Your Guide to Understanding if You Would Benefit from a Health Coach.
Becoming healthy can be overwhelming & it's sometimes difficult to decide where to start. Health is an all encompassing term covering aspects of physical well-being, nutrition, self-talk, finances, & a support system. In this blog we plan on covering – everything you need to know before committing to hiring a coach.
Behavioral Coaching: collaborative effort between a client & a coach in order to develop a meaningful habit change.
Are you wanting to establish a workout routine, build a better grocery list, implement what advice the doctor gave you, or just review your goals with a trusted source to make sure you are being reasonable to yourself? You've come to the right blog. I, Amber Karren, am a health coach, physical therapist, & massage therapist with a knack for creating goals & establishing new habits via understanding & applying neuroplasticity. I have been working in health care since 2009 & the gap I most frequently encounter is implementing a consist change for better health. You know to go to the doctor when something isn't right but what do you do after to prevent a reoccurrence or to be more proactive about your health maintenance?
Role of a Coach: Principles & Scope of Practice
Coaching Agreement
Role of a Coach: Principles & Scope of Practice
Coaching is the art of Stimulating the Internal Motivation for change
Coaching is client-center, meaning the coach is a tool for increasing awareness & personal expertise about a subject the client wishing to change. The coaches priority is to assist the client to harness their own strengths to move towards the motivation to change.
Many professions overlap with coaching, however coaching is the specific aspect of helping a client identify their strengths, create goals, & establishing accountability for meeting goals.
Coaching is NOT: counseling, therapy, or consulting; nutritional prescription or meal planning; exercise prescription; evaluations or medical assessments; or recommendations of supplements or products. Depending on your coaches expertise, he or she will be able to educate on more specific topics but a coach does NOT replace or substitute for the other professionals' opinions or consultations. Rather a coach helps you implement what the professional advised you do to better your health. For example: medical doctor advises to limit sugars due to diabetes diagnosis. Your coach would help you identify where the sugars are, what other things you could consume or triggers to consuming sugar, & other strategies to implement to follow the medical doctor's recommendation. Think of your coach as a personal assistant to create SMART goals for your health.
A coach may also make recommendations about following up with another professional in order for the client to get the appropriate resources to reach their goals. Some of the professionals a coach may refer to include: psychiatrist/psychologist, social worker, licensed therapist or family counselor, physicians, dieticians or nutritionists, exercise professionals, physical therapists, massage therapists, occupational therapist, community engagement activities, etc. The goal is to have a well-rounded body of knowledge to base your health choices from - ultimately the client has the power of choice & application from that sound knowledge base.
Remember your coach is there is help hold you accountable to you.
Coaching Agreement: Best success comes from clearly defined Roles, Rights, & responsibilities for each party involved.
When employing the expertise of a coach, one should always have an agreement to state what each party is responsible for & to explicitly set expectations for each party. This agreement should list the parties involved, fees, scheduling logistics, description of services, role of the coach, required commitment of client (& termination rights), cancellation & no show policies, & signatures.
This is done during your initial consult. Don't be afraid to ask questions & get specific about what you & your coach can discuss, what is your learning style, do you like worksheets or activities, do you prefer to read material on your own & then get back to your coach. Be as clear as possible as what you are willing to do, your limitations, & your expectations.
Get to Know Your Community Resources: Do You know how to help yourself?
Some of the free resources can come from government programs - check out https://www.211.org/ for your local resources.
Other resources to reach out to are your providers that are reimbursed through your insurance - refer to your insurance website & resources as to what they will cover. Remember insurance is meant to help you become medically stable (reactive health maintenance). The next step is proactive health maintenance - what can you do to slow the progress of chronic conditions, limit further complications & heal, & how to get involved in your community to help support your well-being. This proactive health step is best navigated with a health coach!
If you have some specific questions related to your health experience please fill out a form with you details, how to contact you, & your health concern to see if we can assist you!