Wellness Coaching

Wellness Coaching is an ongoing partnership between the client and the coach designed to assist you in achieving high level wellness.  High level wellness means looking holistically at the whole human being composed of mind, body and spirit.  High level wellness is a state where you glow with wellbeing – wherein you are alive to the tips of your fingers.  You have energy to burn.  You tingle with vitality – the world is a glorious place.
How do you get to this state.  The way to start:

• Relax – regularly reach deep relaxation of body tensions at will
• Experience yourself – experience rather than intellectualize physical and emotional feelings to become more aware of the body mind connection
• Remove Barriers – clear away self imposed barriers by examining “forgotten” or suppressed experiences and by releasing an emotional charge
• Improve Communication Skills – develop better communication skills to express rather than repress emotions such as sadness, fear, anger and enthusiasm and to learn how to ask for what you want.
• Enhance Creativity – express talents and creative abilities which often manifest themselves as stress and symptoms if not allowed full expression
• Take full responsibility for yourself – see exactly what you are contributing to your problems and how to take charge of your own life in order to create what you want
• Love Yourself – gain a greater sense of self worth and self acceptance which enables you to see yourself as a wonderful person, love yourself and thereby be able to love others

Ilness and health are only the tip of the iceberg.  This is what is apparent and shows.  To understand all that creates and supports your current state of illness/wellness you have to look underwater.
Your Wellness coach can then help you explore different levels looking at lifestyle and behaviours, motivation and payoffs, and the spiritual being/meaning realm- Who am I?  What’s my life purpose?
Wellness Coaching works on the principle that you are different from everyone else.  Your path to high level wellness must be unique because you are unique.  You are extraordinary and special in everyway – your nervous system, body build, personality, life history etc,  because there is only one of you.  Thus your approach to life – nutritional awareness, stress management, physical fitness etc will also be different from everyone.
Along with the principle that you are different from everyone is the fact that You are O.K. and you are on your way to doing better. The way you feel about yourself has powerful effect on how you treat yourself. Many of us are reluctant to take responsibility for our illness/health and often give our personal power away to so called experts.  To love yourself is to love your body, emotions, intelligence and spiritual nature.  This means to trust, accept, understand and forgive yourself.  When you do this you become an active participant in life rather than a passive doormat.
Wellness is a process, never a static state – like life.  It is essential to your wellness to see your life as an unfolding process rather than a static model to be played out.
If you want to dance through life with vitality and grow towards harmony and balance ask a Wellness Coach to assist you.  Neither Rome nor a wellness lifestyle can be built in a day – it is a process.

A person practising high level wellness is stronger and better looking, has higher morale, better circulation, superior bowel movements and more antibodies to resist illness.  Such a person is warmer in winter, cooler in summer and sleeps better all year round.

Spencer Institute Announces Wellness Coaching: Innovative Certification Training

Spencer Institute Announces Wellness Coaching: Innovative Certification
Training for Life Coaching
Spencer Institute's new CWC Program bridges the gap between fitness and
medicine in an effort to reduce health care costs in America

    RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Spencer Institute
announces a Certified Wellness Coach (CWC) program that bridges the gap
between fitness and medicine, leading to more effective life coaching.
    CWC provides a vast variety of learning objectives. It combines wellness
coaching with lifestyle changes, weight-loss programs, ways to create lasting
changes, and a wellness inventory. CWC will teach individuals about the
business of wellness coaching, give opportunities to work with medical
professionals, create a stress reduction plan, and facilitate organic living.
The program is intended for anyone who would like to become a life coach as
well as individuals with a background of coaching, fitness, nutrition, and
health.
    "Wellness Coaching is a combination traditional life coaching, lifestyle
fitness coaching, organic living, corporate wellness, sound nutrition,
exercise and stress management," says Dr. John Spencer Ellis.
    The CWC certification program is convenient to everyone with its
self-paced distance learning program. It includes a textbook titled, Wellness
Coaching for Lasting Lifestyle Change by Michael Arloski, PhD, PCC. A 160-page
CD-Rom manual and outline are provided. There is a bonus of audio lessons with
over ten hours of instructional material. Other bonuses include audio
interviews with leading experts on wellness coaching, a live seminar presented
by Ellis describing '7 Secrets to a New Body,' and Ellis explaining the
business aspect of life coaching including structure, marketing, and other
information.
    The estimated time for course completion is 50 hours. There is a
comprehensive exam in multiple-choice format that must be completed at home
and then mailed to the Spencer Institute offices. Once the exam is completed
successfully, the Certified Wellness Coach certification is awarded.
    About Spencer Institute: Spencer Institute specializes in training for
individuals wishing to pursue a career in the life-coaching industry and is
fully accredited and certified by the American Association of Drugless
Practitioners. The Spencer Institute's curriculum completely meets the AADP's
accreditation board educational requirements.
    For more information, please visit www.spencerinstitute.com
     Contact: John Spencer Ellisjohn@johnspencerellis.com (877) 573-6474
SOURCE  Spencer Institute

Health and Wellness Coaching

The Infinite Wellness Solutions network of participating wellness companies includes a long list many of the nation’s leading Health and Wellness Coaching companies available. After consulting with our clients to determine their specific needs we provide wellness proposals from the health and wellness coaching companies that will best fit our client’s preferred method of health and wellness coaching delivery. To elaborate on that point, we offer face to face health coaching and wellness coaching as well as telephonic coaching, email based health and wellness coaching and various combinations of those methods of delivery.

We also take into account the health and wellness coaching styles that will best match the needs our our clients and therefore offer many different behavioral change models and modalities.

At Infinite Wellness Solutions we can create for you a complete custom solution, supplying you with Wellness Coaches and Health Coaches along with our suite of coaching services, to help your members and clients:

● Decrease preventable illnesses
● Master life’s challenges
● Improve overall employee health
● Control health care costs

One-on-one, personalized support allows employees to permanently change high-risk behaviors that cost companies millions of dollars each year. Employees are less absent and more productive. Parents are happier and have happier, healthier children. Customers stay customers. Executives and managers are able to do more. Lives are improved, missions are accomplished.

Health and Wellness Coaching Programs Tailored to Your Needs:

Diet & Nutrition Coaching – Dieting and keeping up with a consistent exercise program is always more difficult when you have to do it alone. Working with a Diet and Nutrition Coach you will use fun online tools, and a daily journaling and interaction with your Diet and Nutrition coach to keep you committed to your goals of establishing better eating habits, a regular exercise program, resulting in obtaining your optimum weight and health.

Executive Health Coaching – Executive health coaching is used to increase the productivity and effectiveness of highly-compensated individuals. Part of the challenge is helping executives reduce or eliminate health risk factors. Up to now, following executive physical exams and routine health checks, executives were left on their own. Now, executives can work over the internet and/or telephone with their personal coach. This program is tailored to the demands of the executive life and is staffed by seasoned former executives who provide the highest quality executive health coaching available.  Our wellness partners standards related to executive health coach quality and experience.

Fitness Coaching – Using a revolutionary online fitness service, combined with one-to-one coaching, enables personal trainers to interact with members in creating a fitness program that meets their needs and offers direction, education, motivation and support every step of the way.  Your fitness coach will interact with you as frequently as you like and will guide and direct you to a better state of fitness.

Parent Child Coaching – Because children are not born with handbooks on how to raise them, and each one comes with their own unique personalities, we provide you with information, tools and counselors to help you every step of the way. Whether you have a toddler or a teenager, our parents – and kids too, report happier, healthier communications and interaction between family and friends. Parent child coaching can greatly improve the lives of everyone involved.

For Wellness Coaches & Health Coaches

Combined with our suite of coaching services, our proprietary Case Manager™ Technology solution can help your Wellness Coaches, Health Coaches and Administrators with the management and interaction of their customer base.

Wellness Coaching: The Latest Trend in Fitness

Experts share tips about choosing a fitness professional who can put you on the road to better health.

Laurie Heit couldn’t imagine working with a wellness coach. In fact, she didn’t even know what a wellness coach was — until one transformed her life.

A compulsive overeater, Heit had struggled with her weight since childhood. She went on diet after diet, and was finally ready to join Overeaters Anonymous when a friend told her about wellness coaching. She suggested Chere Bork, a registered dietitian and coach. Heit jumped at the chance.

After her first appointment, Heit was so impressed that she decided to do more. She has now had 12 telephone coaching sessions with Bork at a cost of $75 each. She insists they were worth every penny.

Although Heit has made significant improvements to her diet and lost weight, she says she’s gained something far more important. Through the coaching process, Heit discovered that losing weight wasn’t what she needed most. She longed to be at home with her family. So after debating the options, Heit quit her insurance job and became a full-time homemaker. She’s never been happier.

“My goal didn’t change, but how I got there did,” she explains. “The time and exploration of the right food plan helped me explore myself and my wants in life.”

Fitness Trends

According to a recent survey by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), “educated and experienced fitness professionals” now constitute the most important fitness trend in the world, having jumped from third to first place since last year. “Personal trainers” rose from seventh to third place.

“We want to be well. We yearn to be in control and feel better. We want more energy,” says Margaret Moore, founder of Well Coaches, the only health and wellness coaching certification program endorsed by the ACSM. “But there is an enormous gap between wanting to be well and the everyday reality of living with the mental and physical health penalties of overeating, underexercising, and having too little down time.”

That gap is growing. The CDC reports that more than 66% of adult Americans are overweight or obese. Worse still, about a third of the adult population is obese.

Doctors’ Views on Wellness Coaching

That’s one of the reasons why Moore and other wellness coaches have been working to increase awareness about the field among medical professionals. Moore readily admits, however, that although the idea is becoming increasingly popular with the public, it’s only beginning to catch on with doctors.

“Physician referral to coaches is still at an early stage,” she says. “We don’t have reimbursement, and it’s going to take years to fall into place. We see grass-roots, small-scale doctors coming to us. But most physicians just aren’t into it yet. It’s still very new.”

One doctor who has embraced the idea is Michael Lano, MD. Director of the Ridgeview Clinics, a group of primary care facilities in suburban Minneapolis, Lano refers several patients a month to Bork.

Doctors’ Views on Wellness Coaching continued…

“I’m a family physician and I always tell my patients that it’s my job to help them live a long, healthy life,” he says. “But 98% is their part, and that’s what the life coach helps with — everything from diet and exercise to emotional well-being. It’s the same thing that we [doctors] deal with, but she deals with it from a lifestyle perspective.”

Lano says he sees significant improvements in patients who work with Bork. Most begin exercising and eating better. Many make other important changes as well, which tend to have a boomerang effect on their overall outlook and lifestyle, as they did with Heit.

Ideal Candidates for Wellness Coaching

However, not everyone is a good candidate for wellness coaching, says Lano. Some may be too old or sick to change. Others may simply be unmotivated. The ideal patient is someone who may not be doing anything bad, but they’re not doing the good things, either, he says. “They’re not eating well. They’re not exercising. They’re stressed. They’re stuck. They’re not making progress.”

Jim Harburger found himself in that situation. The 66-year-old clinical psychiatrist began to gain weight 32 years ago when he abandoned his heavy smoking habit. Gradually, his weight began to creep from 165 pounds to 220 pounds.

Much of the problem, Harburger says, was stress from his high pressure job as the director of a large behavioral health organization. But the trigger was the daily gift of sweets offered by his secretaries, which Harburger found irresistible.

“The metaphor was that I was being eaten alive by my job, but I was actually eating to handle the anxieties from my work,” he says.

Harburger joined a gym. But like so many others, he found it hard to get there and went only sporadically. Desperate, he finally decided to hire a personal trainer. The gym recommended Ellen Albertson, a staff member who was a registered dietitian, a licensed nutritionist, a certified personal trainer, and a licensed corporate wellness coach.

Albertson began each session with 20 minutes of walking, during which time she and Harburger would talk.

“One might think I could walk on my own, but what she was doing was listening to me about my life, learning about how I managed eating, the stressors in my life, and my relationship to my body,” he explains. “She became familiar, almost like a good therapist, with all aspects of my life. And slowly, she built a relationship that I started to value.”

Albertson also helped Harburger manage his cravings. A self-confessed sugar addict, he likened it to withdrawal from cocaine. “I felt my body shaking, I couldn’t think, and I was in total transition for almost a week,” he says. “Now I know that if I have a cookie, I need to separate myself from what I am eating or I will just keep eating.”

The result? Harburger, who visits the gym almost every day now, dropped 40 pounds over a three-year period.

Albertson says she sees it all the time. People come in expecting to be told what to do, but what actually works best for them is to slow down, think about their goals, and then determine the path themselves.

“People are out of touch with their bodies. When you listen to your body, you eat when you’re hungry, you stop when you’re full, and you enjoy food for its rightful place in your life,” she says.

Looking for the Right Wellness Coach

Michael Arloski, PhD, is the author of Wellness Coaching for Lasting Change, a training manual used by several coaching programs, works with dozens of corporate clients, training them on the finer points of coaching for long-term lifestyle changes.

“We need to move from ‘prescribe and treat,’ or what I like to call ‘education and implore’ — where we’re begging someone to change after we give them a lot of information — to a coaching model where we’re advocating for change and becoming an ally with that person,” he says.

Not everyone who calls himself a coach — especially a wellness coach — is qualified, however. Because certification is neither standardized nor required, searching for a good wellness coach is still a case of buyer beware.

“Coaching is a fairly new field, and someone can call themselves a health coach and not have any credentials attached to that. There is no national certification out there to protect people. There are also a lot of matchbook credentials. Anybody can put a shingle out there and call themselves a coach,” says Albertson.

To determine whether a coach is reputable, Moore suggests checking references and asking for testimonials. Look for people with degrees or certification from reputable organizations and then interview them extensively about their background.

Ideally, a wellness coach should have at least two years of experience working one-on-one with clients, and preferably a year of coaching experience following training. Other qualities to look for include professionalism, passion, confidence, and humility, so be sure to interview several before making a decision. Credible ones will offer a free initial consultation.

Moore advises choosing a coach who makes you feel the most energized and confident. You should be inspired after a coaching session, with lots of “Aha!” moments, as well as motivated about your ability to make needed changes in your life.

Plan to pay between $50 and $150 a session, and expect to spend at least three months with a coach before seeing meaningful progress, which is typically defined as the creation of two or three healthy new habits. And don’t hesitate to end the relationship if something doesn’t feel right.

In addition to his dramatic weight loss, Harburger says the changes have had a positive effect on his career. Harburger’s wellness coaching has led him to return to private practice and reduce his workweek to 75%.

“I struggled with giving myself permission to do that, but it was miraculous. Before, I would never have initiated that. Now, I feel so unencumbered,” he says. “It’s like I’m on constant vacation.”

‘Measuring Change: Evaluating Health and Wellness Coaching Performance, Outcomes and ROI’ Is Based On a 2007 Audio Conference

DUBLIN, Ireland — Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c85904) has announced the addition of Measuring Change: Evaluating Health and Wellness Coaching Performance, Outcomes and ROI to their offering.

Many health plans and employers are banking on health and wellness coaching to stem spending for the chronically ill in their populations and point those at risk for a health crisis toward healthier, less costly behaviours. While tools to identify coaching candidates abound, no straightforward formula for evaluating coaching ROI exists.

However, emerging findings from two health coaching organizations indicate that the structure of a coaching program and in some cases the coaches’ own personal attributes can deliver hoped-for participant outcomes in weight management, tobacco cessation, stress management and related health-related savings.

In this special report, “Measuring Change: Evaluating Health and Wellness Coaching Performance, Outcomes and ROI,” two health coaching thought leaders present their coaching ROI models and examine the impact of health and wellness coaching on behaviours and the bottom line. They also share anecdotal research that ties coaches’ personal attributes to optimal outcomes — information that can influence health and wellness coach hiring strategies.

Part of the Health Coach Collection, a seven-volume series – Save 35% when you order the Health Coach Collection Series.

Ted Borgstadt, founder and chairman of TrestleTree Inc., and Darcy Hurlbert, health and wellness product specialist at Ceridian LifeWorks, provide details on:

- ROI calculations for weight management and tobacco cessation programs;

- Anticipating and responding to ROI expectations from HR and the CFO;

- Using HRAs to measure coaching effectiveness;

- How call frequency and call intervals can influence outcomes;

- Tips for hiring coaches with the three key personal attributes that can optimize coaching results;

- The three dimensions of coaching ROI;

- Case study in coaching ROI based on a largely unmotivated, overweight population;

and much more.

This report is based on a 2007 audio conference on metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of both health coaching programs and individual health coaches.

- Striving for Consistent Coaching Outcomes with an Evolving ROI

- Determining ROI for Weight Management Programs

- Tobacco Cessation Management ROI

- New Approaches to ROI

- Measuring Outcomes Using HRA Data

- Measuring Presenteeism’s Effect on Population

- Optimal Calling Frequencies, Spacing

- Optimal Health Coach Attributes Linked to Better Outcomes

- What’s Next

- Best Practices in Measuring Health Coaching ROI

- Analyzing the Actuarial Studies

- TrestleTree’s Health Coaching Model

- Case Study in Coaching ROI: J.B. Hunt Transportation

- Retention and Safety

- Defining Participation

- The Three Dimensions of ROI

- Q&A: Ask the Experts

- Measuring Presenteeism

- Defining Self-reliance and Individualism

- Engaging Participants with Incentives

- Effectiveness of Coaching Attributes

- The Best Time for HRAs

- Reported Savings

- Analyzing Coaching Effectiveness

- Pre- vs. Post-Disease Management Coaching

- Measuring ROI by Coaching Method

- Training Health Coaches

- Measuring Productivity through Self Reporting

- Measuring Member Stratification

- Measuring a Coach’s Performance

- Telephonic Coaching Performance Evaluation

- For More Information

- About the Authors

- Glossary

Medica Launches Health and Wellness Coaching

MINNETONKA, Minn. — Medica has launched a health and wellness coaching program that provides its members with the personal support they need to set health improvement goals and achieve them. Any Medica member with applicable benefits may participate in the program.

Program participants work with a personal health and wellness coach who assists members in determining their overall health status, identifying concerns on which the member would like to focus and establishing goals related to their health and well-being. Some examples of those conditions include high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, depression, weight management, exercise and stress.

Once a member decides to participate in health and wellness coaching, a health and wellness coach is assigned. A member has the same coach throughout the program, which typically lasts about six months or until significant progress is made toward meeting a member’s health goals.

The program works through regular contact between participants and health and wellness coaches. During the sessions, coaches check on members’ progress toward meeting their goals and offer suggestions geared to each participant’s motivation and desire to make changes. The program also is customized and self-directed because each member establishes his or her own goals.

Medica health and wellness coaches have backgrounds in health coaching, nursing, psychology, social work, exercise physiology, dietetics/nutrition or health education. They have demonstrated active listening skills, the ability to develop rapport, empathy, and ability to support a member through motivation, building confidence and applying techniques that encourage changes in behavior. Medica also partnered with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing to develop an extensive training program for its health and wellness coaches. The University of Minnesota program is acknowledged to have the most extensive health coach training program in the country.

“Medica’s health and wellness coaching program is the newest phase of our programs designed to help members achieve their health goals,” said Dr. Charles Fazio, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Health Management Administration. “It is focused on each member’s motivation to make health behavior changes, which we believe is foundational to better health in the long run.”

Although any Medica member with appropriate benefits may participate in the program, some Medica members who have high health risks have been invited to participate. Those members are identified by using medical, behavioral and pharmacy claims data in conjunction with sophisticated predictive modeling tools. Health coaching also coordinates with Medica’s care management, wellness and behavioral health programs for an integrated health management approach. To further support identification of at-risk members, Medica will also use other types of data such as provider referrals, self referrals and health risk assessments. Individuals considered to be at risk have chronic diseases and multiple health conditions, and consume a disproportionate amount of healthcare resources.

Why Hire a Wellness Coach

You may or may not have heard of wellness coaching – its a field of health and wellness that is new, exciting, and rapidly evolving. While not everyone knows what a wellness coach is today (similar to the what I suspect people knew of personal trainers 30 years ago), I envision that in another 10 years the term and understanding of the profession will be widespread.

While the term itself may be common in a decade, I suspect that the background and knowledge of wellness coaches will be every bit as varied as those we currently see in any industry that requires a certification rather than a four year degree. I say that not to knock the background and qualifications of most wellness coaches (many are RN’s, personal trainers, registered dietitians, competitive athletes, or other medical professionals), its just to say that the your coach may have a very unique and particular background which may make him or her a good fit or not to work with you.

Why would I hire a coach and not another industry professional?

I introduce this article deliberately giving you some sense of the varied backgrounds that coaches come from. I myself have a history in athletics, certifications in nutrition, and a personal experience with cancer. When you hire an industry professional rather than a wellness coach – such as a registered dietitian, you are hiring someone to essentially tell you what to do. Perhaps you want to know exactly what meal plan would work best with your body chemistry. You are hiring a consultant to tell you how you should live your life. Likewise, if you go to a personal trainer, you are asking them what exercises you should do get fit, build strength, improve cardiovascular fitness etc. Doctors are hired to prescribe medication and suggest lifestyle changes. Get the picture?

Now, think about the coach you may have had in grade school, high school or beyond. Some coaches may have told you what to do, but the good coaches got to know you. They learned who you were and explored your strengths and weaknesses. They were able to work with you and develop your skill set such that you could excel at the sport you were playing. They understood the psychology of the sport, that there would be wins and losses and they kept the big picture in mind when you yourself may have lost sight of the vision.

A wellness coach is not a consultant. Typically the coach has a background in which they could be a consultant, but they have chosen what they feel to be a more empowering career. A career which embraces the concept that people can make long term lifestyle changes from their own volition. If you look at topics such as weight loss – approximately 5% of people that lose 10 pounds or more keep it off over 5 years. That’s staggering. Telling people what to do is easy and it may promote short term success, but long term lifestyle change is more deeply rooted than short term wins. Even medical scares as serious as heart attacks typically only promote lifestyle changes on average for under a year (amazingly many people even go off life saving medications as early as a year after a heart attack – and how easy is it to remember to take a pill!).

So to answer the question, Why would I hire a wellness coach rather than another industry professional; the answer is simply choice. What do you feel is the approach that will work best for you – information or partnership? If you are self motivated, change comes naturally for you and you have a compelling reason to make long term sustainable changes, perhaps some expert advice is right for you. If, however, you feel that the information is the easy part, and changing your life is the harder part (as studies would indicate is the norm), then perhaps a coach would teach, inspire and team with you to excel in the area that you are looking to master.

What can I expect working with a coach?

You may be surprised at the discussions you’d have with a wellness coach. You are more likely to talk about what inspires you, your wellness vision, your personal goals and your dreams and aspirations than you are to talk about the breakfast you had last week. Now, be clear that this is not psychoanalysis. A coach acknowledges the varied background, successes, setbacks and triumphs you’ve had in the past, but that is water under the bridge. Be prepared to talk action, to develop a plan, to build accountability structures and to think through real life ways you can be successful with your goals

With the varied background you’ll find with coaches, you’ll notice that each has a unique methodology, philosophy and personality. We all express ourselves differently. If you are considering a coach, make sure to interview your prospective colleague to see if you believe you can reach your goals working with this person. If not, perhaps the coach is not right for you, or perhaps you’d be better off hiring a consultant that guide you and point you in the right direction.