Wellness coaches are practitioners and life-long students of coaching psychology, a field focused on the scientific study of happiness and well-being.

Great coaches have several skills you will notice early. They are great listeners and enjoy your stories. They foster self-acceptance and self respect. They arouse, engage, energize, and challenge you to reach higher at the right moment. They are playful when appropriate. They take risks and ask courageous questions. They don’t rescue you from emotional muck – sometimes you need to sit in it for a bit to energize your desire to change. They know your life is at stake if you don’t take care of yourself. And they know how to celebrate your successes.

Coaching works for several reasons:

• Synergy between the coach and client creates momentum.
• Better goals are set — ones that naturally pull you toward the goal rather than goals that require you to push yourself to the goal.
• You develop new skills, and these skills translate into more success.

The process of wellness coaching progresses through several stages:

You provide background information through an online well-being assessment so that you and your coach are well-informed on the key issues, including medical considerations.

During the first 60-90 minute coaching session, you identify your priorities and develop a personal vision, three month plan and realistic goals.

In subsequent 30-45 minute coaching sessions, each week, month, or quarter, you and your coach review the progress toward your vision and goals, explore and resolve the most pressing issues, learn something new, and then agree on a set of goals for the following week. You will enjoy plenty of ah-ah insights along the way.

By the end of three months, you can expect to reach more than 70% of your three-month goals and feel energized and confident to embark on new areas.

Most coaches ask for a three to six month commitment but usually let you stop immediately if coaching is not working for you right now.

You might not need a coach. But it is helpful to find out: Are you doing what you most enjoy? Are you tolerating anything? Do you have what you most want? We’ve discovered that, often, people need to expect more out of their lives. A coach can help in this process.

Yes. You can hire a coach to help you accomplish specific goals or projects. However, you might want to keep working with the coach after that because there are even more interesting things to accomplish.

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