Why Hire an Integrative Wellness Coach?

You can hire an integrative wellness coach to help you address a variety of health issues including weight loss, stress management, improving diet and exercise, and adjusting to a life-altering event.

Taking better care of your health is among society’s most pressing priorities. However, you may face a bewildering array of health and wellness guidelines, products, and services that make it difficult to create a personal formula. Plus, navigating the inevitable obstacles to making changes such as confusion, resistance, and ambivalence is challenging. You may even have a history of repeated failures.

Nevertheless, you want to be well. You yearn to be in control of your health, to feel better and to have more energy. But perhaps you don’t believe you can reform your self-care or master your health and wellness. That’s why partnering with an integrative wellness coach can make a difference.

 

12 Reasons People Hire an Integrative Wellness Coach

According to Moore and colleagues, 12 themes are commonly cited by clients when they decide to hire an integrative wellness coach:

1. Quick fixes over: “I’m done with quick fixes and want to make changes that last.”
2. Precious asset: “I have decided that my well-being is my most precious asset, and I’m ready to invest for the long term.”
3. Get off the fence: “I am fed up with sitting on a fence and want to commit to a wellness path.”
4. Not about weight: “I realize that it’s about well-being and not weight.”
5. Be the boss: “I want to be the boss of my health and wellness and quit delegating responsibility to others.”
6. Health style: “I’d like to develop my unique style of health rather than use one-size-fits-all approaches.”
7. Mental game: “I know what to do and now want to master the mental game, turning intention into reality.”
8. Peak performance: “I recognize that to reach peak performance at home and work, I need peak wellness.”
9. Big picture/small steps: “I know that an extreme makeover isn’t the answer, and I want to take small steps which are powerful.”
10. Confidence: “I’m finished with self-doubt and want to build confidence in my ability to master wellness.”
11. Winning the wellness game: “I want to focus on winning the wellness game and not losing or quitting.”
12. Close the gap: “I want to close the gap between where I am and where I want to be when it comes to my health and well-being.”

What is Integrative Wellness Coaching?

Integrative wellness coaching is a growth-promoting relationship that helps you achieve a higher level of well-being and performance, especially when change is hard.

An integrative wellness coach aims to elicit intrinsic motivation and facilitate the change process through visioning, goal setting, and accountability.

Self-determination and intrinsic motivation are critical in integrative wellness coaching. Although the coaching process is similar to talk therapy in that it involves two people discussing ideas and issues, it is different in that the client is in the driver’s seat. Ultimately, you will identify the goals and generate the strategies you will use to achieve your wellness goals.

Accountability is also important during the change process. Accountability that comes solely from yourself is typically insufficient. Given the isolation and anonymity associated with personal accountability, it’s easy for motivation, diligence, and follow-through to slip. However, when accountability comes from the coach-client collaboration, where the coach and the client discuss what has been accomplished in objective rather than judgmental terms, you will become empowered to reach your goals more consistently and effectively.

Finally, positivity is a corner stone of integrative wellness coaching. As suggested by Fredrickson, positive energy and emotions broaden thinking, expand awareness, increase abilities, build resiliency, offset negatives, generate new possibilities, and create an upward spiral of learning and growth. By identifying, appreciating, and amplifying strengths, you can go beyond problem solving to make bold shifts forward.

Does Integrative Wellness Coaching Work?

Behavior modification is vital to the prevention and amelioration of lifestyle-related disease. Reviews of the coaching research show that coaching interventions (in-person or telephone) that last for three or more months improve health outcomes. For example, studies have demonstrated the efficacy of coaching for people who were grappling with obesity, heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.

In sum, the National Wellness Institute defines wellness as “a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential.” If you want assistance mastering your health and wellness, research suggests that integrative wellness coaching can be an effective way to get some traction and start moving in the right direction.

Hire an Integrative Wellness Coach to Accelerate Your Wellness Journey

If you’d like help planning the next leg of your wellness journey, give me a call or send me an email. I’ll work with you to clarify your vision and plan for a successful outcome. Along the way, I’ll be there to encourage your efforts, to celebrate your progress, and to troubleshoot your breakdowns. Read testimonials from satisfied clients.

Be well and enjoy!

Discover more about an integrative approach to optimal health.

References:

• Appel, L. J., Clark, J.M., Yeh, H. C., Wang, N. Y., Coughlin, J. W., Daumit, G., . . . Brancati, F. L. (2011). Comparative effectiveness of weight-loss interventions in clinical practice. The New England Journal of Medicine, 365, 1959-1968.
• Edelman, D., Oddone, E. Z., Liebowitz, R. S., Yancy, W. S., Jr., Olsen, M. K., Jeffreys, A S., . . . Gaudet, T. W. (2006). A multidimensional integrative medicine intervention to improve cardiovascular risk. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21(7), 728-734.
• Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Chapter One – Positive emotions broaden and build. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 1-53.
• Galantino, M. L., Schmid, P., Milos, A, Leonard, S., Botis, S., Dagan, C., . . . Mao, J. (2009). Longitudinal benefits of wellness coaching interventions for cancer survivors. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 4(10), 41-58.
• Kivelä, K., Elo, S., Kyngäs, H., & Kääriäinen, M. (2014). The effects of health coaching on adult patients with chronic diseases: A systematic review. Patient Education and Counseling, 97(2), 147–157.
• Kobau, R., Sniezek, J., Zack, M. M., Lucas, R. E., & Burns, A. (2010). Well-being assessment: An evaluation of well-being scales for public health and population estimates of well-being among U.S. adults. Health and Well Being, 2(3), 272-297.doi: 10.1111/j.1758-0854.2010.01035.x
• Moore, M., Jackson, E., & Tschannen-Moran, B. (2015). Coaching psychology manual. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.
• Wolever, R., Dreusicke, M., Fikkan, J., Hawkins, T. V., Yeung, S., Wakefield, J., Duda, L. . . . Skinner, E. (2010). Integrative health coaching for patients with type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Educator, 36(4), 629-639.