personal Wellness Coaching.
Why hire a Health and wellness coach?
Health and wellness coaches are experts at helping you shift your habits to make lasting healthy living choices.
Health and wellness coaches are passionate about helping people learn, change, and grow. They are lifelong students of what enables humans to thrive and can expertly address your needs with researched-backed theories, practical tools, and other resources — without giving you long lectures on what you “should” be doing.
Instead, the focus will be on what you want. You’ll create a personal wellness vision, create goals related to that vision, and then break those goals into daily steps to help you get there.
Most of us know that wellness matters. We’re aware that a healthier diet, more movement, quality sleep lead to better health outcomes, but few of us know how to actually shift our habits.
Research indicates when you decide to shift habits you have a 10% chance of actually making that behavior change stick. The good news is when you work with a wellness coach or a proven habit-shift program as demonstrated by — the China Study, Blue Zones, or Dean Ornish’s Undo It Program — your odds of getting new habits to stick increase significantly, which means you’re less likely to become (or remain) a yo-yo dieter or lose your healthy living momentum as soon as you graduate from the program.
Professional wellness coaches have specific training to help you link new behaviors to key intrinsic motivators, which helps you build your self-efficacy. Meaning your new habits are more likely to stick — even if your willpower is depleted.
READ: Why Wellness Is Important
Read: We could all use a wellness coach
Read: Health and wellness coaches are fairly new. Here’s what you need to know about them.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” - African Proverb.
Who is wellness coaching for?
Wellness coaching is for anyone dedicated to making a lifestyle change regarding their personal health or wellbeing.
The ultimate goal of wellness coaching is to find better ways to care for your mental and physical health, so you can show up in the world as the happiest, healthiest version of yourself. This then, allows you to show up in a more meaningful way for the people, passions, and pursuits that add value and depth to your life experience.
Often people look to wellness coaching, because of a major life transition; a birth, death, move, promotion, recent retirement, important upcoming event, or a recent health diagnosis. Others come to wellness coaching simply because they want to take charge of their life trajectory and are ready for a change.
Wellness coaching is for anyone who wants to change and is looking for support in the process.
Wellness Coaching for Stress Management:
Stress is part of life, but how we carry it can have a big impact on our life satisfaction and health. If you’re feeling especially stressed because of work or major life events, wellness coaching can help you find new ways to manage, while adding value to your life instead of it being detrimental.
Wellness Coaching for Major Life Transitions:
The birth of a child or loss of a loved one, a divorce, move, career transition, marriage — big life events can trigger a desire (or necessity) to approach life in a new way. A wellness coach can help you through those transitions with more intention while helping you embody your values and embrace the “new you” while you shift your habits with more ease and clarity.
Wellness Coaching for Incorporating healthy Habits:
When you’re ready to start fostering more healthy habits, a wellness or life coach can help you define what that means to you and start planning a path to bring them into your daily routines. Plus, she can help keep you accountable to your own goals so you can get lasting results more quickly.
Wellness Coaching for Preventative Health or Recent HEALTH DISEASE Diagnosis:
Chronic health issues are often referred to as lifestyle diseases because, often, they can be prevented with healthier lifestyle choices. They’re also the leading causes of death in the US and include heart disease, lung disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease.
Beyond pharmaceuticals and/or surgery, most doctors are unable to provide adequate support for patients who suffer from lifestyle diseases because of limited time and training in nutrition, diet, and stress management techniques. .
Most doctors turn to prescriptions to treat lifestyle diseases, even if they would rather their patients explore other options, including lifestyle medicine.
Lifestyle medicine helps address the mental and physical health of patients by addressing key components of wellbeing: exercise, stress management, nutrition, sleep, healthy relationships, decreased tobacco and alcohol consumption, and an increase in water and time spent in nature.
What to look for in a wellness coach?
Wellness coaching is not currently regulated, which means people can offer coaching services without professional training. However, a number of respected organizations have stepped in with certifications to help create professional standards throughout the field.
Finding a coach that has worked to obtain specific certifications can indicate expertise, a commitment to the growth of their own growth and development, and ultimately a more satisfying experience for you. See: Are unregulated wellness coaches a giant waste of money?
We recommend you look for certifications or wellness-related coaching credentials from organizations like WellCoaches, the National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coaches (NBHWC), or the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Why Coaches Offer Wellness Coaching in Bundled Sessions.
Change takes time, especially if you’re working to make shifts in long-standing behaviors or want to introduce new ways of being. Signing up for a 90-day wellness coaching bundle helps show your commitment to change and dedication to the process. After you’ve completed a 90-day program, monthly or quarterly drop-in sessions are typically available to serve as an accountability resource for you.
What does a Wellness coaching session look like?
Ready to commit to prioritizing your personal wellbeing? Here’s how the coaching process works when you hire Seek United, Founder Bri Harrington as your wellness coach.
Here's the Process:
You’ll receive an email to create a personal account on Practice Better, a HIPPA-compliant digital coaching platform. That way we can communicate in a way that protects your privacy and keep all your wellness insights in one place.
You’ll complete two quick assessments to give us both a solid starting place and a better understanding of your personal goals, key motivators, and any insights on your background that would be helpful. Sign and submit the Private Coaching Agreement, and schedule your first 60-90 minute session.
First session: During the first 60-90 minute coaching session, we’ll get to know each other a bit better, and briefly review the coaching agreement and your assessments. We will discuss your wellness priorities and take the first steps in setting your wellness vision.
Next sessions: Based on your identified goals and timelines, you’ll schedule weekly, bimonthly, monthly, or quarterly coaching sessions through your Practice Better account. We’ll discuss how your weekly wellness experiments are going, and you’ll have a chance to explore and resolve any pressing issues, and set your goals for the following week.
You’ll leave with the triumphant feeling of knowing you can successfully master any new habit, the ability to set SMART goals, what to do if you fall off track, and a personal vision statement that will help you live aligned to your values. From here you can decide to schedule monthly or weekly check-in’s to continue to prioritize your wellness.
For more insights, check out Seek United’s Free Stress Resiliency Quiz to get a gut-check on what you’re doing well and where you can make improvements.
How much does wellness coaching cost?
Wellness coaching costs anywhere from $50 - $450+ per hour of coaching. Often the first session will last 1-2 hours and subsequent sessions will be 30-45 minutes. Most coaches offer bundled coaching sessions to help clients jump-start their wellness goals. After the initial weekly, or bi-monthly sessions clients often move to monthly meetings or quarterly check-ins.