Are you the most difficult client? How to tell if you or a client are uncoachable - Ep 91
Are You the Most Difficult Client? Or Are You Just in Resistance?
Coachability doesn’t mean compliance, it means willingness to grow.
Episode 91 - Available 20 june 2025
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This episode of Superfreak dives straight into the messy middle of coaching: the place where transformation meets hesitation. Where motivation fades. Where someone starts to feel… uncoachable.
But here’s the truth: most people aren’t uncoachable. They’re overwhelmed. Burnt out. Scared. Or operating inside a system where coachability hasn’t been made possible yet.
Whether you’re a coach trying to figure out how to manage difficult clients, or you’re wondering if you’re the one getting in your own way, this episode is your roadmap.
What Does It Really Mean to Be Coachable?
Before you can spot resistance, you need to know what coachability actually looks like
Coachable meaning: Willing to explore feedback, engage with honesty, and take action, even in uncertainty.
Coachability meaning: A person’s capacity to be open to support, growth, and accountability in a way that builds lasting transformation.
It’s not just about being “easy” to coach. It’s about showing up with enough self-awareness and willingness to move, even if slowly.
And just as importantly: being coachable is not a fixed trait. It’s fluid. It’s contextual. And it can be developed.
Resistance to Change ≠ Uncoachable
One of the biggest mistakes coaches make? Confusing resistance to change with being a lost cause.
In this episode, I explore the two major types of resistance:
Resistance to the transformation – when someone wants the result, but avoids the process
Resistance to the relationship – often caused by broken trust, poor rapport, or misaligned power dynamics
These can show up as:
Defensive or shut-down responses
“You don’t get it” language
Scattered or performative energy
Flat affect or emotional overload
Ghosting sessions or chronic excuses
But none of these mean someone is inherently difficult or uncoachable.
They’re signals.
Signs of protection.
And often, invitations to do the real work of building trust, rapport, and safety.
Managing Difficult Clients: What Actually Works
If you’re wondering how to manage difficult clients without spiraling into self-doubt or power struggles, start here:
Check for rapport first, not effort.
Most coaching “blocks” are rapport issues in disguise. If you don’t have trust, no strategy will land.Reflect patterns with compassion.
Use neutral, non-judgmental language. You’re not pointing fingers, you’re offering a mirror.Avoid pressure. Offer micro-invitations.
Skip the leaps. Ask for inch-sized moves. Let safety build before speed.Stay unattached to their timeline.
You’re there to hold the process, not force the result.Honour the resistance.
When someone feels seen and safe in their resistance, they often stop resisting.
This applies to you, too. If you’re feeling like the “difficult client,” be kind to yourself. It doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’re human. And that part of you that’s hesitating? It has something important to say.
Coachability is Grown, Not Given
Most of the time, what we call “difficult” clients are simply people protecting themselves from past experiences of pressure, performance, or failure.
If you're a coach, your job isn't to fix or force. It's to see clearly, hold steady, and invite someone into a new experience of growth, one that’s grounded in safety, not shame.
And if you're the client?
Please hear this: You're not uncoachable. You're in process.
Resistance is not the end of the road. It's a breadcrumb on the way to breakthrough.
Related Links:
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🎓 The Fierce Salon
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