By Marcia Schveibinz

I. What is a health and wellness coach?

Certified Health and Wellness Coaches are professionals who have completed a curriculum through an accredited health and wellness coach training program. They work with individuals and groups using a client-centered process to facilitate lifestyle behavior change and empower the client to achieve self-determined goals related to health and wellness. They apply motivational interviewing skills to assist clients to uncover internal strengths and motivators, and provide them with the tools and resources to assist them with reaching their goals and ultimately sustainable changes. These goals may include: lose weight, eat better, quit smoking, lower stress, or better time management.

Coaches help their clients to discover their underlying reasons for their desire to change. Examples of such reasons may be prevention of a disease that runs in their family, or be around to spend time with their grandchildren, or to perform their jobs more easily. The coach’s job is to ask questions to uncover these personal motivators.

II. What is the difference between a health/wellness coach and a psychotherapist? Or a nutritionist or dietitian?

Although there is some overlap, a health and wellness coach is different from a psychotherapist, a mental health care professional with training in medicine, psychologist, nurse, or social worker. These professionals help clients with depression, anxiety, or other mental health problems that may be getting in the way of realizing their goals. Clients who are suitable for coaching are mentally capable and ready to move forward in making changes in their lives.

A registered dietitian or licensed nutritionist can use their knowledge and training to clinically treat or prevent illness/disease using specific foods and diets. They often prescribe specific diets or meal plans with little input from the clients which may or may not lead to sustainable changes. Unlike a dietitian or nutritionist’s focus, a health and wellness coach takes a more holistic approach and addresses not only diet, but may give equal attention to other aspects such as stress, sleep, relationships, job, etc. The coach follows the client’s agenda, therefore there is no “one size fits all” plan. For instance, if a client wants to become more physically fit, in order to move forward with an exercise plan, factors such as time management, sleep, and diet all come into play to remove any barriers to client success.

III. Is being a health/wellness coach for me?

Becoming a health and wellness coach may be the right fit if you like helping others and are passionate about and live a healthy lifestyle yourself. Other characteristics that lend well to the profession are: good listening skills, empathy, open-mindedness, non-judgmental, patience, mentally well adjusted, and a positive outlook.

In the course of their work health and wellness coaches display a non-judging unconditional respect for their clients and a belief in their capacity for change. They honor that each client is the expert of their own life.

Professionals in a helping field such as a dietitian, nurse, or physical therapist may want to become certified as a health and wellness coach to provide better personalized service to their clients/patients. Personal trainers may want to have the added qualifications in order to add additional services such as a program for weight loss. Certified health and wellness coaches come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some choose to use their coach training to complement their current work with individuals or groups. Others may want to provide strictly wellness coaching services either as a solopreneur or in partnership with other holistic health professionals.

IV. How can I become a certified health/wellness coach?

There is a list of approved transition programs via the International Consortium of Health and Wellness Coaches (ICHWC). Completing a transition program will qualify you to apply to sit for the National HWC certifying examination. ICHWC has all the information you need to know about how to become a certified health and wellness coach.

V. Where can I work as a health and wellness coach?

Health and Wellness Coaches may work at health clinics, physicians’ offices, other holistic health professional offices, non-profit organizations, health insurance companies, or often start their own businesses. There are laws that vary from state to state concerning nutrition counseling. As a certified health and wellness coach, you are not licensed in any states in the United States. Practicing health coaches should review the scope of the nutrition law in their state including all exceptions and exemptions to assess whether they are legally able to use nutrition tools in their practice. The health and wellness coaching profession is more prevalent in some states than others. With the recent development of ICHWC’s national standard and certification for health and wellness coaches, the profession will hopefully see an increase in opportunities to work in this very important field.

VI. Resources

International Consortium for health and wellness coaching (ICHWC) – https://ichwc.org

Center for Nutrition Advocacy – http://nutritionadvocacy.org

Michael Arloski, PhD, PCC, CWP – Author of Wellness Coaching for Lasting Lifestyle Change.

Marcy Schveibinz is a national board certified health and wellness coach and owner of Columbia Nutrition LLC (www.columbianutrition.com). For the past 4 years she has been applying her knowledge and skills from her training as a coach as well as a degree in nutrition to help clients lose weight and adopt a healthy lifestyle in many areas of wellness. She is currently accepting clients for one-on-one weekly or monthly coaching. She can be contacted by phone: 410-935-8353 or email: [email protected]