Today, host Meg Rentschler dives into the idea of “the thing beneath the thing,” those deeper beliefs and stories that are really driving our clients’ surface-level issues. Meg talks about some common traps coaches can fall into, like jumping too quickly into action steps, assuming “I don’t know” means a client is being resistant, or relying too much on spotting patterns. She also shares some down-to-earth tips for slowing things down, asking questions that are easier for clients to answer, and staying genuinely curious. Tune in to hear Meg’s main point about real, lasting change for clients not coming from just fixing the problems they bring to the table, and helping them discover and explore the stories and beliefs that are really at play underneath it all.

Show Highlights:

• What I mean by “the thing beneath the thing”: The belief or self-story generating why the problem feels the way it does
• Content vs. meaning-making (“Depth before Doing”)
• The trap of moving to action too fast (It produces compliance, not durable change.)
• Reasons coaches rush to action
• “I don’t know” is rarely a dead end.
• Meet “Dana,” a hypothetical client (the key is to meet her where she is).
• Six practical moves for going deeper and expanding the lens: Ask about the story, ask what it means about them, name the energy shift, ask where the belief came from, slow down what they try to skip past, and resist the urge to solve too soon.
• Focus on belief and pattern work, not clinical trauma processing.
• The curiosity muscle vs. the knowing muscle framework

Resources:

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