Mental Health Literacy Training: Enhancing Our Collaborative Approach

We're excited to share that Ruth and Alyssa recently completed the Institute of Coaching Academy's (IOCA) Mental Health Literacy Course. The IOC, founded and affiliated with McLean Hospital, is a professional organization dedicated to advancing evidence-based coaching practices through training, advocacy, and research. The course was taught by Dr. Shelley Carson, PhD, a researcher and instructor at Harvard University who specializes in psychopathology, creativity, and resilience.

Why This Training Matters

At Reset Boston, we frequently collaborate with clinical teams who view our services as complementary to their clients' broader therapeutic goals and overall quality of life. While we don't provide clinical treatment or interventions, developing literacy in diagnosis, evidence-based treatments, and basic interventional skills enables us to engage more effectively with clinical teams and communicate relevant information to our clients' clinicians.

This training was particularly valuable in aligning our language with conventional clinical terminology. This alignment not only supports cross-organizational collaboration but also increases the efficiency of our internal communication—especially when discussing client challenges and determining when to escalate concerns to clinical support.

What We Learned

The course explored a number of common mental health conditions that coaches frequently encounter:

• depression

• anxiety

• bipolar disorder

• substance abuse

• addiction

• trauma.

Each module provided comprehensive coverage of terminology, etiology, ongoing debates within the behavioral and medical sciences regarding classification, and evidence-based treatment approaches.

Most importantly, the course reinforced the crucial distinctions between coaching and clinical practice. While our coaches aren't licensed clinicians, they're trained to recognize symptoms and warning signs of mental health issues to ensure clients receive appropriate professional care when needed.

Through readings, videos, discussion questions, and knowledge assessments, we gained three key takeaways:

Pause and Reflect. When encountering clients in acute mental distress or experiencing symptoms, it's essential to resist responding based solely on our own experiences. Well-intentioned "human" responses can sometimes lead to unintended consequences. For example, overly reassuring someone with OCD may reinforce their compulsions, while repeatedly telling someone experiencing psychosis that their perceptions aren't real can escalate their distress.

Context is Everything. Gathering detailed information and questioning initial assumptions helps us determine when to escalate concerns. By understanding a client's history, typical stress responses, and baseline functioning, we can better identify when symptoms represent a disruption to their life progression and overall narrative.

Mental Health is Multifaceted. For many individuals, symptoms exist within a complex interplay of lifestyle choices and social environments. We focus on non-clinical interventional goals, positioning ourselves as supporters of recovery through these contextual factors. By differentiating our target—life functioning rather than mental health treatment—we complement the work of clinicians while offering a unique and valuable perspective.

Moving Forward

This training deepens our commitment to collaborative, informed care. We're better equipped to support our clients while working alongside their clinical teams, ensuring everyone receives the comprehensive support they need to thrive.