationship(s) with spouse, partner, friend, or member(s) of public through receiving physical, financial, emotional, or sexual abuse like receiving threats, insults, bullying, stalking, destruction of personal property, enduring narcissistic traits, coercion, gaslighting, lovebombing, or restrictions on autonomy
Military or First-Responder Traumas such as: combat stress, PTSD or secondary trauma (i.e. military spouses, comrades, etc.), frequent or war zone deployment, gender harassment, military sexual trauma (MST), reunion & reintegration difficulty, post-deployment syndrome, traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion, depression, survivor's guilt, active shooter survivor, terrorism,
Adverse Medical or Health Traumas such as: compassion fatigue, secondary traumas, medical survivor's guilt, cancer survivor, ongoing chronic illness or disability (sudden, degenerative, avoidable, etc.), recover from major surgery, traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion, hospital-acquired conditions, events that required life-sustaining intervention, prolonged hospital stays, permanent harm, or death.
Incarceration or Prisoner Traumas such as: family disconnection, loss of autonomy, lack of purpose, reunion & reintegration issues upon release, and collateral consequences and loss of time/opportunities,. Previously incarcerated clients often endured cruel conditions, unpredictability, solitary confinement, punitiveness, witnessed and/or experienced violence and other Potentially Traumatic Events (PTEs).
Transgenerational or Collective Traumas: including but not limited to pandemics, natural disasters, war, genocide, slave trade, terrorism attacks, massacres, human trafficking, colonization, racial or ethnic segregation, (i.e. Jim Crow laws, The Trail of Tears, the Canadian Indian residential school system), refugee/emigration, violence, or starvation.
POSSIBLY... LET'S TALK!
We might be the right fit if you own a business and one or more of the following is true... Just mention this when scheduling a Meet-N-Greet.
You're a questioning or hesitant member of a spiritual community or high-control group.
You're a pastor's kid (PK), missionary kid (MK) or grew up in the homeschooling community.
Something else on this page resonates with you. :-)
100% NOPE.
There are countless outlets for sadistic/masochistic entertainment. This is not one of those. Please seek disappointment elsewhere if one or more of the following is true...
- You desire to financially or otherwise benefit from the direct promotion of a religion, cult, high-control group, or multi-level marketing company.
- You promote of products, businesses or business practices that are racist, ableist, homophobic, fat-phobic, misogynistic, xenophobic, or culturally appropriative.
What's a typical coaching session like?
Every coaching session will look a little different depending on your needs. That said, here's a general outline of how a coaching session typically is structured:
- 5-10 min: We start with smiles, chit-chat, and any catching up of life that needs to happen for that week/month.
- 10 min: Then we'll begin with a question like "Where would you like to go today?" or "What's on your list of priorities for today's session?"
- Using that answer in combination with your initial and overall client goals, we'll dive into the session together!
- 5-10 min: When our time is up, you'll have tangible action items (if desired) to implement before your next appointment.
What topics can I bring to a coaching session?
You can bring almost anything to your session! We love the "out of left-field" topics, so please feel free to bring whatever feels like it needs attention.
If we can't offer support in an area (i.e. therapeutic, medical, or legal advice) we are not bashful about letting you know, ASAP. In most cases, we'll have a referral to another colleague who can help.
Our clients often bring problems that pop up in their business, relationships, life, or career. This could be anything from writing or self-publishing to the strategy, product launches, marketing, operations, or automation of your business. We also love helping with creating systems that support your holistic needs and pursuits.
Is coaching or consulting the same as counseling or therapy?
Nope. I provide non-therapeutic business & professional services so that survivors can build resilience and more easily cope with the long-term effects of trauma.
Sessions are centered around discussing your business and/or career, not your trauma. In fact, many of my clients see me *in addition to* their (team of) licensed mental health professionals. I cannot recommend this combination enough!
A therapist or counselor is trained and educated to help their clients process, manage, and/or recover from trauma.
At a minimum, therapists or counselors have education in mental health, received corresponding clinic training, and keep up with continued education credits.
It's unlikely that most clinical mental health professionals will have the practical education or experience to sit down with you and look at your spreadsheets, ad spend, analytics, resumé, or project plan. Even fewer will know what to ask so that you can quickly highlight where and how your trauma shows up in personal finances or strategically in business.
During sessions, it's not uncommon for clients to get a little misty eyed (usually this is from feeling seen or experiencing relief, *not* from re-hashing the past). While I am 100% comfortable with emotions showing up in a session, that is not the point of our work together.
I am trained to identify the signs of trauma and equipped with tools to ease my clients' experiences in *business & career*.
I've got a Bachelors in Business Administration Management (BBA, '07, Texas Tech University) with a focus on entrepreneurship and an Executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA, '22, University of Wyoming) My graduate studies focused on psychological marketing & the power of (cult) influence. I also am a Certified Trauma & Resilience Life Coach (TRLC, Arizona Trauma Institute) and a Certified Trauma Support Specialist (CTSS, International Trauma Institute). I'm also certified in Psychological First Aid (PFA, Johns Hopkins University). My full list of certifications and credentials is here.
If/when you're ready to get started, click here to schedule a Meet-N-Greet.
I've got more questions? I think I'm ready? How do I get started?
Schedule a meet-n-greet chat here. The chat is casual and no-strings-attached. No, this is not "free" pizza for the price of a sales sermon. I don't play those games.
At a Meet-N-Greet, there will be an opportunity to:
briefly discuss your career/business
share a quick synopsis of your story, if desired
ask any remaining questions
learn about your best options to work with me, (even if that means creating something uniquely you!)
If the vibe isn't there, there's no obligation at all to take further steps. If it's something you'd like, I'm also happy to provide a list of my favorite recommendations for "niche-mates" and colleagues. There are plenty of fish in the sea!
I cannot emphasize this enough: I will not be offended if your choice is not to work with me. Obviously, I'd love to offer assistance if you think it will help, but at the end of the day, all I want is you making choices that feel good for you.
After our meet-n-greet, if you do decide to work with me, you'll have the best next steps for you!
Q: What is Religious Trauma?
The North American Committee on Religious Trauma Research (NACRTR) provides their official definition as:
Religious trauma results from an event, series of events, relationships, or circumstances within or connected to religious beliefs, practices, or structures that is experienced by an individual as overwhelming or disruptive and has lasting adverse effects on a person’s physical, mental, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.
Q: Are you (Emily Ann Peterson) anti-religion?
Nope! I am anti-oppression and anti-coercion.
I believe it's possible to find a healthy, safe, non-toxic, non-abusive spiritual community experience, if that's what you're seeking. The clients of Peterson Consulting Group represent a wide range of religious experiences and practice of spiritual beliefs. However...
Peterson Resilience Consulting is 100% against:
authoritarian groups & toxic leadership
coercive control & undue influence
manipulative marketing & indoctrination
financial & emotional exploitation
fundamental extremism of all kinds
Trauma hurts.
The lasting effects of trauma from any of ^those^ are tragic and long-term, often permanent. All trauma is extremely costly, and not just those involved in the trauma. Trauma is costly, for everyone. The CDC reports that childhood trauma alone has an economic and social cost to families, communities, and society that totals hundreds of billions of dollars each year.
So, no I am not anti-religion. I am anti-oppression.
Q: Why might a personal experience of (religious) trauma warrant work with a specialized business coach?
Fear-Based Business = Coping Skills;
Bravery-Based Business = Thriving!
Everyday things like finances, strategy, marketing, and self-promotion can feel unanchored, confusing, and scary—especially for a business owner with religious trauma.
This can prompt business decisions to be fueled by fear which keeps everything just "coping along", rather than thriving with bravery. (Self-sabotage, impostor syndrome, avoidance, or financial issues anyone?)
A business coach/consultant who understands the wide effect that trauma has on one's life is equipped to spot when those patterns pop up and can help you get back into "the thriving zone."
Let's replace those systems of oppression with empowerment, freedom, and authenticity!
Your trauma can keep your business spinning in old patterns of fears, thoughts, or values that don't reflect who you are today.
The imprints from those uniquely oppressive systems have a knack of hanging around for a loooooong time. They can permeate every corner of life, including work, productivity, and money.
For those with religious trauma: The deconstruction and/or de-conversion process is not just an un-learning of acquired beliefs and/or logical fallacies. It's re-learning (or learning for the first time ever) who you are, what you value, and how you choose to live it all out—including in your business.
Q: What are some benefits of working with a business coach or consultant who is sensitive to your (religious) trauma?
1. Someone Who Understands
Working with a business coach who's also been through religious trauma can feel like... <deep breath of relief!>
No need to unearth all the old stories or pick at those old scars. You can save all that energy for the stuff you want to work on in your business!
2. Celebrate *Those* Moments & Be a Badass
No more gurus. No more twisting yourself into pretzels to "succeed" or check all the boxes. No more frameworks of judgement. Just you being your most badass self and me cheering you on!
The bonus of my specialty in religious trauma is that when those uniquely religiously traumatized moments show up in business (I'm sure you can think of a few), you've got someone there to truly see them and acknowledge just how far you've come.
3. You're in the Driver's Seat
Working with a trauma-informed business coach means that you are the one with the answers, desired destination, and preferred process.
I won't ask you to conform or live by someone else's standards.
Our work is centered around your autonomy and direct access to your gut-level wisdom & bravery.
4. Your business & career become vessels for your trauma recovery(!!!)
When your business coach understand the implications of and best ways to work with (not around) your trauma, your business stops becoming a minefield of triggers.
Instead, as we work together, your business and career transforms into a daily practice of thriving after adverse experiences. This means the more you practice thriving through your business and career, the easier it becomes.
How do I access my content? I need help troubleshooting something...
Any questions regarding product-specific things (i.e. login info, content access, troubleshooting) can go to the customer support email is support@resiliencepro.co
What's a typical coaching session like?
Every coaching session will look a little different depending on your needs. That said, here's a general outline of how a coaching session typically is structured:
- 5-10 min: We start with smiles, chit-chat, and any catching up of life that needs to happen for that week/month.
- 10 min: Then we'll begin with a question like "Where would you like to go today?" or "What's on your list of priorities for today's session?"
- Using that answer in combination with your initial and overall client goals, we'll dive into the session together!
- 5-10 min: When our time is up, you'll have tangible action items (if desired) to implement before your next appointment.
I've purchased a coaching session, how do I (re)schedule it?
We only get one life to live, so let's live it fully & intentionally!
The Peterson Resilience Consulting's scheduling policy does several things for all parties involved:
It honors our mutually limited resource of time
It celebrates and protects endless possibilities, aka planning ahead
It clearly communicates our reciprocal expectations & intentions
It provides consistency and dependability
It promotes immediacy & taking action
It leaves room for flexibility to change
And it does all that so that we feel safe to be a whole, complete, trauma-surviving human for ourselves and each other.
Acuity scheduling software is our chosen "enforcer" of these policies. These policies are listed briefly below but also explained in greater length in Terms & Conditions, Client Rights & Responsibilities.
Scheduling & How to Avoid Forfeiting a Coaching Session:
Give more than 24 hours to change or reschedule an appointment. A link to do this is provided in your appointment confirmation email. If your reschedule window is closed, Acuity will prevent your reschedule request. In this case you may keep your scheduled appointment or forfeit it.
FYI - Acuity also blocks new appointments less than 24 hours in advance and more than 120 days in the future.
Book your paid coaching session within the provided 30-day window. For instance, if you've purchased 3 coaching sessions, then you may spend no longer than 30 days to decide how you'd prefer to space out and reserve those times in our calendar. This keeps the flow of reserved coaching sessions at a manageable pace.
Why do we do it this way?
Time is a limited resource and this creates a limited capacity for both me and you to meet up. Ever heard someone make a complaint like "there's only so many hours in a day"? Yep, daylight hours is a limited resource.
In our case, our business' hours of operation, desire, and personal energy supply for offerings are all limited resources. After all, too much of anything can kill you. This is true for too much water (drowning), air (hyperventilation), and overbooking your calendar (chronic stress).
Where there are limited resources, you'll also find a limited capacity to create supply. Limited supply affects everyone's access to that supply and when that's threatened, typically, wild things ensue. (Global warming much?)
On a lighter note, remember that one Christmas way back when they really misread the room by not making enough "Tickle Me Elmos"? Remember when all the parents went absolutely bonkers trying to get their hands on some furry, talking, robot-thing? Remember when some parents used their kids' college savings on black market Elmos? Yeah, that.
We remember that too. It was wild and stressful, albeit somewhat entertaining for everyone observing. These policies help avoid that stress and mayhem, for everyone involved. :-)
How does Google Meet work? Is it secure?
Every appointment scheduled by a client is assigned a unique Google Meet link. Unless a client shares that link with someone else, no other clients will have access to that link.
Beyond everything listed in the client agreement and on our website terms, here's what Google has to say about Meet's security, (as of writing this answer on July 23rd, 2022). Even further still! Here's a list of Meet's global list of privacy and compliance offerings:
SOC 1/2/3
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27017
ISO/IEC 27018
FedRAMP Moderate ATO
HIPAA-compliant use <<< Hooray!!!
HITRUST CSF
GDPR
Privacy Shield Framework (EU-U.S. & Swiss-U.S.)
BSI C5 (EMEA)
ENS High (Spain)
MTCS Tier 3 (Singapore)
OSPAR (Singapore)
CSA STAR
All this to say that as of writing this on July 23rd, 2022... Google Meet is very secure!
Who can schedule a coaching session?
Coaching appointments are offered to the general public and recurring clients through the methods, listed here.
I've got another question...
Customer support-related questions to: support@resiliencepro.co
New clients can email: hi@resiliencepro.co
I'd really like to purchase _____ but money's tight right now...
I deeply value financial accessibility, so let's figure something out.
Q: Are you (Emily Ann Peterson) a therapist?
A: I don't do therapy. I do business consulting and life/career coaching.
In fact, I verify that new clients have access to a therapist in addition to their work with me. If anything comes up in the "therapy territory" I ask the client to write it down and take it to their therapist.* This allows our session to remain focused on the client's business & career, in the present and future.
*In the case of the client working in the mental health profession, I'll ask that they unpack it with their supervising clinician or mentor.
Q: Do you have training in trauma or mental health?
A: It seems like every well-intentioned person with a TikTok is adding "trauma-informed" to their tagline.
THAT IS NOT ME. ;-) Here are the most applicable trauma and mental health trainings I've completed:
- Certified Trauma & Resilience Life Coach (TRLC), Arizona Trauma Institute
- Certified Trauma Support Specialist (CTSS), Trauma Institute International
- Psychological First Aid (PFA), trained and certified by Johns Hopkins University
- Member, Association for Contextual Behavior Science
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Member, World Professional Association for Transgender Health
- Member, National Association of Social Workers
- Long live CEU's & certifications!
I'm also continually adding to my full CV and updated list of education, credentials and other certifications.
Q: What type of client is a good fit for business consulting or career coaching?
- Career professionals seeking greater workplace well-being and balance for burnout and trauma recovery.
- Entrepreneurs and small business owners seeking sustainable tools and business strategies that support their trauma recovery.
- Mental health practitioners & other helping professionals seeking ethical, trauma-sensitive, consent-based marketing and business strategies that do no (further) harm.
Q: Before I refer a client, I need to know, do you practice what you preach?
A: I absolutely walk the talk and I regularly apply the skills that I discuss with my clients to my own business, because I'm a trauma survivor too.
For example: I don't do "sales calls" anymore. Many of the tactics used by sales teams are coercive, psychologically manipulative, utilize gaslighting, and are generally triggering for me and my clients. Sales and marketing teams often approach customers as being stupid, broken, or not able to make decisions for themselves. Instead, I operate my business upon my personal values; my clients are not broken! (Mental health pros and I will call this a salutogenic approach applied to business practices.)
Another example: I used to be a huge advocate of "email funnels" because they were effective. But I had to dismantle my business' dependency on this popular business practice when I realized that it triggered my religious trauma. Furthermore, it was a system that replicated rape-culture and did not honor anyone's consent. I had to own up to the interoceptive feelings of non-consent that I had caused. I went through a weird, uncomfortable, and long process of unwinding my business protocols. More so, I admitted how that feeling still shows up in other ways and that I still have work to do... (Thanks for nothing patriarchy! Yuck!)
...which brings me back to why I still practice what I encourage for my clients too. ;-)
Q: If I want to refer one of my therapy clients, how would I know if they are ready?
A: Many new clients seek coaching or consulting when they realize:
- They love their work, but know that going at the speed of SURVIVAL or struggle will only last for so long
- they want change because, practically-speaking, all of their trauma-fueled decisions cannot produce the life, career, or business they desire
- Something about the structure or systems in their business or career re-triggers or recreates old traumas (and it's exhausting!)
- Burnout.
- (I help them build automated systems that create more space for their recovery.)
Mental health professionals might refer their clients when:
- it's clear that 100% of the year spent avoiding marketing produces a business with 100% profit problems
- the EFT is mostly working, but it taps out at a mere mention of spreadsheets and taxes (pun intended)
- the scripts of internalized oppression and toxic masculinity are obvious, but not the full implications on business or analytics
Reasons high-control or religious trauma survivors might seek coaching or consulting:
- a survivor of abusive relationship(s) needs to shop for a tech platform that automatically enforces work boundaries
- an exvangelical or exMormon is also an entrepreneur (often comes with marketing issues or self-promotion procrastination)
- a survivor of a cult is (re)learning the meaning of money and how to use their autonomy
This is where I come in!
Q: I'm a mental health professional and want to refer my clients to work with you but HIPAA... how would that work?
A: HIPAA-or-not, every client of mine is required to agree to the Terms & Conditions and their Client Rights & Responsibilities. Please read through those to learn more about any exceptions or examples of applications in the client relationship. I've made a point to make them read as clearly as possible.
Concerning HIPAA's Privacy Rule:
In HIPAA-terms, a patient's business coach is not an "individually identifiable entity." This means that unlike a doctor or therapist, I am not covered under HIPAA's privacy rule. So once data or information crosses my threshold or enters my brain, it is no longer covered by HIPAA (with some exceptions, read below.)
For Clients With Therapists
To quote Executives for Health Innovation (2022), "Once data leaves a HIPAA-covered entity [a therapist's practice], either for a required or permitted purpose, or because an individual authorized the disclosure, and goes to a non-HIPAA covered entity [a consulting practice], the law and its protectors no longer apply."
ALLOWED: A client can disclose to me that their therapist is named Sally Smith. That's 100% okay! In most cases, anything clients share with me about their therapy relationship is not covered by HIPAA.
NOT ALLOWED: A therapist would not be permitted to send me an email saying "Heads up! I just referred a client named Joe Taylor to maybe work with you on his resumé. He said he would email you tomorrow."
ALLOWED: A therapist could say "Hey, I just sent a client to your website!" but that's about it.
ALLOWED: A client could initiate the creation of a communication triangle, or another shape, to include their clinician, myself, or others for the purposes of supporting the client. In these or other instances, we can discuss signing something similar to a Release Of Information.
ALLOWED: A referring therapist could give permission or encourage their client to mention their name. Most, if not, all of my intake forms have a "How did you hear about me?" section for this purpose. A client can always refrain from telling me how they found me, which is totally cool too!
ALLOWED: My clients who are therapists, may refer their clients to me for business and career consulting *with some caveats*. Prior to beginning their work with me, I would sign a Business Associate Agreement, which would establish boundaries for privately held information. (More on that in the question below.)
Q: I'm a mental health professional, and I want business consulting, are there HIPAA implications? would you sign a BAA?
A: HIPAA-or-not, every client of mine is required to agree to the Terms & Conditions and their Client Rights & Responsibilities. Please read through those to learn more about any exceptions or examples of applications in the client relationship. I've made a point to make them as clear as possible.
Concerning HIPAA's Privacy Rule:
In HIPAA terms, a patient's business coach is not an "individually identifiable entity." This means that unlike a doctor or therapist, I am not, by default, covered under HIPAA's privacy rule. So once data or information crosses my threshold or enters my brain, it is no longer covered by HIPAA.
For Therapists Who Want Business Coaching
To ensure ease in the working relationship with a business client who runs a private practice, I'm more than happy to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). Whatever BAA I sign would need to specify precisely how I will and will not use the data shared during our time together, the boundaries around that are entirely up to you. We can work out a BAA prior to our sessions beginning. (BAA templates listed here!)
A BAA might make our work easier due to the *likely* PHI exposure I'd have in the following scenarios:
- while investigating the automation settings of your payment platform, I might see client names
- while discussing your marketing analytics, I might scroll by client contact info
- while discussing best marketing practices for repelling not-ideal clients, it might be hard to come up with 45 fake names for previous clients AND keep them all straight ;-)
We would also work out the ins-and-outs of any additional HIPAA boundaries for referring (or not referring) your therapy clients to me for their own business and career consulting, again the boundaries around that are entirely up to you.
If any of this interests you, be sure to mention it in your Meet-n-Greet.
FYI - A quote from Executives for Health Innovation (2022):
When a covered entity hires a Business Associate to perform services on its behalf that involve handling of PHI , or even potential exposure to PHI, the Privacy Rule requires that the covered entity include certain protections for the information in a business associate agreement. Business Associates are subject to the Privacy Rule and follow the same rules as covered entities with respect to PHI.
Q: I've got more questions? I think I'm ready? How do I get started?
A: You can always send me an email at hi@resiliencepro.co but the best way to get started and get your questions answered is to schedule a meet-n-greet chat here. The chat is casual and no-strings-attached. No, this is not "free" pizza for the price of a sales sermon. I don't play those games.
At a Meet-N-Greet, there will be an opportunity to:
briefly discuss your career/business
share a quick synopsis of your story, if desired
ask any remaining questions
learn about your best options with me, (even if that means creating something uniquely you!)
If the vibe isn't there, there's no obligation at all to take further steps. If it's something you'd like, I'm also happy to provide a list of our favorite recommended "niche-mates" and colleagues. There are plenty of fish in the sea!
I cannot emphasize this enough: I will not be offended if your choice is not working with me. Obviously, I'd love to offer our assistance if you think it will help, but at the end of the day, all I want is you making choices that feel good for you.
After our meet-n-greet, if you do decide to work with me, you'll have the best next steps for you! You can take those steps whenever you feel comfortable doing so!