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What exactly is a Wellness Coach?
Wellness Coaches are experts in establishing relationships and practicing core coaching skills that assist the individual in identifying values and desires, transforming them into action, and maintaining lasting change over time. They partner in dynamic collaboration with individuals, respect the client as the expert in his/her own life, and use a strength-based focus. “It is not about fixing what is broken; it is nurturing what is best within ourselves” ~ Seligman, 1999). Wellness coaching draws from the contributions of counseling psychology, positive psychology, prevention research, social work, solution-focused therapy, and motivational interviewing. A strength-based approach represents a shift from the western medical model which is focused upon pathology to a model that stresses assets, capacity building, and resilience in the face of adversity. What Is the Role of the Wellness Coach? Through the Wellness Coaching process of active listening and powerful questioning, an alliance is built that encourages personal discovery. The primary purpose of a wellness coach is to help the client develop awareness, responsibility, and motivation for behavior change related to wellness. What can Wellness Coaching help me with? People can benefit from the coaching relationship in many ways. For example, wellness coaching can help people increase awareness and plan the changes necessary to:
How does coaching differ from counseling and therapy? Counseling and therapy deal with healing pain, dysfunction, and conflict within an individual or relationships. The focus is often on exploring difficulties arising from the past. Counselors help you to look at where problems originate and to heal the emotional pain that is hampering you in the present. Counselors and therapists often guide the process, giving answers and advice. Coaching on the other hand, is future focused. The primary goal is to create actionable strategies for achieving specific goals. Coaches help you to identify the life you want to be living, to strengthen your motivation to change, and they hold you accountable in moving forward. Coaches believe in your ability to generate your own solutions. Why would I want to hire a wellness coach? Let's face it- making shifts on your own is not always easy. Research shows that having external social support when creating new habits increases your success. Imagine having someone in your life to check in with regularly around your desires and goals. Imagine having someone that will help you create a plan to achieve those goals. How would your life look different if you did? In a coaching session you are given the opportunity to have some of important conversations about the direction of your life in a nonjudgemental, supportive environment. What do you charge and how does a coaching relationship work? I see every client that comes towards me as a unique person and I know we all have different circumstances. For that reason I currently offer a sliding scale fee for my coaching services if you choose to pay as we go along and I also offer a package rate if you would like to buy a group of sessions up front. Please schedule a discovery session with me to explore what works for you. I aim to find a win-win situation for both of us. Once we enter into a coaching relationship, how it unfolds looks different for each client. After making agreements together, we first enter into an exploration of what your goals are and where you want to go. As your coach, I help guide you into finding small action steps that will help you achieve your goals. It's your job as the client to be willing to explore, to be willing to get out of your comfort zone a little to make changes, and to give whatever level of energy you can to your own growth. During our follow up sessions, we check in with your progress, see where you are getting stuck, celebrate your successes, and refine the process and actions. We can meet as often as feels good to you. I prefer to work with clients for at least 3 months to help them make some progress. But sometimes people come to me for just a few sessions to help them get back on track. The kind of support you need can be discussed as we work together. |
The Mayo Clinic model for Wellness Coaching where I received my training
Wellness Coaches use a Holistic approach: taking into consideration all aspects of your life.
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