How Therapists Can Transition Into Work as an Organizational Consultant and Executive Coach
Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby is a licensed psychologist, licensed marriage and family therapist, board-certified coach, AAMFT clinical supervisor, host of the Love, Happiness, and Success Podcast and founder of Growing Self.
If you’re a therapist who’s quietly thinking, “I cannot do 30 more years of back-to-back sessions… but I don’t know what else is possible,” you are so not alone. Many therapists are beginning to explore what a more meaningful and sustainable career could look like, and becoming an organizational consultant is one path that opens far more doors than most clinicians realize.
More and more clinicians are feeling the tug toward work that still uses their clinical wisdom but in different rooms: boardrooms instead of therapy offices, leadership retreats instead of treatment plans, strategic conversations instead of progress notes.
That’s exactly what we’re talking about in this episode of Love, Happiness, and Success for Therapists: how to pivot from clinical work into life as an organizational consultant and executive coach in a way that feels grounded, ethical, and sustainable.
I’m joined by Dr. Shannon Sheehan Jennings (Dr. J), a trusted leadership advisor with a PsyD in Business Psychology who specializes in the “sticky human stuff” behind growth and change. She serves as a confidential sounding board for mid-market CEOs as they wrestle with tough calls about people, trust, and transition – helping them name what’s true, have hard conversations with compassion, repair ruptures, and make decisions that actually stick.
This is an honest look at how she made that transition… and how you can too!
Why Work Systems “Suck” (and Why Therapists Belong There)
For many people, work really sucks. And not because they need a DSM diagnosis. Toxic cultures, burnout, unspoken expectations, confusing power dynamics, and unresolved interpersonal ruptures follow people home every day.
(You’ll see these themes in Why Therapy Clients Are Hiring Coaches.)
Dr. Shannon believes therapists and psychologists have a body of knowledge that could make work suck less. Clinicians already understand:
- Power dynamics
- Emotional regulation and burnout
- Communication patterns and conflict cycles
- Group dynamics and systems thinking
- The impact of stress, trauma, and overwhelm on behavior
In therapy, we use these tools with individuals or families. As an organizational consultant, you apply the same lens to:
- Leadership teams that avoid talking about power
- Organizations scaling faster than their culture can keep up
- Family businesses navigating loyalty, conflict, and succession
- Workplaces where everyone feels something is “off,” but no one has language for it
Your clinical training isn’t a detour from organizational consulting. It’s the engine.
Dr. Shannon’s Journey From Therapist to Organizational Consultant
One reason this episode resonates so deeply is that Dr. Shannon’s career path wasn’t linear, which gives therapists permission to build as they go.
She began in high-conflict divorce and custody work, co-founding a nonprofit that interfaced with courts and community systems. That experience pushed her into systems-level problem solving, collaborating with judges, government agencies, and local stakeholders.
That systems perspective opened the door to a role at the Edward Lowe Foundation, where she joined leadership retreats for entrepreneurs and CEOs. She was brought in to deepen discussions around:
- Psychology and human behavior
- Wellness and burnout
- Emotional intelligence and self-awareness
She quickly realized something important: business owners were hungry for psychologically informed insight – but had never been given a framework for it.
From there, she completed a PsyD in Business Psychology, blending:
- Strategy and financial literacy
- Organizational development and I/O psychology
- Real-world leadership challenges
Today, she works as an organizational consultant and trusted advisor to mid-market CEOs, doing exactly what many therapists dream about: helping leaders navigate the human side of growth and change.
(Dr. Shannon’s path echoes the research described in this systems-psychodynamic study and in this classic consulting psychology transition paper.)
What Does an Organizational Consultant Actually Do?
If you’ve ever thought, “Organizational consulting sounds interesting, but what does that actually mean?” you’re not alone.
Small Business vs. Corporate: Two Different Worlds
Executive coaching in a major corporation looks very different from coaching inside a privately held, mid-market company.
- Corporate executives are influenced by boards, shareholders, and external pressures.
- Small and mid-size business owners are navigating, “If I screw this up, 150 people don’t get paid.”
Both environments have high emotional stakes, just in different ways.
The Work Itself
As an organizational consultant, Dr. Shannon’s work includes:
- Helping leadership teams talk honestly about roles, power, and expectations
- Naming interpersonal dynamics no one has language for
- Supporting leaders through trust ruptures and repair
- Facilitating strategic conversations that honor both people and performance
- Coaching leaders through difficult feedback and conflict
- Designing learning experiences around communication and emotional intelligence
Listen closely and you can hear the therapist in all of it, but with a different frame. Instead of symptom reduction, the focus shifts to organizational health, culture, and sustainable growth.
The Skills You Already Have (And Don’t Give Yourself Credit For)
Therapists dramatically underestimate how qualified they already are for organizational consulting.
Your clinical skills translate directly into this work:
- Power dynamics
You already think about authority, vulnerability, and influence. Leaders need that awareness too.
- Communication and conflict
You know how to hear what’s not being said and interrupt patterns that cause harm. Organizations need those skills at scale.
- Group and systems thinking
If you’ve treated families or couples, you already understand systems. Teams are systems too.
- Emotional safety
You know how to build trust and create space where people can tell the truth. Leaders rarely get that anywhere else.
These skills are the reasons why so many therapists quietly feel the pull toward becoming an organizational consultant, even when they’re not sure what the role looks like yet.
You’re There
For Them.
We’re Here
For YOU.
Craving community, consultation, private practice support and learning experiences that help you grow personally and professionally?
The Skills You’ll Need to Grow
Stepping into organizational consulting is not “therapy in disguise.” There is learning involved.
You’ll build literacy in areas like:
- Business fundamentals: margins, cash flow, strategy, how the business makes money
- Operations and structure: where breakdowns happen, how decisions move through a system
- HR and people systems: hiring, performance, promotions, exits
- The consulting ecosystem: RFPs, scoping projects, facilitation, OD vs. coaching
(If you’re unsure whether you even want to remain in the therapy profession long-term, exploring this article may help: When to Exit the Therapy Profession.)
The good news is that therapists are professional learners – and we’re already wired to understand complex systems.
For more on the competencies behind this work, see the APA’s guidelines for training in consulting psychology (Gullette et al., 2019).
Coaching vs. Therapy, Ethics, and Staying in Your Lane
Coaching and consulting are largely unregulated, which makes ethics especially important.
(You can read more about this in Coaching Ethics for Therapists.)
Dr. Shannon and I talk about:
- Differentiating coaching from therapy
- Protecting your license when expanding your work
- Knowing when to refer out
- Collaborating with coaches rather than competing with them
If therapists don’t step into these spaces, they’re quickly filled by people with stronger marketing funnels than clinical grounding. That’s why ethical, thoughtful participation matters.
Concrete First Steps Toward Becoming an Organizational Consultant
If this all feels exciting and overwhelming, you’re in good company. You don’t have to overhaul your whole career at once.
Here are real, manageable first steps:
- Get curious about business in your own life.
Listen differently when people talk about work. Notice patterns. This often sparks the same clarity discussed in How Being a Therapist Changes You. - Talk to people who run businesses.
Ask leaders what keeps them up at night. Let their answers guide what you learn next. - Start building an advisory network.
Connect with CPAs, attorneys, HR leaders, or consultants. These relationships will support your work. - Engage with the Society of Consulting Psychology (APA Division 13).
It’s a welcoming place to learn, ask questions, and see what organizational consultants actually do. - If you’re coaching, get proper training.
Many clinicians accidentally “coach” without clear coaching competencies — which causes ethical fuzziness. This is explored more in Helping Therapy Clients Find Career Clarity. - Experiment with small opportunities.
- Facilitate a team meeting
- Teach emotional intelligence
- Help debrief a workplace crisis
Each experience helps you fine-tune what kind of organizational consultant you want to become.
For more ideas on expanding your professional identity, this article is an excellent companion: The Entrepreneurial Mindset for Therapists.
And if burnout is part of what’s motivating the shift, this may help: Self-Care for Counselors.
You Don’t Have to Figure This Out Alone
Therapists are often the most isolated people in the helping professions — even though we constantly tell our clients not to do life alone.
That’s part of why I created The Growth Collective for Therapists.
If this episode has stirred something in you, whether curiosity about becoming an organizational consultant, exploring executive coaching, or building a more sustainable clinical career, I’d love to invite you to learn more.
Inside The Growth Collective, you’ll find:
- Supportive consultation groups
- Meaningful CE experiences
- Real-world guidance for building a career that fits you
- A generous referral network
- Community that feels safe, real, and collaborative
Join The Growth Collective for Therapists today!
xoxo,
Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby
Resources:
Cilliers, F., & Henning, S. (2021). A systems psychodynamic description of clinical psychologists’ role transition towards becoming organisational development consultants. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 47, Article a1891. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v47i0.1891
Liebowitz, B., & Blattner, J. (2015). On becoming a consultant: The transition for a clinical psychologist. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 67(2), 144–161. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000037
Gullette, E. C. D., Fennig, J., Reynolds, T., Humphrey, C., Kinser, M., & Doverspike, D. (2019). Guidelines for education and training at the doctoral and postdoctoral levels in consulting psychology/organizational consulting psychology: Executive summary of the 2017 revision. American Psychologist, 74(5), 608–614. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000462
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