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Your health has a tremendous impact on your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It’s among the most vital aspects of your life and requires dedicated attention and care.
Unfortunately, personal health often takes a backseat to busy work schedules and obligations.
Perhaps you made a New Year’s resolution to hit the gym every week or transform your diet. But translating wellness goals like this into daily habits can be challenging to do on your own. That’s where health coaching comes in.
If you’re struggling to find time or feel overwhelmed by the obstacles between you and the healthy lifestyle you desire, consider the benefits of health coaching. Working alongside a health coach may be just what you need to develop new healthy habits — and keep them.
What’s a health coach?
A health coach is a professional who helps you set wellness goals and implement lifestyle changes to improve your physical health. But what does a health coach do, exactly?
Similar to a fitness coach, health coaches use a series of techniques to help you tackle any challenges that face your well-being, whether you want to reach a healthier weight, reduce stress, or improve your sleep hygiene. They’re especially helpful when you’re determined to make a health change but struggle to develop a routine and habits that stick.
Each health coach has a different set of expertise and education. Some may even earn degrees in health sciences, fitness, nutrition, or other related fields.
Many health coaches complete health coaching certification programs to become accredited and attract more clients. Afterward, they may work in various settings such as gyms, private clinics, and weight loss centers, meeting their clients either in person or virtually.
Keep in mind that coaching is an unregulated industry, and not every person who works as a health coach has a robust educational background in the field. A coach isn’t a substitute for a medical professional — if you’re concerned, you should see a doctor. They can, however, help you stick to advice from a healthcare provider or hold you accountable for lifestyle changes.
What’s health coaching?
Health coaching isn’t unlike career coaching, as it involves active discussions between client and coach to identify the client’s obstacles and create strategies to overcome them. But instead of helping clients improve their professional lives, a health coach focuses on enhancing clients’ health and wellness.
Health coaches provide practical advice and support to help their clients meet common health goals such as:
- Reducing stress
- Improving sleep
- Developing a balanced diet
- Engaging in an active lifestyle
- Quitting smoking
How do health coaches work with medical professionals?
Health coaches often work collaboratively with medical professionals to provide comprehensive, holistic care to individuals, focusing on promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors and self-management skills. Here’s how the collaboration typically occurs:
Referrals and recommendations
Medical professionals may refer patients to health coaches as a part of a comprehensive treatment plan, especially for conditions that can be managed or improved through lifestyle modifications, such as diabetes or obesity.
Ongoing communication
There may be ongoing communication between health coaches and medical professionals to monitor a person’s progress, modify health plans as needed, and address any new health concerns.
Patient advocacy and support
Health coaches can act as advocates for patients, helping them navigate the healthcare system, understand their treatment options, and communicate effectively with medical professionals.
Behavior modifications and lifestyle changes
Health coaches can help individuals implement the lifestyle and behavior changes recommended by medical professionals. They may offer support, motivation, and education to help clients make sustainable changes and stick to them.
Educational support
A coach may provide medically backed educational resources and support to help clients understand their health conditions and manage them effectively, complementing the medical treatment and advice provided by healthcare providers.
Feedback and progress assessment
Health coaches regularly assess the progress of individuals and provide feedback and insights to the medical professionals involved, ensuring that any necessary adjustments to treatment plans are made promptly.
Holistic approach
Health coaches often focus on a holistic approach to well-being, considering not only physical health but also mental, emotional, and social factors. This can complement the more specialized care provided by medical professionals.
Post-treatment support
After medical treatment, health coaches continue to support individuals in maintaining healthy lifestyles. They may work with their client to prevent relapses or manage chronic conditions effectively.
Preventative care
By focusing on doctor-recommended preventative care and healthy lifestyle choices, health coaches can contribute to a person’s overall health and well-being — potentially reducing the risk of future medical issues.
4 benefits of health coaching
Words of encouragement and accountability go a long way when building a healthy lifestyle. On your own, it’s easy to feel discouraged, take breaks, or even give up — after all, who will know?
Health coaching can give you the structure you need to achieve your goals and maintain your progress. Here are four benefits you stand to gain from participating in health coaching:
1. Improve your overall well-being
It can be challenging to assess what’s affecting your wellness on your own. Even a single factor that you miss can set your entire well-being off balance.
Health coaches make it easier to pinpoint the root cause of your challenges and provide suggestions for restoring your well-being, directing you to the appropriate medical professional or resource.
They can reiterate tips for enhancing your sleep routine, encourage you to eat a more nutritious diet, or impart techniques for managing stress, leading to a happier and healthier mental state.
2. Build mental fitness
You might be surprised to learn that everyday soft skills can benefit your well-being and improve mental fitness. Of course, knowing how to set goals and manage time doesn’t come naturally for everyone. Many people must develop these skills through habit-building and hard work.
Health coaches can help you achieve greater mental fitness by helping you identify challenges — such as poor concentration or memory — and recommending lifestyle changes and techniques for overcoming them.
If you’re struggling to focus at work and complete your projects on time and these failures are pushing you toward emotional distress, a health coach may help you develop strategies to mitigate the damage. That could be better building time management skills, creating a clearer routine to help you get in the zone, and keeping nutritious snacks that will help you focus on hand.
3. Enhance personal accountability
One of the primary barriers to achieving health goals is a lack of personal accountability. It's easy to neglect self-care and wellness in favor of professional and personal success — but this isn’t sustainable. A health coach can play a pivotal role in fostering the accountability you need to stick to your wellness goals.
A coach works with you to set clear, attainable goals and develop strategies to reach them, keeping you focused and motivated.
Regular check-ins provide an opportunity to assess progress, address challenges, and readjust goals as needed, fostering a sense of responsibility and commitment to your health journey. This consistent accountability can drive positive behavior change and help you stay on track.
4. Foster sustainable lifestyle changes
Adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be overwhelming. There’s a lot of information to sort through, and you need to maintain a lasting commitment and discipline on top of your other personal and professional responsibilities.
Health coaches act as guides in navigating this journey, helping you to incorporate sustainable, healthy habits into your daily routines.
By identifying and focusing on small, manageable changes, health coaches can make the process less daunting, helping you avoid the burnout and discouragement that can come from attempting too much too soon.
They tailor a plan specific to your personality and skills so you can better handle life's challenges and maintain new healthy habits in the long run. This approach empowers you to enjoy the benefits of a healthy lifestyle for years to come after achieving a balance that suits your unique needs and preferences.
What to expect in a health coaching session
Any professional guidance can feel intimidating when you don’t know what the experience will be like. Here’s what you can expect from a health coaching session so you can be better informed and enter the process with an open mind:
1. Motivational interviewing
Health coaches may use motivational interviewing techniques to encourage their clients to imagine their lives once they achieve their health goals. This client-centered approach aims at eliciting and strengthening a person’s motivation for change.
Motivational interviewing can help people invest in positive change and encourage them to take ownership of their journey. The technique helps clients articulate why they want to make a change and develop a plan of action to achieve it using open-ended questions, affirmations, and reflective listening.
If you want to eat healthier and cut out junk food, a health coach may ask what your life would look like if you changed your diet. This prompts you to envision what eating healthier would look like, how you might implement those changes, and what results you may see after doing so.
2. Story sharing
No one wants to work toward an impossible goal. Health coaches may use other’s success stories to show a current client that their health goals are achievable.
The health coach could describe scenarios that closely resemble their clients’ current challenges to demonstrate that transformation is possible. Without including personal identifying information, they can use these examples to show you how reasonable your goals are in the hopes of inspiring and motivating you.
3. Validating emotions
It’s not easy to open up to others, especially when it’s about your health and well-being. Perhaps you feel self-conscious about sharing personal details or the truth behind your habits. This is completely normal and nothing to be ashamed of.
Health coaches create safe environments for clients to express their emotions, worries, and fears without judgment. When you meet with a health coach, you can expect confidentiality and trust, whether you’re tackling exercise, diet changes, or mental health goal-setting.
4. Personalized advice
A good health coach creates client-centered action plans that consider each person’s unique needs and constraints. Whether you’re navigating mental health or a chronic physical condition, your health coach can help you put healthy habits in place with your circumstances in mind.
Give your health the attention it deserves
It takes strength to admit your health isn’t where you’d like it to be, and it can be challenging to develop new habits that stick on your own. Whether you're struggling with creating an exercise routine or reducing stress, having someone who helps you set reasonable goals and holds you accountable for making progress is vital.
Participating in health coaching is an excellent way to overcome obstacles and work toward your health goals with professional guidance and support. With the help of a coach, you can track your success and receive encouragement and understanding along the way.
