Business Therapy
Talk. Decide. Thrive.
At your service:
fifteen years of capital markets experience;
nine years as a psychotherapist in private practice;
two years as a multi-six figure solopreneur.
Examples of challenges clients bring to business therapy:
You are….
Awake at night thinking through a business decision that has to be made.
Considering going out on your own and wondering if the risk and added responsibility is worth it.
Desiring more purposeful work.
Weighed down by internal politics/management.
Concerned about the impact of your industry/company on the world and by extension the meaning of you being in it.
Making a key hiring or personnel decision that you know needs careful thought before deciding and communicating.
Figuring out the details of business ownership with a partner(s) or encountering challenges in a business partnership.
Getting spectacular results for your clients but nobody knows about you.
Overwhelmed and/or turned off by social media and marketing in general.
A creative who wants to support yourself with your creative work or increase your financial inflow from your creative work.
Desiring a higher profile where you are a known voice and expert in your field.
Ready to take your career to the next level through a lateral move, internal promotion, or independent venture and what to think it through and do it right.
Not spending time with your children or spouse because of work demands. You recognize the cost of this and how time is passing and you don’t know how to do things differently.
Overwhelmed with things to do and always on catch-up mode.
Ready to leave your corporate job and go out on your own and aren’t sure where to start.
Wondering if a venture you are considering can support you financially.
The conventional approach for each of these challenges is to seek out expert help in a particular area - i.e. a tactical approach. Sometimes, when your foundation is strong, this is the right approach. But seeking out tactical solutions (i.e. steps to follow from an expert in a subject area) without a strong foundation in awareness of yourself and the dynamics of your business and without a connection to your deepest values tends to produce bandaid solutions.
My approach supports you in creating a foundation that is on your terms - what you want, who you are, what you value. From there we create a tactical plan.
Examples of Solutions Clients Receive Through Business Therapy
Clarity and action steps forward from a previously long debated business decision.
Identification of expert help required (such as legal, accounting, marketing, or mental health) and a plan for how to find the exact right person.
Identification of what parts of the challenge are a particular fit with your psychology, personality, nervous system, and/or trauma and how this fit contributes to a solution to the problem. i.e. what personal work did we do or can we make a plan for you to do to address what appears to be an external problem?
The order of steps that you will take in addressing your challenge and clear decisions on what you will NOT deal with at this time.
Overall assessment of business outlook based on business information including financial statements.
Action steps to create more time for your family and for yourself. You receive personal support in making these challenging decisions.
Detailed time management strategy that meets you right where you are and eliminates overwhelm.
Marketing plan aligned with your values and broken down into in small non-overwhelming steps.
Revised understanding of your personal and/or business financial situation and steps forward based on that revised understanding.
Clarity on what you value and the next step(s) that are aligned with your values.
A high-level business plan for monetizing your creative work with clear steps on how to create the full plan.
Clarity on the relationships between one or more of these aspects: soul, purpose, social value of your work, enjoyment, and financial security.
Action steps to build your career whether that is getting a promotion, expanding your current role (for example with speaking or another making an (upward) lateral move, or going out on your own. These steps will include the inner work required to believe fully in yourself as you grow.
What do these solutions mean?
There is not always a quick fix or an easy one but there is always a way through.
With clarity you can relax. You put down the weight of what you have been carrying and you step forward.
This peace of mind frees you to do what you are best at and be the best version of yourself at work and home.
You doing this work of deciding and moving forward serves you and those around you as you become more present in the moment, more sure of what you are building and what you have chosen not to build, more in flow and in enjoyment and clearer in your communication. You may also experience greater success financially and reputationally.
Alison Crosthwait, MS, CFA
I was a trader + researcher in capital markets for fifteen years - I haven’t lost my shark side and have gained a ton of confidence since then - I love to talk about business in a candid and thoughtful way.
I became a psychotherapist in a 6 year depth training program that required extensive personal work and supervision. The focus of the program is the practice and the art of a conversation with another human being. I spent 9 years working with hundreds of people including a top political aide, a union leader, medical department chairs and many traders, bankers, lawyers and portfolio managers. I also worked with well-known actors, writers, entrepreneurs and health care professionals. I am known for my quick intuition in complex situations and supportive yet piercing analyses.
In those nine years I studied trauma and somatic healing, coaching, radical ethics, and energy healing.
After leaving therapy I was mentored as a psychedelic healer and supported over 100 people as they did inner work combined with ceremonial work, primarily with psilocybin. In those three years I was (and still am) a solopreneur and learned the possibilities and pitfalls first hand. I have developed a structured inner work process that includes all aspects of a person and provides tools to augment therapeutically informed conversation.
My personal journey has involved a series of traumatic events and losses that have called me into my heart. I have travelled and invested significantly in my own development in far-reaching modalities, most of which I bring to supporting my clients.
When you hire me you will be understood in your ambition and drive as well as in your more vulnerable and tender places. I understand both the rewards our culture and the desire to step outside of it and the tension between those two things.
Credentials (Highlights):
M.S. Computational Finance, Carnegie Mellon University
Chartered Financial Analyst
Council of Examiners, CFA Society (part of the team that wrote CFA exam questions)
Quantitative Trader, Goldman Sachs
Head of Canadian Market Structure Research, ITG Canada
Managing Director, Global Head of Market Structure Research, Instinet/Nomura Bank
Former Registered Psychotherapist
Former ACC, International Coaching Federation
Former Psychedelic Guide
A Client’s experience of Business Therapy:
“I was at a critical life and business juncture and had to decide whether to strike out on my own, create something new with others, or stick with existing structures. I had wrestled with the issue for a year, analyzing every detail of each option, making the pros and cons lists, etc. I couldn’t figure it out. One day I was convinced I had made the decision and weeks later I would think the opposite.
This was the point at which I hired Alison. In one two-hour conversation, everything crystallized. She had the distance that I didn’t to help understand the business situation but was also able to provide critical insights about me as a person. My business questions were ultimately symptoms of the ways in which I couldn’t figure out who I wanted to be in the world and how I best wanted to live my life.
There was that wonderful proverbial lightlbulb moment working with Alison, the “aha!”, where it all fell into place. This was some of the best money I have ever spent and saved me years of pain if I had gone in the wrong direction.
Alison is that perfect combination of an expert listener and business analyst, someone who can cut through to the core of business issues. I hadn’t been able to find that elsewhere and I can’t recommend her services highly enough if you are struggling with a business problem.”
“When you hire me you will be understood in your ambition and drive as well as in your more vulnerable and tender places. I understand both the rewards of our culture and the desire to step outside of it and the tension between those two things.”
Business Therapy for Founders and Corporate Professionals
$1,400.00
Note that prices are in USD.
Includes:
My detailed review, before our meeting, of your intake form including what you want to accomplish in our time together.
My detailed review of up to 20 additional pages of information on your business including documents such as financial statements, business plans, marketing plans and org charts.
Spend two hours together solving problems, determining where extra investigation is required (for example legal or accounting expertise), and developing action steps
A written summary can be purchased separately.
After our time together, 1:1 sessions are available at a reduced rate if ongoing work is desired.
Refund Policy:
Before scheduling session: 100% refund available
After scheduling session: 100% refund available 7 days or more before our booked session
50% refund available 4-6 days before our booked session
No refunds available 0-3 days before our booked session
All Northumberland County businesses receive 25% off - email me at alison@alisoncrosthwait.com for the discount code.
If you live in the Cobourg area let’s do it in person! I live in Baltimore and can come to you or welcome you here to my sun-filled farmhouse.
Important Note: Business therapy is not psychotherapy and is not designed to address mental health concerns or emotional problems - if you are looking for mental health support please contact me separately for a referral to a mental health professional.
Business Therapy for Solopreneurs and 1-person Corporations
$350.00
Note that prices are in USD.
Includes:
My detailed review, before your session, of your intake form containing information about your business and what you want to accomplish in your time together.
My review of up to 10 pages of additional information such as business plan or financial statements.
Spend one hour together solving problems and developing action steps.
Written summary of insights and action steps can be purchased separately.
After our time together 1:1 sessions are available at a reduced rate if ongoing work is desired.
Refund Policy:
Before scheduling session: 100% refund available
After scheduling session: 100% refund available 7 days or more before our booked session
50% refund available 4-6 days before our booked session
No refunds available 0-3 days before our booked session
All Northumberland County businesses receive 25% off - email me at alison@alisoncrosthwait.com for the discount code.
If you live in the Cobourg area let’s do it in person! I live in Baltimore and can come to you or welcome you here to my sun-filled farmhouse.
Important Note: Business therapy is not psychotherapy and is not designed to address mental health concerns or emotional problems - if you are looking for mental health support please contact me separately for a referral to a mental health professional.
A Client’s experience of Business Therapy:
“When I started Business Therapy I was struggling with loss of vision and purpose and diminished confidence in my leadership and ability to manage my team and earn more money.
Loss of vision and purpose almost took my business out from under me. After making a few errors (an inevitable part of entrepreneurship!) I didn’t know how to hold onto a growth mindset and not only learn from the mistakes but also stay focused on how my business would serve the community. The challenge of losing vision is existential to a small business!
Alison helped me to redefine my ‘why’ for my business and suddenly I was back in the drivers seat, excited and inspired to grow. Almost immediately, I came up with new ideas for organization and growth, rather than wasting mental energy worrying about past mistakes, or what could happen in the future to the business. We strategized together on business growth and she was able to identify, highlight, and effectively transform my limiting beliefs about myself in a way that has not only impacted my business (I have doubled revenue since working with her) but also massively improved confidence in my personal life as well.
With renewed confidence, I was able to see the holes in the business model, hire team members who were aligned with my vision, take the bold steps of hiring new help so that I could step away from the day to day tasks (a scary and exciting step!), so I no longer had to work ‘in’ the business and for the most part could work ‘on’ the business.
Working with Alison is the best professional decision I have ever made. She is incredibly intuitive, and her experience in business and in psychotherapy, as well as being a gifted creative and healer in many different capacities, gives her a birds eye view of a business that is invaluable.
The work I have done with Alison has made it possible for my business to go from teetering and just getting by, to a thriving and financially fruitful service based business. It has impacted the way I lead in profound ways and set my business on a trajectory that no other coach or mentor was able to facilitate.
If you are a small to medium sized business owner who is ready to look at how your own beliefs and habits impact productivity, cashflow, culture within the business, and most importantly satisfaction and happiness within your work, I highly recommend working with Alison.”
NOTE: This was not a one session engagement. This client worked with me over time to create such powerful results. After your Business Therapy session if you feel drawn to further work together I offer reduced rates for ongoing work.