Understanding Professional Mentoring in Kinesiology

1. Guidance and Support: At its core, professional mentoring involves providing guidance and support. Mentors help kinesiologists navigate the complexities of their practice by offering advice, sharing experiences, and providing constructive feedback. This guidance is crucial in helping mentees develop confidence and competence in their roles.

    

2. Problem Solving: Mentoring is a collaborative process that encourages problem-solving. Mentors work with mentees to identify challenges and explore solutions, fostering critical thinking and innovative approaches to practice. This aspect of mentoring helps kinesiologists become adept at managing real-world situations.

    

3. Overview and Perspective: Mentors offer an overview of the field, providing insights into the latest trends, research, and best practices. They help mentees gain a broader perspective on their work, which is vital for professional growth and staying current in the ever-evolving field of kinesiology.

    

4. Debriefing: A vital component of mentoring is debriefing. After a session or a significant event, mentors and mentees discuss what occurred, what was learned, and how it could be improved in the future. Debriefing helps solidify learning, reinforces positive behaviors, and addresses areas needing improvement.

1. A Replacement for Formal Education: Mentoring is not a substitute for formal education or training. It complements academic knowledge by providing real-world applications and insights, but it does not replace the foundational learning acquired through formal education.

    

2. One-Way Instruction: Mentoring is not a one-way street where information is simply passed from mentor to mentee. It is an interactive relationship that requires active participation, dialogue, and mutual respect. Both parties contribute to the learning process.

    

3. A Quick Fix: Professional mentoring is not a quick fix for immediate problems. It is an ongoing relationship that focuses on long-term professional development rather than short-term solutions. It requires time, commitment, and patience from both mentor and mentee.

    

4. Criticism without Constructive Feedback: Mentoring does not involve criticism without purpose. Feedback provided in mentoring is constructive and aimed at fostering growth and improvement, not at highlighting failures or shortcomings without offering guidance on how to improve.

As therapists and practitioners, we talk a lot about how therapy helps people.

However, there’s not much open discussion of what it might cost the people who provide it.

Being of service is a privilege, but there are days it feels heavy like a burden.

If we’re honest, therapy isn’t just “talking” – this is what makes kinesiology such a fabulous modality. The therapeutic mentoring Karen provides clients is heartfelt, and at times intense, especially when trauma, domestic/family violence or assault is involved.

Karen has accumulated a variety of modality tools that enable her to meet her clients and practitioners where they are, because not everyone prefers talk or touch-based therapy. Sometimes our clients find it hard to express themselves and this is true for practitioners when they are feeling overloaded.

Every practitioner’s container gets full at one time or another!!! That’s human nature!

Therapy should provide the client with the ability to sustain the use of their nervous system, with the aim of increasing their capacity to cope while under stress.

That kind of work is powerful for the client. But in saying that, this takes consistent work for the practitioner to remain regulated.

When we hold space for others well, our clients need us to hold:

– deep emotional presence
– tolerance of grief, fear, and rupture
– repeated secure attachment
– ethical endings
– remain regulated while their clients are perhaps not.

For a practitioner, this creates exposure to their client’s dysfunctional energy, and when not attended to, can accumulate. This can leave a big dent.

Karen once read, “therapists don’t fail“, however, our body will respond when the mental and emotional load exceeds capacity.

Karen’s style of mentoring is informal, and only within intimate groups. She creates space to allow the practitioner to feel seen and heard, a service just like what they give their own clients. Karen’s clinical speciality is neuro psychology and trauma.

Karen adores mentoring because we live in a world where “mental health support” is expanding and she shares the desire for human touch and safety for those in the delivery seat.

Karen is passionate about caring for people practitioners (not AI), and their capacity to be of service to their clients should not quietly cost them their health.

If therapy is relational medicine, then therapist and practitioner safety isn’t optional, it’s ethical.

Karen is an accredited Business Mentor with the Australian Institute of Kinesiologists Ltd (AIK Ltd). She also serves as an ordinary board member for the AIK Ltd, bringing her consulting, contract management, audit, and governance experience.

Karen has more than 20 years expereince practicising kinesology, and has studied a variety of techniques associated with Neuro Training, LEAP, Physical Defences, 7 Chi Keys, TBM and the immune system. Additionally Karen is a trauma informed coach and mental health counsellor. She has a myriad of complimentary modality skills to expand the safety to hold space for you!