Written by Donna Fuscaldo
Published December 13, 2011, FOXBusiness

(NOTE: This article was originally published online December 13, 2011 at http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/12/13/do-need-health-coach/. We have re-posted this article on GoalImagery.com for those members of the coaching and/or holistic community who may have otherwise not been aware of it.)

When it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, it’s more than just
what you eat and how you exercise. The quality and quantity of your
sleep, how you deal with stress and your emotional well-being also play
a role in your overall health. While doctors and physicians can
diagnosis and treat illnesses, health coaches can teach preventative
measures that thwart a visit to a doctor altogether.

“Physicians don’t have enough time to spend with their patients
going over nutrition, lifestyle and stress reduction,” says Kerrie
Martin, a holistic health and nutrition counselor and founder of health
coaching practice Live In Rhythm. “Health coaches serve to fill that
gap.”

Health coaches are a relatively new phenomenon in the health and fitness
world and the practice differs from personal training. A personal
trainer tends to tell clients how much to exercise and in some cases,
what to eat, a health coach will do that plus discuss ways to reduce
stress, increase rest, and focus on improving the overall quality of
life?not just in the gym.

Health coaches are commonly found in corporate settings as part of
wellness programs, but they are slowly infiltrating the private market.
These coaching sessions, which can cost anywhere from $50 to $150 an
hour, tend not to be covered by medical insurance, the growing demand
and interest from doctors could change that down the road.

According to Melinda Huffman, principal at Miller & Huffman Outcome
Architects and co-founder of the Notational Society of Health Coaches,
demand for health coaches has grown exponentially, largely because
research has found it’s more effective to discuss a treatment plan
with a patient than to simply prescribe a medicine and hope that they
take it.

“When you manage a patient you give them this or that information
and send them on their way,” says Huffman. Health coaching gives
patients the opportunity to figure out how a treatment plan will impact
their life, she says.

For many people, health coaching is about how to eat better, lose weight
or feel more energized. But it can also be used for more specific
problems. According to Martin, people use health coaches for digestive
problems, fertility issues and even chronic or terminal diseases like
cancer or heart disease. “There’s so much conflicting information out
there that a health coach can help individuals decipher all the
information,” says Martin.

Health coaches aren’t for everybody. On top of the cost, which can
get expensive the longer you see a health coach, people typically have
to commit to more than one session. While a person can see a health
coach just one time, many recommend entering a three to six month
program?after all, change doesn’t usually happen overnight.

Health coaches aren’t doctors, which means they can’t prescribe
medicine nor are they able to diagnosis illnesses. Many health coaches
are certified through education programs like the Institute for
Integrative Nutrition.

According to Dr. Roger Jahnke, chief executive of consulting and
training firm Health Action, which uses the The Circle of Life Health &
Wellness Coaching Method, the fact that they aren’t doctors is a
benefit for the people seeking health coaches. “People with medical
degrees think about health intervention,” says Jahnke. “It’s
an allusion that medicine is prevention–it’s intervention.
Prevention is people taking care themselves.” Jahnke details health
coaches support participants by creating and executing a plan–not
telling them a generic plan that doesn’t take into account different
situations and life parameters. “The coach is there to support a
person making reasonable plan.”

Please comment on this! Do you think this article has value in life, career or executive coaching? If so, in what way? I believe that health coaching is one of the focuses of life coaching and it’s part of what I teach at Goal Imagery Life & Career Coach Training. Also, have you ever heard of a corporate coach who charges only $50 per hour? I never did… More like $250-500 an hour.:) However, overall, I think it’s a good article. Health coaching, like any coaching, is becoming hotter and hotter.