Certificate in Health Coaching

Health and Wellness Coaching has developed as an exciting and incredibly successful healthcare profession over the past 30 years in the USA, melding together the best of behaviour change theories, humanistic psychology and life coaching. It recognises that most individuals know what they should be doing to ensure optimum health, have been told what to do by numerous healthcare professionals but still can’t change their habits.

Health coaches use specific communication techniques to empower individuals to take responsibility for their own health and to adopt long term healthy lifestyle choices. This can dramatically improve patient compliance and practitioner success rates making this discipline an excellent add-on for any healthcare professional.

Health and wellness coaching is still an emerging field in Europe but is well recognised internationally as a vital profession within the 21st century healthcare system. Studying health and wellness coaching can propel you into a rapidly growing and well accepted discipline in both orthodox and complementary healthcare due to the evidence that demonstrates its role in improved patient outcomes, medical compliance, employee health and productivity, and lower healthcare costs.

This course ensures that students develop practical coaching skills in building an alliance with clients, understanding ‘readiness to change’, goal setting & planning and coaching in different healthcare settings. It is important to note that health coaching is not, however, just about building a rapport with clients and communicating effectively with them.

Whilst these skills are hugely important, true health coaching requires the practitioner to step back from their usual role as educator and instead focus on becoming an ally to clients. This course will teach students how to do this effectively and to encourage individuals to take responsibility for their own health and develop personal strategies to change that work for them. This is a step-by-step process and may involve regular and numerous face to face, telephone and email consultations.

Read More: How Health & Wellness Coaching Works, its Key Benefits & Career Prospects

What is the difference between a ‘health coach’ and a ‘nutrition coach’?

Strictly speaking, health coaches solely use communication & behavioural change techniques to empower individuals to take responsibility for their own health and to adopt long term healthier lifestyle choices. They do not need to be an expert in any particular field - health coaches do not give dietary advice. Nutrition coaches use a combination of health coaching skills and dietary analysis & advice with their clients. It is important to note, however, that these previously accepted definitions are changing and so the two titles are now considered to be interchangeable. For more information regarding our nutrition coaching course, please see our Diploma in Nutrition and Lifestyle Coaching.

Help clients make a real, positive and long term difference to their lives. Develop the skills required to effectively help clients to facilitate changes in the long term, overcome barriers to change and improve their health

Comprehensive and well structured study material supplied. Including presentation slides, video clips and quizzes - all designed to make the learning experience as interactive as possible

Dynamic and interactive lecture workshops and webinars. Designed to suit all learning types and engage students in the learning process. Lecture workshops include a mixture of formal lectures, group discussion, group exercises and role play

Open yourself up to limitless opportunities in the healthcare arena

- Wellness from the Inside Out: What determines our health? the illness/wellness continuum, defining wellness, taking wellness one on one

- The Mindset Shift: Moving from “prescribe & treat” and “educate & implore” to “advocate & inspire”, motivational mindsets & strategies for coaching

- Wellness Coaching Skills: Overview of coaching skills and the core competencies of coaching, creating the coaching alliance, the facilitative conditions of coaching, listening skills, how to effectively work with powerful questions & inquiry, support & accountability

- Readiness For Change: Prochaska’s readiness for change theory, grief and readiness for change, development and readiness for change

- Key Coaching Methodology: Assessment & exploration, the co-creation of the wellness plan, setting clear goals, creating strategies to assist the patient/client in making the changes they really want to make, accountability & support, evaluation, celebrating successes, creating strategies to maintain change

- Your Specific Coaching Challenges: Applying it all to your delivery system, working with the your specific clients, working with your specific patients/clients, making wellness coaching real and applicable in your establishment

- Coaching Clients with Health Challenges: Helping your client with the “Lifestyle Prescription”, coaching for medical compliance and beyond, specifics for recently diagnosed clients

- The development and facilitation of health coaching groups

The online version of this course includes 4 full days of online lectures or 16 x 2 hour webinars.

As this is a practitioner training course, assessments (quizzes and reflective practice) will be required to be completed and passed in order to graduate.

All students are enrolled onto the IHS learning management system. Here you will find all course material, forums, quizzes, assessments etc in one place to help you organise your study and study material as efficiently as possible. You will also upload all assessments here and can also use it to communicate directly with unit leaders, other members of staff and fellow students.

Normal minimum entry requirements

Individuals must hold a recognised certification in the health, wellness, fitness and care fields or similar