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How coaches support physician resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

in Physician Coaching Insights

Everyone in healthcare is experiencing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, whether you are a clinical front line responder taking care of COVID patients, or now find yourself providing less acute services via telehealth.  Our physician and healthcare colleagues are in the middle of crisis and adaptation……and those of us who support them with coaching are also called to step up our game to support healthcare RESILIENCE.

How our PCI physician coaching grads are supporting the font line

As the Executive Director of the Physician Coaching Institute (PCI), I have been  heartened to hear how our PCI graduates are supporting their colleagues.  One person related that he has been a  sounding board for the CMO; as coach, he focuses on coaching presence while the CMO gathers his thoughts. Another coach shared that he’s found it effective to remind his physician leader of the leader’s Core Values–coaching work they’d done a few months prior to the crisis.  Connecting to personal Core Values was keeping that physician leader anchored to what mattered most. A coach who belongs to to a cadre of internal coaches (and all PCI grads) in her health system shared that they are conducting “STAT Coaching” sessions— being available virtually for short sessions to the entire healthcare team.  Recently I spoke with one our grads who will be conducting “group coaching” sessions once a week for physician members of his regional specialty health association. The sessions will be “drop in” with the objective of providing overwhelmed  clinicians a virtual place to gather, refresh and support each other.

The SELA Coaching Guide – coaching clinicians who are managing crisis

 Inspired by the reports from our PCI grads, we created a new coaching tool, the SELA Coaching Guide, a coaching framework that coaches can use to coach clinicians who are managing crisis.  We’ve made the SELA Coaching Guide available, along with a 15-minute video tutorial, to all of our graduates to start using ASAP in those situations when a “regular coaching session” is not appropriate.  SELA, which stands for SettleEmpathizeListen, and Affirm, guides the coach and coachee through a 15-30 minute coaching conversation.  The SELA Coaching Guide is also available for free to trained coaches who are not PCI grads (email me).

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