What is Health & Wellness Coaching?
I stumbled upon the health & wellness coaching path when I was designing a study for patients with vascular disease and was looking at how positive reinforcement could help people make meaningful changes with regards to their health and wellness. As a psychologist, I was familiar with positive psychology, but little did I realize its power and force in driving changes in our life for the better.
A Way of Living
Without really knowing what I was getting myself into, I completed the Wellcoaches training path years ago and discovered the power of positive psychology. Its founder, Dr. Martin Seligman, had inspired me for years. He flipped the model of “learned helplessness” into ways to shift our focus to positive, flourishing states, and realizing our growth potential. I slowly started to realize it is a choice, and a way of living. Not familiar with its practices and language, I was a willing student and applied the coaching methods rooted in positive psychology to myself. As part of the training, we had to design our ideal health & wellness vision, write it out, and micro-engineer little steps and goals that would resonate with the larger vision for ourselves. Furthermore, learning and applying practices that bring us in a state of flourishing, and choosing to clean up your thinking, actions, and emotions to maintain high energy states. I was surprised to find out, that positive changes started to happen, gradually, but also in profound breakthroughs. When I looked back at the vision I had written up for myself, years after, everything I had set out to do, I was blessed to be experiencing right now. Having seen the journey with many clients that I coached, I can truly say that by applying the principles of positive psychology, you unlock a magnetic force, that allows you to live your life to the fullest as you were meant to be.
Health & Wellness Coaching
Health & wellness coaching is a holistic approach, evidence-based, and rooted in positive psychology, that places equal emphasis on mental and physical wellbeing. It focuses on helping individuals achieve optimal health & wellness through a comprehensive process. Here are its defining characteristics:
Meeting You Where You Are: Coaches accept and meet individuals where they are in their personal wellness journey, acknowledging their unique starting point.
Empowering You to Take Charge: The approach is to empower individuals to take control of their wellbeing and life.
Mindful Thinking and Doing: Coaches guide clients in developing mindful thinking and actions that build confidence.
Higher Purpose: Coaches help individuals define a higher purpose for their wellness and connect with their innate desire to be well and to thrive; to live their life’s mission.
Addressing Mental and Physical Health Together: It integrates mental and physical health, recognizing that they are interconnected.
Personal Wellness Vision: Coaches assist clients in creating a personalized wellness plan, tailored to their individual needs and goals.
Setting Realistic Goals: Coaches help clients set achievable goals, recognizing that small victories are the foundation for self-efficacy.
Harnessing Strengths: The process involves tapping into the individual's strengths to overcome obstacles and challenges.
Viewing Obstacles as Opportunities: Obstacles are seen as chances for learning and personal growth.
Building a Support Team: Coaches encourage individuals to establish a support network to aid in their wellness journey.
Inspiring and Challenging: Coaches motivate and challenge clients to reach beyond their own expectations, ultimately achieving more than they would alone.
In conclusion, health & wellness coaching takes a holistic approach to both mental and physical well-being and creating alignment in the areas of your life that allow you to bring you on your path of purpose and live your life with heart, spending more time in flourishing states, and being the architect of your destiny. Coaches empower you to take on this magical journey.