What is a Health and Wellness Coach?
When people ask me what I do for a living, I answer, “I am a Health and Wellness Coach”. I can feel their eyes rolling before I get the word “coach” out of my mouth. Yes, it sounds like a “new age” trend. Yes, it sounds hokey and not like a legitimate career. Yes, it is an evolving field so has both “beach body” promoters as well as health and wellness professionals who are certified and trained to meet a client where they are so the client can elevate their health.
Why would you work with a Health Coach?
You want to optimize your health and focus on prevention before a chronic condition starts.
You’re suffering from a chronic condition and you want to better understand how to manage your condition through diet and lifestyle.
You need support or accountability carrying out your doctor’s recommendations.
Your desire better balance in your life but don’t know which area to address first.
From the WashingtonPost.com (#3 below), “According to Matthew Clark, a clinical health psychologist at the Mayo Clinic, “A physician can provide medical clearance and provide guidelines for physical activity. A registered dietitian can help you develop an individualized nutrition plan, and a health and wellness coach can help you follow your healthy-living plan,” he said. “Health and wellness coaches are trained in empathy, motivational interviewing and behavioral counseling skills, and can help individuals set realistic goals.””
For instance, looking good in a bikini, while a great goal for some, is not typically what a health and wellness coach focuses on - physical appearance is part of the puzzle but there are other factors that matter to a person’s overall health. Health coaches take a wholistic approach and help their client figure out what their biggest challenge is and how to meet it. What is the state of their mental health? How is their nutrition? Are they moving enough? Do they have a strong mind-body connection? What does their work-life balance look like?
For a person who has a specific challenge and is ready to change - a health coach will collaborate with them to figure out a road-map for success, so they can meet their goals. Together the health coach and client decide what habits can change (or be modified) and decide how to take that first step. The client will decide what feels right to them and the health coach reinforces their ideas for change. There is no shaming, no chastising, no yelling. There is just conversation about how to anticipate challenges and then how pivot the plan to avoid barriers to success. Sometimes this takes weeks and sometimes it takes months. There is no right way to do it, other than the way that feels right to the client.
A few articles that have recently been in the news focus on the different approaches that health coaches use as well as why someone would engage a health coach. One is by Jane Brody - a figure from my past that I have highlighted in another blog post.
We Could All Use a Health Coach by Jane Brody at the NY TImes
Resolving to be Coached by Amitha Kalaichandran, M.D. at the NY Times
Health and wellness coaches are fairly new. Here’s what you need to know about them. by Lorne David Opler at the Washington Post
Hey, Health Coach: What Does A Health Coach Do, Exactly? by Sarah Hays Coomer at Forbes Health
Trying to Break Unhealthy Habits? There’s a Coach for That by Barbara Sadick at WSJ
Please let me know if you have any questions - I would be happy to talk to you to explore if health coaching is a good fit for you.