Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Paul Kiger. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Paul, so happy to have you with us today. You are such a creative person, but have you ever head any sort of creativity block along the way? If so, can you talk to us about how you overcame or beat it?
I like this question because it is something so many of us struggle with and it often comes up with clients of mine in counseling and life coaching. I am going to defer here a bit to Mark Manson, the author of the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, who talks about the “Do Something” principle. To summarize, we often believe that we will be inspired, which will lead to motivation, which will lead to action. This can be the case and sometimes with my clients in creative industries this is their experience. We wake up feeling inspired which motivates us to action. However, in reality, we do not always feel inspired and we wait and wait until that inspiration hits, which sometimes can take long periods of time, which can then lead to inaction and self-loathing due to a lack of motivation and productivity. However, Manson writes that if we can simply start an action, it may lead us to feeling motivated, which in turn leads to inspiration. I frequently see this with writer’s block or musicians trying to write that next big album. Manson says, “The conclusion is that if you lack the motivation to make an important change in your life, then do something, anything really, and then harness the reaction to that action as a way to begin motivating yourself.” If I find myself with creativity blocks I simply try to start working on something. It may not be the final result, it may not even be good! But if I can just start working then motivation and inspiration often follow.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
When I was 8 years old I started taking piano lessons and at around 13 started teaching myself how to play guitar. From then on my dream in life was to become a rock star. I played in bands in the Detroit area before moving to Grand Rapids to attend college at Grand Valley State University. I studied social work and Spanish with the hope of becoming a mental health therapist if my dream of becoming a rock star did not pan out. While attending college I was able to play in a band that had decent success in the Grand Rapids area playing shows at a variety of well known local venues including Skelletones, The Intersection, and The Orbit Room. In the end, we all decided to go our separate ways and I decided to continue to pursue a career in counseling and spent time living in Central America. When I returned to the United States, I began working as a therapist and adjunct professor. After about 7 years I had the idea to start Supporting Act Counseling which allowed me to combine my two passions, music and counseling.
As the demands of life, especially those of artists and creatives, can make it difficult to attend counseling in a physical space, Supporting Act Counseling offers telehealth sessions to ensure touring artists can build rapport and maintain continuity of care with one therapist who can address their unique needs. An aspect that I believe sets me apart is that I am a musician who has played in bands and can relate to the stress, pressure, and anxiety that comes with being an artist. This is also an aspect of Supporting Act Counseling that I am proud of. I was able to find a way to combine two of my passions into a career that I absolutely love.
One of the joys of working as a professional therapist and life coach is supporting people as they move through various phases of their lives to realize and reach their full potential. I currently support clients and staff as they move towards openness, acceptance, compassion, justice, wisdom, and self-understanding. We are all on our own journey and my hope is to meet clients where they are at in their journey. The skills I have refined over the past decade have uniquely prepared me to work in the mental health field to serve individuals, families, and groups.
With over 10 years of experience working in the mental health and substance use field as a therapist, life coach, university professor, trainer, and mentor, my goal is to bring my knowledge and skills to my practice supporting artists as they navigate the complex issues that accompany touring and a lifestyle with such high demands. Before becoming a therapist I played in bands alongside groups such as Hellogoodbye, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Taking Back Sunday, The Spill Canvas, Mayday Parade, Motion City Soundtrack, and The Summer Set, to name a few. I have worked with Grammy nominated artists as well as professional athletes and reality show contestants. My hope is to bring a unique understanding of what it is like to be a touring musician or artist in addition to providing quality and evidenced based counseling and life coaching. I am a Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW), Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CAADC), certified in Brainspotting, as well as trained in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), the Sanctuary Model of Care, and Motivational Interviewing.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Curiosity – To quote Ted Lasso quoting Walt Whitman, “Be curious, not judgemental”. When I get to the end of the day I often reflect on what I learned that day but more specifically, what I was curious about. What kinds of questions did I ask today? Who did I ask? How did I respond when they answered? Staying curious allows us to continue to learn, which is especially important in starting a business, growing personally, or making an important life change. Being non judgemental is another important quality that not only helps in how I perceive others but also helps me be more empathetic and compassionate. We often judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions. So when I see someone doing something that I initially might not understand or agree with, I ask myself what their intentions might be and go from there. It gives people the benefit of the doubt and helps me remember that although their action may not have played out the way they, or I, thought it would, they may have been well intentioned.
2. Doing your own mental health work – One of the things that was the most impactful in my own journey, especially as a therapist, was/is focusing on my own mental health. This has come through a variety of ways such as counseling, reading books on trauma and personal development, practicing self-care, and personality testing like the Enneagram. Counseling is especially important as it provides a neutral person with whom you can discuss and process areas of your life, work through your own issues, and help you grow and change.
3. Self-care – We only have so much emotional bandwidth, time, and energy to give. If our cups are empty we not only feel worse but we have less to give to others. Early in my career I made a comprehensive self-care plan that I was able to incorporate into my life that has had a tremendous impact on me. Self-care has become a buzzword and many people think it is drinking a glass of red wine in a bubble bath. Although that can be self-care, it is much more comprehensive than that. The plan I utilized included a variety of categories such as personal, physical, psychological, organizational, professional, social, and moral. Practicing healthy self-care has allowed me to not only do a better job of helping others as a therapist, it has also allowed me to feel happier, healthier, and maintain positive relationships.
Starting your own business is a very rewarding experience, but it also takes a decent amount of work and grit. Something that was helpful for me was having colleagues I could reach out to if I had any questions. The most helpful, tangible, tool I had was a private practice checklist from a friend and colleague that allowed me to see all of the tasks that had to be completed before I started and I could check them off as I progressed. So, a major piece of advice is do your research ahead of time to know what will go into starting your business or making a big life change. Then have a support system of people around you who have done it that can answer your questions and help guide you along the way.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
One aspect of starting and growing Supporting Act Counseling that has been challenging is how difficult it was to start a niche organization that could really only grow through word of mouth. Since the work I do is via telehealth, and I do not have a local office, I could not simply advertise locally. Moreover, it was hard to advertise on a larger, national scale as there were not many areas I could target outside of large urban centers that are likely more densely populated with creatives (Nashville, Los Angeles, etc.). To grow Supporting Act Counseling I had to connect with artists and creatives online through social media, and build relationships with them. It was not as though I could simply put out an advertisement about my business, instead, I had to really put time and energy into connecting with artists/creatives on a personal level, which was time consuming work but also very rewarding. It was a very slow moving process. Luckily, since Supporting Act has very little operational costs since we do not have a physical office space, I was able to continue growing the business even though it took several years.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://supportingactcounseling.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supportingactcounseling/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/supportingactcounseling
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-kiger-lmsw-caadc-995b10173/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@supportingactcounseling
Image Credits
Logo design and artwork done by Josh Kulchar
