How to Find a Health Coach
Health coaching is all the rage. Search online for "health coach" and you find over 300,000 choices. Not only are there thousands of health coaches to choose from, there's no one single, agreed-upon certification or training program that helps you identify the quality coaches from the run of the mill. Follow these steps to find your perfect health coach, and start on the road toward improving your health and wellness.
Instructions
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Choose a health coach who is certified by one of these highly respected organizations:International Coach Federation (ICF) at Coachfederation.org/ICF/ or Wellcoaches at Wellcoaches.com. You can find a health coach through these websites.
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Ask about the coach's training as a health and medical professional. Some coaches specialize in life or business coaching, but may not have a strong health, science or medical background. Both ICF and Wellcoaches train and certify coaches who specialize in health and medical issues.
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Understand why you want to work with a health coach. If your goal is to improve your blood sugar control because you have diabetes, make sure you work with a coach who is also a certified diabetes educator. If your primary goal is to begin an exercise program, look for a coach who is also an exercise physiologist or certified personal trainer. When you're in the throes of menopause and are looking for a coach to guide you through your options to improve your health and well-being, look for a woman who's been through menopause herself or understands the numerous facets of this stage of life.
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Read through the potential coach's website to find out about her style and approach. Browse several articles she's authored to get a thorough sense of her expertise as well as the specific areas she's most interested in. If you enjoy her writing and find yourself drawn to her website, then you're already establishing a trusting relationship essential for coaching.
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Schedule a 15- to 20-minute telephone interview with two or three prospective coaches (make sure they don't charge for this; most don't). Develop a list of questions to ask each coach so you can compare their answers. Ask how they work with their coaching clients, find out how long they anticipate your coaching program will last, and make sure that they have a friendly and pleasant tone.
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Tips & Warnings
Most health coaches recommend working together for at least 3 months to make real progress toward your goals.
Coaches aren't magicians. Be prepared to put in hard work and effort to reach your goals.
