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12 Journeys

You paid for coaching. Stop. You bought unlicensed surgery.

This image visualizes the theme of being lured by flashy but empty promises. A Small is captivated by a market stall selling "bottled clouds," representing the intangible and often fake results sold by unregulated coaches. The Giant intervenes, pointing the Small towards a real, grounded path.

You paid for coaching. Stop. You bought unlicensed surgery.


The smell of burnt toast in the other room. It sticks in your nose. It is the scent of something that was supposed to be nourishment, left unattended until it became a hazard.


The coaching industry is burning.


We need to stop talking about the money. The fee is just the symptom. The disease is the audacity.


It is about the dangerous pretense of competence in a field that requires clinical precision.


The Shadow Economy: A Forensic Audit of the Unregulated Coaching Industry


The promise of the coaching industry is total freedom.


But stop right there.


Because that "freedom" often looks like a chaotic operating theater run by people who have never attended medical school.


The False Surgeon


In a dimly lit, makeshift workshop, a "Coach" Small—wearing a silly, oversized colander as a hat and fake cardboard glasses—stands over a delicate, glowing mechanical heart that is sputtering sparks. The Small holds a rusty spoon and a jar of apple cider vinegar, looking dangerously confident, as if about to perform surgery. A Wise Giant, dressed in a clean, professional leather apron with a pristine medical kit, steps into the frame with a serious, concerned expression. The Giant’s large hand gently intercepts the Small's wrist to stop the reckless action. Style Keywords: whimsical storybook illustration, modern 3D animated film style, stylized expressive characters, soft painterly textures, magical golden-hour lighting, subtle glowing particles, gentle depth of field, Pixar-esque.

The fundamental danger of the unregulated coaching space is not financial extraction; it is clinical mimicry.


Clinical Mimicry is the adoption of therapeutic language and "trauma work" by untrained individuals, creating a false perception of medical safety.


Let’s strip the paint off the wall.


You would not let a man operate on your heart just because he read a blog post about cardiology. You would not let someone perform surgery because they successfully put a Band-Aid on their own knee after falling down.


Yet, this is exactly what is happening.


We have coaches engaging in "deep trauma processing" whose only qualification is that they treat their own cuts with apple cider vinegar.


They are pretending to be surgeons. But they don't have a scalpel. They have a rusty knife.


And they are cutting into the complex, delicate fabric of the human psyche without a license, without training, and without a map.


The Containment Breach


A scene representing the danger of opening trauma without skills. A Small sits on the ground, looking terrified, as a jar they have opened unleashes a swirling, chaotic storm of dark purple smoke and sharp, glowing thorns that fills the room. The "container" has been breached. A sturdy Giant steps in from the right, not to judge, but to protect. The Giant holds up a large, glowing golden shield that pushes back the dark storm, creating a safe, calm bubble around the Small. This visualizes the clinical skill of "containment." Style Keywords: whimsical storybook illustration, modern 3D animated film style, stylized expressive characters, soft painterly textures, magical golden-hour lighting, subtle glowing particles, gentle depth of field, Pixar-esque.

The most critical skill in therapy is not the breakthrough; it is the containment.


Containment is the clinical ability to safely close a psychological wound after it has been opened, ensuring the client remains stable.


The Breakpoint: When a coach pushes a client out of the 'Window of Tolerance' without the skills to bring them back.


This is where the "Apple Cider Vinegar" approach becomes lethal.


An untrained coach knows how to break you. They know how to provoke a reaction. They know how to spot the trigger and pull it.


They crack you open.


They force you into the shadows to find the pain. But once that pain is in the room—shaking, terrifying, and raw—they do not know what to do with it.


They cannot shut the wound.


They leave you bleeding out on the table, calling it a "healing crisis," while they check their Stripe account. It is not a crisis. It is negligence.


The Clinical Line


A rich, split-level composition showing the difference between coaching and therapy. On a sunlit, grassy hill (The Future), a Small and a Giant are looking at a blueprint, building a magnificent wooden tower; the Small holds a hammer, ready to work. Below them, in a cut-away underground cavern with soft blue bioluminescent light (The Past), a different Giant is carefully and slowly excavating a fragile, glowing fossil with a small brush. The image clearly shows two different jobs requiring two different sets of tools. Style Keywords: whimsical storybook illustration, modern 3D animated film style, stylized expressive characters, soft painterly textures, magical golden-hour lighting, subtle glowing particles, gentle depth of field, Pixar-esque.

We must draw a hard line in the sand.


Coaching is architecture; Therapy is archeology and medicine.


Coaching is about building the future. It is about strategy, execution, and optimization. Therapy is about healing the past, managing pathology, and stabilizing the chemical and emotional foundation of the brain.


If you are a coach, and you find yourself wading into deep trauma, you are not "serving" your client. You are endangering them.


The most powerful thing a coach can do is admit, "This is out of my depth," and refer the client to a professional. That is not weakness. That is integrity.


The 12 Journeys: An Operating System, Not a Savior


The image illustrates the "reframe" and the reclaiming of personal agency. A Small on a cliff edge looks into a mirror, smiling at their own reflection, signifying self-trust and validation. The Giant sits nearby, not leading but supporting, emphasizing that true growth comes from within.

This brings us to the architecture of The Giants.


The power is not in the guru. The power is in the individual.


If you are looking for me to save you, you are in the wrong place. I am not a guru. I am a guy documenting his own escape from the noise.


The 12 Journeys framework is not a replacement for therapy. It is not a medical intervention.

It is a Fundamental Operating System.


The Map: A strategic overlay for navigating the self, designed to function alongside clinical support.


It is designed to help you remind yourself of how incredible you actually are.


  • For the Individual: Use this OS to reclaim your agency. Stop looking for external validation. Look in the mirror.

  • For the Client: Use this framework alongside your therapy. Let your therapist heal the wound; use the 12 Journeys to build the muscle around it.

  • For the Coach: Use this to guide your clients forward, not to dig into a past you are not qualified to handle.


We are tired of playing in the same old loop.


The loop of looking for a savior. The loop of handing our power to the "Small" pretending to be a "Giant."


The exit is not a person. It is a decision.


This is my work right now. I am learning to respect the boundary between my map and my biology.


A real question I am asking myself: Where am I trying to use a mindset tool to fix a problem that requires a medical professional?


Here Are 4 Ways We Can Walk Together


If you are ready to reclaim your agency, here is how you can move forward:


  • The Archive: Visit the website. I have dumped hundreds of videos, blog posts, and "brain candy" there. It is all free. Take what you need to build your own map.

  • The Test: Curious if the 12 Journeys are for you? Drop a comment with the word 'CURIOUS' and I’ll send you the first week’s framework for free. Test the methodology yourself. No strings attached.

  • The Cohort: Ready to stop drifting? Register for our SG Programs and do the work alongside a community of Giants.

  • The Proximity: If you need to go deeper, ask me about working 1-on-1.



Legal Disclaimer: Services provided are for educational and wellness coaching purposes only in compliance with Utah SB48 & SB26. We do not diagnose or treat clinical mental health conditions. This is not a substitute for professional therapy. In a crisis? Call or text 988.

 
 
 

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