How can wellness coaching help you?
By: Emily Brown, MS, CNS
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How can wellness coaching help you?
When someone mentions the word “coach,” what usually comes to mind? Most people think of the sports world.
Without world-class coaches, the elite athletes of the probably wouldn’t be where they are today.
Coaching is primarily influenced by the fields of psychology and adult learning. More specifically, it is built on the works of psychologists Abraham Maslow (1962), Carl Rogers (1961), and Erich Fromm (1962), Martin Seligman. They trail-blazed an approach called positive psychology, which is based on the premise that anyone can learn optimism and adopt new ways of being that influence personal growth.
The coaching profession has evolved a great deal in recent years and life coaching, as an example, is mainstream. So has executive coaching and business coaching. What about health coaching?
Health coaching is still somewhat in its infancy compared to sports coaching. But experts in the field have long promoted the coach approach to health, fitness, and overall lifestyle change and wellness.
Health coaching isn’t just for the sick either. In fact, coaching can benefit individuals who are healthy and fit and wish to remain that way. But for those individuals who envision a better life in which they are at optimal health, coaching is absolutely beneficial and, I would argue, vital to your success. In a few words, health and wellness coaching helps you maximize your personal and professional potential!
According to the International Coach Federation, coaching is defined as an “action-centered partnership” that empowers clients to achieve goals and create a desired future. Also, coaching relies on you, the client, for direction. An effective coach believes that the answers to your problems or health issues and dilemmas lie within you — not outside of you.
How many times have you said to yourself, “I know what I need to do to get in shape; I just need to do it.” I’ve been there, too. Often, what is necessary to see sustained progress toward a health and wellness goal is a commitment — and accountability. Coaching provides much-needed accountability, encouragement, resources, and support so that you can identify, commit and stick to your goals.
Coaches also recognize that change is not an isolated event but rather a constant, ever-evolving journey. When you come to coaching, you are at a particular stage of change. And it is my job as the coach to identify what stage you’re in and support you on the continuum of change.
If you’re ready to explore coaching and see if it’s right for you, complete the form to receive more information about a complimentary coaching session with me.