Top Skills of a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach
Think to a time when someone in a helping relationship told you what to do. This could have been someone in health care or another service profession. How did that go? Did you feel defensive? Maybe you took their advice but their recommendations didn’t last for very long?
Now reflect on a helping relationship that was more positive. Perhaps you felt heard and supported. You weren’t pressured to do x, y, and z. That person got you and really helped you find the answers you were looking for to move forward.
The second example is the essence of what working with a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) is like. This partnership is super special and can help you make lasting lifestyle change. Here is what we think are the top skills of a NBC-HWC and why you should work with one:
1. We’re Experts in Behavior Change and Motivational Interviewing
We get it. Change is hard. If it wasn’t, everyone would be walking around at their ideal weight and engage in healthy habits every day. But for most of us, we need support to figure out our motivation to change. Through exploration and powerful questions, a NBC-HWC meets their client where they are at and helps them uncover their reasons to move forward in meeting their health and wellness goals.
2. We’re Client Centered
We strongly believe every client is creative, resourceful, and whole. A NBC-HWC does not tell their client what to do. Rather, we strongly believe every client is the expert on their own life. Through active listening, mindfulness, unconditional positive regard, and an empathetic presence, a NBC-HWC empowers their client in their capacity for change. If you’re unfamiliar with the term unconditional positive regard, this means your coach will accept you, just as you are, and that we are always thinking the best for you and know you can accomplish what you set out to do.
3. We’re S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setters
A NBC-HWC balances a client's exploratory thinking with action-oriented focus and helps set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. We help a client take outcome goals, like “I want to lose weight” and make them behavioral and actionable, such as “I will walk Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 a.m. for 30 minutes” so our client can actually make progress towards their desired future self. A NBC-HWC helps their client get organized and focused on what they want to achieve.
4. We’re Promoters of a Growth Mindset
A NBC-HWC helps their client develop the belief that the client's abilities are not fixed and can be improved continuously through experimentation and persistent effort. Every goal is an experiment. There is always opportunity to learn and grow.
Curious to see if working with a NBC-HWC is right for you? Send us an email at info@takecarecoach.com to sign up for a free 20-minute session. You can also check out the resources below to learn more:
Resources:
Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational interviewing: helping people change. New York: Guilford Press.
Moore, M., Jackson, E., & Tschannen-Moran, B. (2015). Coaching psychology manual. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.
NBHWC (2020). Why should you become a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC)? https://ichwc.org/become-an-nbc-hwc/