Have you ever had a client that shows little or no improvement? Wondering how you can help them to achieve the results you are there to facilitate?
We all come across clients that aren’t as responsive as we would like. Often, it’s nothing to do with the protocols we create for them – it comes back to the client. But the good news is that there are steps we can take to set them up for success.
Set reasonable expectations
Progress is rarely linear in nature. Some clients do take time to see the type of progress they hope for, particularly if their case is complex or decades in the making.
Make sure there are reasonable expectations on both sides. Decide on a rough timeline based on their case, and review it with them regularly.
If their progress is slower, track and celebrate the small wins with them. Sometimes the improvements we see first are the ones they didn’t even know were an issue.
You might like to show them how those improvements feed into their goal. For example, if they are sleeping better, tell them how that helps them to reach their weight loss goals in the long run.
Expectations for a client is where our own mindset niggles can sneak in. We might think that our clients ‘can’t afford’ to see us as frequently as we’d like. Or maybe you feel that more than 2 supplements is ‘too much’ to give.
You need to identify if it’s your own reluctance that is influencing your client’s success.
Identify all of the root causes
As practitioners, we often pride ourselves on our holistic approach to health. But we’re also human – which means sometimes our view of a client case can become biased. For example, if you have MTHFR mutations, that might be your first go-to cause for a client’s health concerns.
Start with the basics, and then work your way through the more complex factors.
Eating patterns, movement, stress levels, sleep and emotional wellbeing are the most common problem areas with clients – even those who do have chronic or complex conditions! If one of these is out of balance, it doesn’t matter how many herbs or supplements you throw at them.
You also want to look for root causes of why your client isn’t seeing improvements. Are there other factors overriding their best efforts such as chronic stress or poor sleep? Or are they sabotaging their own progress every step of the way?
Clients who struggle to achieve results often have an underlying stress, emotion or trauma that is keeping them stuck.
Address the emotional drivers
As practitioners, we can easily identify the physical and even mental drivers of disease and symptoms. But one area that is often overlooked or left unaddressed is the emotional causes.
If you’re not considering the emotional factors in a client’s case, you’re not actually treating them holistically. A herb can’t heal a hormone imbalance or overeating if the root cause is emotional. This is a band-aid approach that does nothing but mask the symptoms!
Sometimes, you may not even know that there is an emotional driver holding your client back. Or you might note an emotional aspect to the case such as trauma.
While you can refer them on to a psychologist or counsellor, your client may not want to seek help elsewhere. This can be difficult, as you have built up this trust with your client, but feel limited with what you can do to help.
That’s why I created Naturopathic Emotional Release. NER allows holistic practitioners to uncover the emotional drivers behind a client’s health concerns. Using NER, you can identify emotions and triggers that your client may not even be aware of and clear any blocks that may be hindering their progress. Sign up for the next available training here.