When the Time Comes to Pivot: Why I Chose to Wind Down My Coaching Business
There are moments in every therapist’s career when the path ahead becomes unmistakably clear. Something inside refuses to be ignored. This is the story of one of those moments for me.
For years, I held two parallel streams in my professional world: my coaching business and my clinical supervision practice specialising in Schema Therapy and EMDR. Both were meaningful and successful. Both allowed me to support therapists in different, deeply rewarding ways.
But over time, I began to feel the strain of sustaining two identities and two sets of responsibilities. What had once felt expansive started to feel overwhelming. And eventually, I had to face the truth: continuing both streams was no longer sustainable.
The Moment I Knew That Something Needed to Shift
At the end of last year, I found myself on two trainings in the same week. One, the Jeffrey Young Schema Therapy Association Symposium. The other Jay Acunzo’s Pitch Challenge. I enjoyed them both but the growing split between my professional worlds became evident.
As Jay challenged us to come up with a signature speech, I realised I had nothing I wanted to say about coaching. I had a lot I wanted to say about schema therapy.
When I’m invited to speak, it’s always about my schema therapy knowledge.
This moment insight also aligned with advice from a business coach earlier in the year who said to me “You always seem at your best when you’re talking about schemas.” I’d booked in with her because I felt something wasn’t right in my coaching business even though it was financially successful. My group coaching program continued to sell out round after round and my coaching clients were getting good results, but I wasn’t feeling it.
On top of this, the workload of marketing both streams was too much for one woman, even with help. It was increasingly hard to market one part of the brand without diminishing the strength of the other brand.
The conclusion I came to was that although seeing therapists thrive in business it didn’t invigorate me or spark curiosity in the same way as clinical supervision and therapy skills training. When you’re in the business of helping others stay values congruent, grounded and well, the consequences of misalignment in your own professional life need to be addressed.
Choosing the Path That Felt Most True
The decision to wind down my coaching business was a values driven choice. Around this time, my beloved 14 year old Labrador passed away. During this period of grieving, the importance of doing what feels true to me and living well seemed even more important.
I asked myself two questions:
Where do I feel most alive in my work?
If I can only do one stream of my business, which one do I want to retain?
The answer was immediate.
Supporting therapists to build lasting confidence and competence.
Helping them strengthen their wellbeing and boundaries so they can sustain long, fulfilling careers.
I do this best through supervision and training.
That was the work that felt deeply aligned with who I am as a clinician, a supervisor, and a human being. The idea of letting it go and replacing it with coaching was met with a hard no.
Letting Go to Create Space - The Steps I’m Taking
Winding down a successful stream of work is not a small decision. It requires honesty, courage and a willingness to disappoint the version of yourself who once wanted it.
I’ve also been conscious of disappointing existing clients and social media followers who are attached to the previous version of me.
The major part of winding down the coaching stream began by ceasing marketing of my coaching business.
I honoured my existing 1:1 coaching contracts, most of which ended mid-year and my on demand courses remain available for now.
The decision to stop the coaching marketing and sales cycle has reduced feelings of stress, tension and emerging burn out symptoms I was feeling.
It’s a good feeling to know that I can pour my energy into the work that feels most meaningful, most sustainable and most coherent with my long‑term purpose.
What This Pivot Has Made Possible
Since making the shift, I’ve been able to:
Prioritise my own wellbeing and boundaries
Be able to read and consume long form content without my mind constantly distracting me
Get off social media with it’s constant outrage-focused content and attention-shrinking impact
Support therapists with greater presence, depth and clarity
Put my attention on my supervision stream to ensure that it is sustainable for the long term
Reconnect with the parts of this work that inspired me from the beginning
Start a part-time role at a university to support the development of training clinical psychologists. This was instrumental in breaking my addiction to social media and allowed me to get offline.
The pivot has allowed me to do what matters most to me and return to a more well-being focused life.
A Closing Reflection
Every therapist reaches a point where the work asks something of them. That could be a shift, a recalibration, a decision that honours both their clients and themselves. For me, that moment came when I realised I could no longer divide my energy without compromising my wellbeing.
Choosing supervision and therapy skills training as my primary focus is a return to what motivates me, what aligns with my strengths, and what allows me to support therapists in the most meaningful way.
Finally, a big thank you to all the therapists who I had the pleasure of supporting in my coaching stream, whether that was through purchasing an on-line course, a group coaching offer or 1:1 . It’s a delight to see your continued growth and progression in your business.
I look forward to supporting therapists like you through clinical supervision and therapy skills training in the future.
Yours in thriving,
Nadene
