Coaching for Doctors, Clinicians and Public Health Leaders – free, evidence-based resources to support you in your career

Are you wondering what more you can do to lead effectively and to take care of yourself into the future?

After 20 years as a public health doctor, I now work as an Executive, Leadership and Career Coach and Coaching Psychologist for senior doctors and public health leaders across the UK and internationally.

Building on my intercalated degree in psychology in 1993, and my masters in health promotion 1999 (specialising in emotional wellbeing), I’ve spent the last 30 years studying, teaching, using and researching the most effective evidence-based techniques and strategies in the field of self-help and self care.

In times of crisis and difficulty, we don’t ‘rise to the occasion’, rather we ‘fall to the highest level of our training’.

I’ve created this page to share some of the ‘radical self care’ tools I use with my senior medical and public health leadership clients in the hope that there is something here which inspires and helps you to take care of yourselves during the challenges of working in the field of healthcare and population health. I don’t include any HR negotiations, occupational health, financial or clinical advice. I’m also not focusing on some of the more obvious self care strategies such as exercise, sleep, hydration and nutrition.

Everything I include I have used myself, and this resource is not a substitute for medical or psychological care. Please feel free to share anything with your colleagues. I will keep updating and adding to this site. If you have any feedback or anything you’d like me to add I’d love to hear how this has helped you or any suggestions to make it more useful to you at fiona@fionadayconsulting.co.uk

Being human means living within multiple complex, adaptive systems which are both changing and becoming more complex all the time. This means living with high levels of ambiguity and not knowing, periods of relative calm and stasis, and periods of disruption whether a ‘big bang’ or a ‘rising tide’. As humans, we all know at some level that ‘Life is like stepping into a boat that is about to sail out to sea and (at some generally unknown and unknowable point to) sink’ (adapted from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi).

There are many things we can’t control or plan for in life, however it is possible to live skilfully with uncertainty and change, and to grow our capacity for what I call ‘radical self care’. This requires a conscious commitment to gaining insight into what is really happening both inside ourselves and in the world around us.  In the face of the  significant period of disruption and distress ahead of us, I wish you courage and every success in your clinical care, leadership and within your own lives and your families as you navigate the unknown and unknowable territory ahead. And remember that you are not on your own, rather we are all joined by our common humanity at this time.

‘Taking in the Good’

It’s easy to be swamped with the difficulty around us, and especially as our brains are hardwired by evolution to be like velcro for things which activate our threat responses, and like teflon for anything good and positive. By noticing the tiny moments in your working day or home time which are good even when everything else seems challenging, you can learn how to really squeeze the goodness out of them and help your brain to rebalance both in the moment and over time. I spent a weekend training with Rick Hanson, one of the world’s leading psychologists in the field of positive neuroplasticity, 10 years ago. His ‘taking in the good’ practice has two steps and I’ve added a third:

1. Notice something small which is positive as it arises through your day – perhaps a smile from a colleague or patient, a flower on a desk, a child’s face, a hasty word of thanks.
2. Allow the fact that something positive has happened to really soak into you so that you are squeezing all the goodness out of it. Spend the next 20-30 seconds really holding onto the feeling that something good has happened as if savouring a warm cup of tea or a quilt surrounding your body.
3. When you have a quiet moment later on in your day, remember that moment again, perhaps share it with someone else so that you relive it and get even more goodness out of it. Keep looking out for moments to savour, like a treasure hunt.

Get on the Balcony

Our brain is hardwired to look for problems and difficulties around us all the time and to activate our ‘threat’ and ‘drive’ emotional systems. When we are faced with a long period of challenge ahead of us like we are at the moment, it is easy for the brain to only receive messages of ‘fear’ and ‘do more’ which drives up our sympathetic nervous system further.

Getting on the balcony means looking at the whole of your life with a sense of perspective. It’s important to notice where in your life are things going well, as well as being honest about the areas which are difficult or challenging. From your balcony, what can you see which nourishes and sustains you? Who do you feel supported by and grateful for? Find small things to feel gratitude for such as having clean water and clothes, somewhere safe to return to, colleagues and friends. Remember the resources you have inside yourself and how you have coped with difficulty in the past. Get up on the balcony at least once a day to purposefully remind you of the safety net you have in place already to support you.

Building ‘Team You’

As well as having ‘threat’ and ‘drive’ emotional systems, humans are also hardwired by evolution to connect with other people through a ‘soothe and connect’ (also called ‘rest and digest’, or ‘affiliative’/ ‘prosocial’) system which we can consciously learn how to activate. Now more than ever it is important to build your support network of your nearest and dearest outside of the work context, and to spend time connected with them as well as with your ‘work friends and family’. If you can’t see people in person due to time or travel limitations, it matters that you stay in touch with each other. Consciously choose the people who are in your team and let them know you would like to be able to count on each other now and in the immediate future.

Poetry

Poetry gives us a moment of reflection and pause, and, like music, a space to feel our feelings. Here is a beautiful poem, called ‘Hokusai Says’ by the academic Roger Keyes. It was read at the end of my 7 day Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy teacher training course many years ago, and I’ve loved it ever since. This version is read aloud on Youtube featuring images of the artist Hokusai’s beautiful woodcut prints.This version is a PDF. Take time out for 3 minutes to savour the beauty and wisdom in the words and to enjoy the images. Hokusai suffered enormously during his life, and I am always moved by people’s capacity for such wonderful creativity and beauty and especially in the face of hardship. If the poem touches you in some way, notice, pause and allow yourself to ‘let life live through you’.

Find Comfort in Inspiring Music and Songs of Solidarity

In the early stages of the Covid pandemic, a former public health doctor and friend sent me this beautiful song by Kate Thomas in Sheffield, a singing teacher and choir leader with the Natural Voice Network (shared with permission).

I found it very moving; the lyrics and tune have stayed with me as while Covid-19 spread across the world and my community. Music gives us space to feel our feelings and to process what is happening. Songs of solidarity can be an important part of building community, and music can reorientate us to hope, reigniting our determination to continue, helping us to garner our resources and to move forward.

I remember a few days after a beloved family member died a few years ago, I was listening to Bruce Springsteen’s latest album and one song really touched my grief. When we are moved by a piece of music, it happens ‘in the moment’, a particular set of circumstances come together and our brains integrate, it’s like wiping the slate clean. Allow yourself some time to listen to music which moves you to help you to process the situation around us and your own experiences, and to feel the sense of purpose and resolve afterwards. Stay with the feelings for as long as you can.

Make Life Easier for Yourself

It is easy to use a lot of brainpower in depleting activities, those which need a lot of willpower to get through something. A lot of us who are high on the ‘motivation’ personality domain (most doctors in my experience) use a lot of their energy reserves in willpower – forcing ourselves to do something such as getting through a crisis, keeping going on call, getting through exams. We humans seem to have a limited amount of willpower, it is rather like a battery which drains itself during the course of a day or a week. Are you trying to do too many things at once and using a lot of willpower in the process? The next few months are going to challenge all clinicians and medical leaders as never before.

Reduce your ‘willpower fatigue’ by making a few simple changes. Plan each day/ week in advance whenever you can – from the clothes you will wear, to the food you will eat, the people you will connect with, what caring responsibilities you will do when. Get your clothes ready before you go to bed, plan your travel, set yourself time limits when making decisions, especially low-risk ones such as online shopping, choosing holidays or flights (when that time comes around again). This will free up your willpower and emotional reserves to allow you to cope with unexpected challenges.

Connecting to our Values also helps to boost our willpower and recharge our batteries so that when we are feeling rundown and exhausted we can get access our additional reserves. But don’t be fooled, this is a temporary boost which needs to be balanced with downtime and proper rest and recovery.

Can I help you with expert coaching for doctors and public health leaders?

Are you a senior or Executive level doctor or public health leader? Find out more about my 1:1 coaching for doctors and public health leaders programmes here – every programme is bespoke to your specific and unique needs and circumstances.

Are you early or mid-career? If you are looking for career coaching for junior doctors, coaching for trainee doctors or registrars, coaching for early career doctors, coaching for mid-career doctors, or coaching for public health professionals, and prefer to work in a supported, self-led programme, then please see my Upward Curve programme.