What is a health coach and how can they help you? Learn more!
What is a Health Coach?
A Health Coach is a trained professional who becomes your accountability partner and source of information during a journey of change. They utilize motivational interviewing, SMART goals, and knowledge of the stages of change to lead clients through the process of transformation while helping them implement sustainable shifts based on what works for them. Which means, a Health Coach can help you with anything that affects your mental and physical health—weight loss, disease prevention, alcohol intake, social outlets, stress, sleep, exercise, and more.
What is a health coaches Role?
A helpful example to consider: imagine you go to your doctor’s office for a physical. You leave that appointment with the information that you are prediabetic and need to lose weight. But you don’t have an actual guide, information, or a plan to make that happen. That’s where a Health Coach comes in. Through in person or digital communication, while using evidence and experience based approaches, Health Coaches empower clients, supporting them as they work from where they are, to where they would like to be within their lives. That often means working through the question of “You know what you need to do, so what do you think is stopping you from doing it?”
There are also times when making progress on your goals is more complicated than that. Therefore a Health Coach is also knowledgeable in common afflictions, their signs and symptoms, tests to recommend for more information, and more.
What doesn’t a Health Coach do?
A Health Coach is not an expert on all things health. In fact, every health journey is a bit of an experiment to find what works best for an individual. While a coach does have an enormous amount of knowledge and information, many times they will work with their client to learn the answer, instead of always providing the solution. A Health Coach also isn’t a doctor. But they often work with their clients to empower them to ask their doctors the right questions and for the right tests.
What does this mean for you?
This means that whether you are an OC member or not, if there are changes you want to make in your life and in your health, we can help you! Emily is our resident Health Coach and along with seasonal Healthy Habit challenges, she also works one on one with clients.
If you are a member at OG, you also have a free goal setting session every quarter. Utilize these check ins to ensure you are the track you want to be!
OC has helped thousands of Bend, Oregon residents since May of 2009. Experience the difference!
