Status
Backstory
In late September 2023 I posted on my instagram story offering my friends “support & unblocking calls”: effectively a call where I just listen and help you work through a problem you’re having.
Since then I’ve had 44 hours of such unblocking calls, and they’ve gone spectacularly well. People have found them to be a good opportunity to reflect, set clearer intentions for their life, work through a difficult decision, share about a difficult experience in a safe container, or take concrete action towards their goals, among other things.
I’m creating this page with more info on such calls and how to sign up. Note that this page is “private”, i.e. there’s no link to it from my site or search bar unless you go to the link directly. For now, this is only open to my friends and friends of friends.
Here’s one unsolicited testimonial (still need to actively collect more!):
A testimonial from an unblocking call
What does the call look like?
My method is straightforward; it consists of me asking a lot of questions and reflecting back what you’re saying. (Based on motivational interviewing.) I rarely give direct advice unless prompted. Occasionally, I’ll suggest we try an exercise (e.g. a brief meditation or visualization, or brainstorming).
Keep in mind this is not a catch-up call — we can spend a few minutes at the beginning catching up but the bulk of the conversation will be focused on you.
Can we do more than one call?
Yes. I’ve found most people get the help they were looking for with just one call, but I’ve had a few engagements where we both think it’s worthwhile to do more sessions.
I’m also happy to do an asynchronous check-in after the session, e.g. checking back in one month to see how you’ve progressed on your intended goals.
What kinds of things can I talk about?
I would make the obvious disclaimer that I’m not a therapist, but with that said, I really am happy to be helpful in whatever way I can. You can come in with a very specific plan/intention for the time, or you can just use it to generally talk about what you’ve been thinking about.
I commit to strict confidentiality for what we discuss on the call.
Why are you doing this for free?
A few motivations:
- First of all, I genuinely enjoy these calls. To the extent that I have the energy for it, I love helping out my friends through their problems. I often enter a flow state during such calls and I expect, time permitting, I’ll be doing this for the rest of my life, whether in a formal paid setting or not.
- I have a paid coaching practice, and doing these helps give me more opportunities to practice and become a better coach, in addition to giving me a lower-stakes container for experimenting with different techniques.
How to sign up?
You should already have my contact, so you can just DM me (keep in mind the status box on the top of this page). If for whatever reason you don’t have a way of reaching me you can fill out my regular coaching form and just let me know you’re interested in the free one-off call.