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Health coaching, also referred to as Wellness Coaching, is a process that facilitates healthy, sustainable behavior change by challenging the client to listen to their inner wisdom, identify their values, and transform their goals into action. Health coaching draws on the principles of Positive Psychology and the practices of Motivational Interviewing and Goal Setting. The terms “health coaching” and “wellness coaching” are used interchangeably.

Origins
Coaching has occurred since the beginning of mankind. It involves a conversation where one person listens and then advises another person on any subject matter. Over time this term has been used for coaches in education, athletics and music. Through his book The Inner Game of Tennis, Tim Gallwey changed the perspective of coaching when he shifted the focus of coaching. Rather than teaching a skill or technique, his process encouraged individuals to explore their inner strength and wisdom, improving their confidence and making changes and improvements from within. Health coaching is embedded in psychology, social work, nursing, eastern philosophy, holistic health and wellness management fields.

The roots of health coaching began with psychologists treating persons addicted to alcohol. In the early 1990s, The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism conducted a study that compared several methods of treatment for alcohol addiction. They included: cognitive behavioral therapy, a twelve-step program approach similar to Alcoholics Anonymous, and motivational interviewing.

The findings demonstrated that while all were equally effective, motivational interviewing was more cost effective and timelier in reaching the desired results.

Due to the success of this project and others, researchers have been keenly interested in using this approach and studying how its use may affect health behavior change in persons with chronic conditions. Studies are likely to continue in this arena as this is a relatively new approach for many healthcare providers.

Process of Health and Wellness Coaching
To fully appreciate and understand health and wellness coaching one must be aware of the process.

Establish Relationship
The process starts with engagement. Engagement and building trust with client is established by building rapport. Many factors are included in this process. Essential traits to building rapport includes genuineness, eye contact, good energy, warmth, good quality of voice, a feeling of connectedness, being comfortable and relaxed in the exchange, mindful listening, being supportive and positive body language and physical gestures. Rapport is fundamental in the initial coaching session but must also be sustained in each coaching session. Although rapport is important, a coach may want to avoid becoming too close with client. Becoming too close to a client can create a barrier for a successful coaching process by being too emotionally attached, having a personal agenda and falling into assumptions based on personal relationship or experience.

Motivational Interviewing
Once a coach has established rapport, building strong communication strategies is essential. An effective tool used in health and wellness coaching and other clinical work is Motivational Interviewing. Motivational interviewing is a process used in Psychotherapy, Social Work, Medicine, Addiction, Coaching and other fields. The basis for support of this method is that motivational interviewing provides motivation to shape the knowledge obtained which encourages behavior change. Research shows knowledge alone does not promote change; but when motivation is added to the equation, change is likely to occur.

Wellness Vision
A wellness vision is a creative statement by client that reveals his/her highest potential and can include physical, emotional, social, spiritual and financial realms of one’s life. A new life vision empowers one to see new possibilities along with a specific and clear direction, which can be manifested through inner creativity, wisdom and power. It allows one to activate their imagination and then think, feel, speak and ultimately see the manifestation of their unified highest potential to manifest. A wellness vision is a tool coach uses to help client move to new levels of wellbeing by connecting client to the truth and wisdom within.

Goal Setting
The manifestation of a wellness vision is done through the process of Goal Setting. Goal setting is a collaborative behavior change technique used between the coach and the client. During the motivational interviewing process, after strengths, values and desires are determined and client’s vision is set in place, specific goals are set so client is able to move in the direction of his/her newly formed desires.

Goals promote behavior change through a collaborative process, which includes the coach making a plan to follow up and evaluate progress. The coach can help the client focus on the success the client has had, even if goal is not yet achieved. Evaluating strengths and what is successful helps the client move forward. Positive feedback helps the client progress and move through any negative self-talk, ambivalence, resistance and other hurdles. Although self-regulation is a powerful behavior change tool, client may lapse. When coach promotes the principles of positive psychology and goal setting through the motivational interviewing process, the coach helps the client continue to improve self-efficacy, which supports behavior change.

Difference Between Coaching and Therapy
Coaching and therapy both are rooted in person-centered psychology. Today many therapists are now coaching or have practices where they concurrently are practicing both disciplines. Both coaching and therapy take place in individual and group sessions. Both are catalyst for change driven by the desire of the client for improved health. Both use similar methods of inquiry. A clear difference between therapy and coaching is therapy focuses on a problem while coaching focuses on the solution, driven by client’s inner strength and wisdom.

Difference Between Coaching and Social Work
Social workers are skilled in the field of helping individuals overcome obstacles that inhibit their growth potential. Both coaching and Social Work fall under the mental health field. Coaching and social work have similar elements. Both practices rely on motivational interviewing. Both are focused on the client being the expert, and both work with the client without judgment allowing the client to be in the driver seat. The essential difference between social work and coaching is that social work is more oriented to the client’s relationship to community life and social ethics, whereas coaching is focused on an individual’s personal dreams, desires and goals.

Difference from Traditional Patient Education
The traditional approach to patient teaching and education is one that directs information "at" the patient. In essence, the goal is to have the patient do the things prescribed for them to do. Healthcare professionals have the knowledge about disease processes, exercise guidelines, special diets, and medications that must be imparted to the patient and caregivers in many forms: booklets, pamphlets, audio CD's,and the like.

Several Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) are now using health coaches as a selling point for their health care services. Healthcare professionals that are entering the field of health coaching may include counselors, social workers, health education specialists, nutritionists, psychologists, nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nursing case managers, occupational therapists, and Oriental medicine practitioners.