Ep 31 - Dr. Ingrid McGuffog
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Megan Walker: All right, so welcome to Healthcare Online. I'm Megan Walker, and today our very special guest is Dr. Ingrid McGuff. Hi Ingrid. How are you?
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Hi, Megan. I'm very well. Thank you.
Megan Walker: That's good. I've completely put you on the spot with this interview, but I just was so delighted to have a chat with you about your amazing background and to share with the other clinicians, practitioners, and therapists who are listening all about what you've been doing traditionally in your work and the projects that you're working on at the moment to move more into the digital healthcare and online course space.
So, do you wanna kick us off and, and just share. Who you are and what your work has been in that more traditional space up leading up till now.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Sure. Um, I, I'm a criminologist. Uh, I have a PhD in, um, criminology. In my field very broadly is, uh, drug and alcohol. Um, and my clients are mainly referred to me from, um, lawyers, criminal lawyers, some family law, and.
They're people who are caught up in destructive cycles, um, mainly, uh, addiction. Mm-hmm. Um, or, you know, there can be other behavioral patterns that, that people, you know, get, get into trouble with. Um, and so I spent six years teaching in a. Four year liberal arts college in upstate New York. And my teaching style is very, um, experiential, very kind of group oriented.
And I discovered through that, that I'm actually a practitioner. So just before COVID, I returned to Australia. Um, and then. Went back to university to get a master of counseling and psychotherapy. And during that time, um, I started the business and now I'm in Wickham Terrace. And yeah, we are bubbling away here.
But the, the selling time model that you talk about. Yeah, I could really. See that, that there's limits to growth there, especially revenue. And then I was like, I came across you through, I don't know, a power diary had a a thing. Oh
Megan Walker: yes.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Yeah. And that's how I found you. And I was very drawn to what you are doing.
And I've gotta say, I was thinking about it the other day at the big thing was the fact that your ARPA aligned. Mm-hmm. I'm not an ARPA member, um, because I'm not a clinical psych, I'm a. Counselor, psychotherapist. But I want, I align my practice to that. 'cause I, I think it adds credibility anyway. So, you know, I've been thinking a lot about this is like a passion project and I'm having fun and it's creative, so it's just a nice other thing to do.
And I wanted to appeal to women because. Um, most of my clients are men, and I didn't expect that, and I'm finding that, uh, I actually love working with men, but you know, women who want women are so more proactive and more, I think more likely to engage. Mm-hmm. Um, and they don't necessarily have the income that men do.
Yeah. So this was a way for me to offer something. Um, integrating a lot of what I've personally been through. Um, 'cause I'm actually in recovery myself. 20 years coming up. Congratulations. And there were just so many things that I learned during that journey Yeah. That I've come to be applying clinically, but you know, much more kind of refined and.
Um, theory focused and I'm like, you know what? I can, I can translate this into an online, um, environment where I'm not doing therapy, but where these are skills and tools and, and you know, some psychoeducation around really what do I do with my feelings?
Megan Walker: Yes,okay I love it. I love it so much. So your background is amazing because you've got the personal, you've got the professional, you've got the credentials, and you're bringing that all together.
Yeah. And so the women that you are hoping to help, what are they struggling with?
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: What they're struggling with? So, um, actually I think my hero, I've got two, my daughter and my sister
Megan Walker: Love it. Love it.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: My sister is, she call, she's an empty nester. Looking to that next phase in life. , But there's stuff from the past that can trip us up, can limit our beliefs, can can, what's the word?
Can kind of circumscribe. What we even think we can do. I think the main group though, the small working women who have children, who have a partner and who just feel overwhelmed. Yeah. They're high achieving. Mm-hmm. Uh, I think women get caught up in a lot of perfectionism. Mm-hmm. And. I know there are other programs out there that will deal with the, like organization, you know, that external stuff that's not my wheelhouse.
Mine's internal. So it's that inner work of , like this obsessive compulsive busyness. That's just exhausting.
Megan Walker: Wow.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: And , what is self-care and how do I actually do that? So I've developed my, it's called Reframe Your Life. Um, and it's really taking all sorts of stuff from neurobiology about how we develop habits of thinking and feeling, and the relationship between past trauma.
Not that this is about trauma, but it's a similar kind of, um, pattern that, that we just, we get in cycles. We can't get out. And this is really about meeting yourself. So it's contemplative, meditative. Mm-hmm. And I've got a, um, I've developing a, a like six steps to kind of really reframe, but reframing through having a new emotional experience, which is.
Uh, corrective emotional experience, which, is the aim in therapy. Yeah. But you can do it yourself. You can create that for yourself. Um, I've done it and. I look back and I go, that's what I've been doing. That's what I've been doing over the last 19 years. So I thought, yeah, I, I want to create this and deliver it and, and test it and see how people, how people respond to it.
I love, so that's love in a nutshell.
Megan Walker: I love that because it's, you know, we sometimes we know these things, but there's so much I say we, 'cause I feel like I'm in your category, that there's so many like pressures and things pulling us away from center. That it's almost like that strength to go. I get to design, I get to say.
Yeah. And this, what did you call it? Something obsessive busy. Obsessive busyness.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Obsessive compulsive busyness.
Megan Walker: Wow. It's a real, um, epidemic, isn't it?
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Yeah, it is. And I, I, I think it's, um, just my sense of it, the world, I mean, the world just. Seems like it's getting faster and faster and what happens if we slow down and stop?
Mm. For a moment. Mm. What I notice is that when people do, the deeper feelings will come up. Yeah.
Megan Walker: The waves crash.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Comfort. Yeah. And. That's a reason why people stay busy. And I, I was in that category myself, but I didn't know how Yeah. To slow down safely so that I wasn't overwhelmed with this discomfort, this discontent, this impending sense of doom because I've got to do a, you know, living by lists.
But I, I kind of, when I talk to clients, I'm like, well, it's 'cause they're men. This is like. Emotional fitness. This is like sets and reps in the gym, but for our feelings, right? Yeah. And, and I go, okay, so you, you work out, it's very important, but then you have rest days and rest is are just as important.
The big working out. And that to me is balance. And so that is, is what I wanna bring. So Good, you know, to our people, our women.
And you mentioned a second audience, perhaps a younger group.
Yes. So the younger group of the, in my daughter's group,
Megan Walker: what are they struggling with?
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: They're struggling with, um.
Feeling undervalued at home.
Megan Walker: Uhhuh,
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: um, their caregiving takes over their life. So they're not looking after themselves. They feel depleted.
Megan Walker: Yeah.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: They wanna be the best mom ever. And yet they still snap at the kids or, and then they guilt themselves and then they start that cycle and, and. It doesn't have to be like that.
If they know how to take that moment, really check in with how they're feeling. Say they're irritable and then they go, Ooh, what does this mean? What do I actually need right now? Yeah. And it could be as simple as they need to sit and rest for like put on the TV for the kids. Yeah. Sit with them and have a break.
Yeah. We can go deeper than that again. And, and the i, I am facilitating people to explore where does this come from? Mm. Where did this habit begin? So it's, you know, going back, looking, looking through their childhood or their teenage years or early adulthood, which is where a lot of these patterns can come from.
Yeah. So that they can then transform. And, and I guess the big message is that emotions, and I'm speaking to the converted here 'cause your, are all allied health, but emotions are signals not to be scared of. Mm-hmm. And I think once we know how to translate them and, and how to connect in with them, what we'll find, and this is getting very deep, is there's an inner child in there.
That
needs to be listened to and needs to be held. And moms forget to do that for themselves.
Megan Walker: Yes.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Because they've now got external
Megan Walker: child Yes. To focus on and they forget about the inner one.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Yeah. And unfortunately, I think for a lot of, for a lot of women, um, the dad. Can end up being that other child as well.
And then she's doing all the emotional labor for the family. But she could, and I'm thinking about having a little module adding for the fathers. Oh yeah. Lovely bonus. Yeah. Bonus for the dads so that mom and dad, so that they can come together and have the same language and the same tools maybe. And talk about.
Shared, shared load, shared loads. Yes. I think that's the biggest, the biggest pain point for women in families is sharing. It sounds
Megan Walker: absolutely incredible what you are creating and embarking on this journey now of putting things into lessons and starting to think about your audience and, you know, it's, it's not a small.
Undertaking? No. What are some of the things you've learned that you'd share with your peers so far about, you know, creating an online course?
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Um, you don't have to get it perfect. So, my own perfectionism, um, and I always say to anyone, join your. Academy. Thank you. I was in there for a while, got my feet wet and have been creating and developing, and then I got to a point where I am stuck, so I joined Accelerator.
Megan Walker: Oh, beautiful.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: And accelerator is the perfect term because it has accelerated.
Megan Walker: Oh, I'm so glad it has.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Yeah. And, I'm ready for that. And I think it's persistence , and also knowing that your ideas evolve. Mm-hmm. So the. , The thing I've put together now looks very, very different, and a lot of the refinements have come from the group coaching or , the guests you have on have really all these little bits and pieces.
But now I'm at a point where, okay, you've, you've. Got enough you don't need. Yes. 'cause I tend to go down rabbit holes. So now it's that focus.
Megan Walker: Yes.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Um, but I, it's fun. It's been, it's fun. Yeah.
Megan Walker: That
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: creative outlet of
Megan Walker: building something.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. And I, I've realized that's, that's a need that I know I have, that I haven't been meeting and now I am through this, so it's, oh god.
Very holistic. Just the whole process for me, it's been Oh yeah. Exciting.
Megan Walker: That good.
So good.
Yeah. And where can people go to follow you? I'm sure that, you know, they'll wanna see your programs evolve and might have people that they wanna refer to you. Where can you we send them.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Okay. So, oh goodness. I'm, uh, Instagram.
Yeah. Dr. Ingrid McGuff Fog. Mm-hmm. And Facebook the same. Dr. Ingrid McGuff fog. Um. I am developing the landing pages and I'm kind of creating a new brand. Reframe your life as the brand. So good. And I've bought the domain name for that, so eventually when. I've got Kajabi figured out. That's, that's where people will go.
So good. Um, but I've got a website as well, but that's my professional, like what the work I'm doing now. Yeah. Um, and my email's just, um, [email protected].
Megan Walker: Beautiful. I'll put all of those links below where people are watching. Yeah, yeah. My name's.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Not very easy
Megan Walker: to remember, but
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: yeah, it's alright.
Megan Walker: So work on the link. So that's fantastic. Is there anything else that you'd like to share with your peers about, uh, any, any encouragement or, um, oh, just keep going. Yeah.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: And, and one step, you know, it's baby steps and again, every time I get overwhelmed, I'm putting in place my own, my own steps that I use, that I'm.
Going to be putting online of really stopping and just connecting with the stillness and because we all know the answer. If we get still long enough and we listen.
Megan Walker: Yeah. Rest and breathe. That's my mantra. There's been this year Rest and breathe.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Yes. So this is, I mean, there is, I think there are similar programs probably out there, but the thing is, when that, when the head goes, oh yeah, but there's so many, and what's what I realize is that.
Everyone, every individual has their own language, has their own way of expressing, has their own creative flare. And my particular, you know, the, the conduit of that will appeal to the people that I'm meant to work with. So I've really let that, absolutely, that one go.
Megan Walker: And, oh look, I hear hundreds and I would've heard thousand different course ideas, and yours is different because I.
They, they do each have their own unique take. It's, it's because you, you've got a very grounded internal working, very practical. Um, whereas other programs will be more like you said, here's how to organize, here's systems, here's the, the doing. Whereas yeah, that's your take is new again on those two audiences as well.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Yeah. Yeah. So it's just offering a little niche,
Megan Walker: so you go for it, Ingrid.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Thank you. And I'm really appreciative of what you are doing and what you are building, because Thank you. I wouldn't be this far along unless I'd found you randomly. So I'm a fan. I'm a fan.
Megan Walker: Oh, it's a delight to have you. I love working with people like you, Ingrid.
So thank you. Thank you. And please click and follow and, and, uh, watch Ingrid's progress and um, shout out to her on social media after you finish watching this. So thanks so much, Ingrid. I really appreciate your time.
Dr. Ingrid McGuffog: Thanks, Megan. Bye. Bye.
