By Dr. Christine Manukyan, founder and CEO of STORRIE Institute.
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Health coaching is on the rise within the medical space. It isn’t just a stand-alone profession; you can incorporate it into your current practice. Here are three ways you can do that.
Let your client know that they’re in the driver’s seat.
Health and wellness coaching is a form of patient care that uses talk therapy, clinical strategies and holistic remedies to find lasting solutions to chronic medical issues.
Many individuals who seek out health and wellness coaching are navigating through situations such as weight loss, stress management or the effects of chronic medical issues such as diabetes or a heart attack.
As a healthcare professional incorporating holistic wellness coaching into your practice, ask your clients open-ended questions that allow them to identify their main pain points and desire for a lifestyle change. Some of these questions could be:
• What are the long-term results that you wish to see in your health and wellness journey?
• Why are you deciding to make this change in your life?
• What is something that you would like to be able to do at the end of this journey that you are unable to do right now?
These techniques can lead clients to identify the root cause of the problem and design a plan that is tailored to their unique body and walk of life.
Find your niche in holistic wellness coaching and become an expert at it.
Each healthcare professional has a zone of expertise that they can offer to their clients, and there are so many niches within holistic wellness coaching that you can implement in your practice today. Practices such as nutrition, energy healing, herbalism and lifestyle medicine are just a few of the many holistic wellness coaching techniques that you can incorporate into your patient care to provide a more natural form of healing.
I was introduced to holistic health and wellness when I was told by my primary care physician that I needed to lower my cholesterol and lose weight to prevent a heart attack by the age of 40.
My physician went on to prescribe me a pill to lower my cholesterol—one that would help me while I was taking it, but once I stopped taking it I would be back to where I started.
Thus began my independent research into holistic health and wellness. I discovered lasting solutions (intermittent fasting, cellular cleansing, adaptogens) that were unique to my body and my situation.
When I returned for my follow-up appointment, my physician was shocked at how quickly I lost weight and lowered my cholesterol. She then began looking into the same holistic wellness remedies that I implemented into my personal life and suggested them to her other patients who were in the same boat as I was.
These holistic wellness coaching techniques that I implemented into my own personal health journey have become the same solutions that I suggest to my clients when assessing their situations.
Being both a coach and a client within my niche has allowed me to become an expert in this field.
Establishing this level of credibility by combining your education and experience allows you to develop a deeper level of trust and empathy with your clients.
Build your brand for your area of practice.
In order to incorporate holistic wellness coaching into your practice, you need to market yourself as a healthcare professional who provides those types of services.
- What health problems are your clients facing?
- What does their lifestyle look like?
- What social media platforms do they frequent?
Once you’ve fully grasped who you want to serve, meet them where they are. Part of holistic wellness coaching is attracting clients to you and expressing the value of your service.
Health and wellness coaching also saves the client money. This form of healthcare incorporates various practices such as clinical interventions, nutrition and holistic remedies. Instead of an individual having to see multiple specialists to make this life transformation, they can place their trust in a health and wellness coach to walk with them through each step of the journey.
As individuals entrusted with the lives of our clients, we are tasked with the responsibility to provide them with optimal, long-lasting solutions that can change their lives for the better.
