What's different about Metropolitan Consultation Associates (MCA)?

Our experience makes a difference. For over twenty years professionals at MCA have been working with businesses and organizations to promote emotional health and human potential, which in turn impacts significantly on the bottom line. We are in partnership and have strategic alliances with a global network of consulting psychologists.

What's MCA's Mission?

See Mission and Philosophy.

Why is it important for my organization to work with a psychologist rather than with another type of executive coach?

The term "executive coach" has become widely used. There is no credible credentialing organization supervising the use of this term and there are no official prerequisites or training standards. Anyone can call himself a "life" or "executive coach".

A psychologist, on the other hand, must meet rigorous educational, training, and ethical standards. There are local, state, and national psychological associations that further help oversee psychologists' training and conduct. Each state has a licensing board that regulates the practice of psychology.

Every corporate client must trust the executive coach they are allowing to enter into their corporate home. Harmful change is worse than no change.

What is special about a psychologist's training?

Psychologists have pursued the training and experience necessary to develop those keen diagnostic and intervention skills called for in the arena of human personality change. A psychologist is trained to deal with conflict situations. Often, such situations have the potential to become opportunities for constructive and positive change.

Dr. Alonso has an advanced doctoral degree in psychology. In addition, he is a nationally certified psycho-analyst. This involved an additional eight years in specialized depth-psychology training. Essentially this means that an individual with such training has a greater facility at understanding psycho-dynamics. A well-trained and developed clinical eye enables him to more quickly perceive the causes of emotional problems and obstacles to human potential and what is required to facilitate constructive change. He has spent over 55,000 hours in education, training, and working with individuals and organizations to effect behavioral change.

What is emotional intelligence?

There are differences in people's ability to deal with emotions. Some individuals are better than others at identifying their own feelings (self-awareness); at identifying the feelings of others (empathy); and at solving problems that involve emotional issues.

Emotional awareness allows for clearer and more accurate reasoning, problem solving and decision making. It can contribute to good interpersonal skills.

Emotional intelligence also involves the ability to separate healthy from unhealthy feelings. It enables the individual to turn negative emotions into positive ones and into growing opportunities. Emotionally intelligent individuals can help others identify and benefit from their emotions.

Click here for other sources of information on emotional intelligence.

What is synergy?

Synergy is defined in the American College Dictionary as 1. Combined action. 2. The cooperative action of two or more bodily organs or the like.

Social synergy takes place when by becoming more effective, an individual makes his group more effective. Synergy resolves the dichotomy between selfishness and altruism. In synergy, separate individuals' needs become fused into one unified set of needs.

A synergistic basketball team is one where an individual, such as Allen Iverson, can take over twice as many shots as anyone else on the team, what many people would call selfish, yet in the process make his entire team better. The rest of the team is in synergy with Allen. They don't resent him, they accept his role as the shooter. They don't withhold the ball from him. Instead, they set picks so he can get an open shot, they pass him the ball and they in turn get credit for an assist, they look for him when they get a defensive rebound so he can lead their fast break down the court. If he is double teamed they get into open space so he can pass them the ball and they in turn can shoot. Allen always gives credits to his teammates, "I'm nothing without them". In his role as leader he is always trying to boost his teammates' confidence, because he knows the team will need the rest of the players to make their shots when he is being double teamed. Coach Larry Brown makes it known that he believes defense comes first, even on a team with the league's leading scorer. Defense creates the offense. That is synergistic not contradictory.

A business organization, like a professional basketball team, needs to be synergistic to accomplish its potential. It needs to create a social climate where talented individuals who express their creativity and skills are admired and sought after, not envied; where personal needs are not met at the expense of others; and where common goals are shared.

Accomplishing synergy in work requires: best-fit personnel selection, enlightened management, and leadership development.