DISCOVERING
HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACHING
By Laurel Alexander, author of “How to Incorporate Wellness Coaching into Your Therapeutic Practice” (Jessica Kingsley), tutor and founder of Wellness Professionals at WorkINTRODUCING HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACHING
Health and wellness coaching is effective when working with clients who have a chronic condition. In medicine, a chronic condition is a disease that is long-lasting and possibly gradually worsens over time e.g. chronic fatigue syndrome, heart disease, arthritis, addiction, asthma, pain, diabetes, MS, emphysema, Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration. The aim of health and wellness coaching is to encourage the client in self-management of their condition. An example of chronic condition health coaching is a pilot scheme I was involved with between the charity Turning Point and the NHS. The scheme was for a number of hospital-based nurses to use wellbeing coaching with patients who had long-term heart and respiratory conditions. There were also a number of community-based nurses using wellbeing coaching. My role was to train and supervise the nurses in wellness coaching. One of the major outcomes of the pilot was that health and wellness coaching can be of most value to the end-user if it comes early in the diagnosis.
Chronic disease gives rise to lifestyle changes, such as giving up activities and adapting to physical limitations. Even day-to-day living may be difficult. Over time, these stresses can drain a person of the emotional energy necessary to move forward with life. Lack of progress in recovery or worsening symptoms can trigger negative thoughts that heighten feelings of anxiety and sadness. Depression and stress in their turn can exacerbate symptoms connected with the condition.
Other long-term conditions which respond to health and wellness coaching include disability care, smoking cessation and weight management.
INTEGRATED COMPONENTS OF HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACHING
Wellness is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. World Health Organization
When we consider wellness, we may start at the point of physical and psychological symptoms. However our sense of physical and psychological wellness is influenced by life factors such as social, environmental, work experiences and spiritual beliefs. I’d like you to consider the concept that wellness is an integrated process as shown below:
Social Wellness
Environmental Wellness Occupation Wellness
Physical Wellness Psychological Wellness
Spiritual Wellness
Spiritual wellness underpins our wellbeing, but doesn’t guarantee our physical or psychological wellness. Psychological wellness is important in itself and also key in how we handle physical wellness. Physical wellness (or otherwise) influences our psychological make. Occupational, social and environmental wellness has an impact on us physiologically and psychologically. Spiritual wellness
The wellness of our spiritual nature is crucial to how we live our life, even more so maybe if we live with a chronic condition. Spiritual wellness can be experienced through a set of guiding beliefs or values that provides a sense of (positive) life direction. When we live in spiritual wellness, we integrate our inner values and beliefs with our external actions.
Psychological wellness
Cognitive wellness: Just as our bodies need to be exercised and stretched, so does our mind. Mental activities such as learning, problem solving and creativity are signs of cognitive wellbeing.
Emotional wellness: When we are emotionally fit, we feel enthusiastic and positive about ourselves and our life. We understand that the emotional gamut can run from pain to joy and we work resiliently with that. It entails taking responsibility and balancing emotional challenge with intelligence and appropriate behaviour. Emotional wellness involves the meeting of our emotional needs via good self-esteem and appropriate mental health care.
Physical (and medical) wellness
This is the level we are probably most familiar with. We know that we can experience optimum physical fitness through healthy behaviours such as exercise and good nutrition. When we feel as physically good as possible, we enjoy a more positive frame of mind.
Part of our physical wellness programme is medical wellness and we have a variety of options for disease prevention and treatment. By using a cross-disciplinary medical approach we can utilize an integrative foundation between conventional and complementary practices to promote the best in wellness.
Social wellness
Dean Ornish, in his book, Love and Survival reviewed scientific literature that showed adults who related well with their parents, people who have an integrated community of friendships and males who feel loved by their partner, have lower rates of disease and death. These findings led Ornish to speculate that social factors may be as important as physical factors in determining overall health.
Environmental wellness
Environmental wellness is an awareness of the fluctuating state of the earth and nature and the effects that our daily habits have on the physical environment (home, workplace and the wider environment) and visa versa.
Occupational wellness
Think of occupation as paid work or unpaid work e.g. voluntary or community. Occupational wellness is what you do to give your life meaning and involves choosing work or activities which are consistent with your values, interests and beliefs.
WHAT A HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACH DOES
A health and wellness coach normally has a background of conventional or complementary healthcare and work with clients to combine several dimensions of well-being into a quality way of living and will help their client:
adopt a series of key principles in varied life areas which lead to realistic levels of well-being and life satisfaction
understand what motivates them to lead the lifestyle they’ve chosen
learn the difference between what they can change and what they cannot and to help them focus their energies wisely
integrate philosophical, spiritual or religious wellbeing into their life learn how to work meaningfully with their thoughts and emotions create a sense of connection and meaning in life
find meaning through what is happening to them manage change and transition
improve their self-esteem become informed
integrate healthcare modalities become more mindful
be positive
self-manage their condition as much as possible express grief, vulnerability, anger, fear and anxiety
It’s important to say that health and wellness coaching is not a substitute for qualified medical care and is designed to complement qualified conventional and complementary medicine.
HOW A HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACH WORKS Directive or non-directive
The coaching process is ideally a non-directive activity where the coach facilitates the client’s self-discovery. However there are times, when the client genuinely doesn’t know the answer and needs a sign-post of directivity where they can then take up the reins of action themselves. Counselling or coaching
Coaching is present and future-orientated with the focus on challenge, solution and action. Counselling is more present and past-orientated with the focus on emotional exploration. In relation to health and wellness coaching, the boundaries can become blurred. If a client is too emotional or doesn’t seem able to cognitively engage with commitment, it may be that they are not coaching-ready and that counselling could be the best short-term option for the moment. Cognitive behavioural coaching
A key skill in health and wellness coaching is cognitive behavioral coaching (CBC) which is derived from cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). Cognitive behavioral approaches emphasize that how we react to events is largely determined by our views of them, not by the events themselves. Through re-evaluating unhelpful mindsets, we can implement alternative
viewpoints that may be more effective in aiding problem-solving and changing behaviour. CBC seeks, through collaborative activity, to facilitate a time limited, goal-directed and present
focused process, to help clients reach, implement and evaluate their own solutions.
THE FUTURE
The face of healthcare is rapidly changing in the UK and health and wellness coaching is positioning itself as a powerful self-management tool which is both cost and life effective. Laurel Alexander’s fascinating book “How to Incorporate Wellness Coaching into Your Therapeutic Practice” (Jessica Kingsley) can be purchased from Jessica Kingsley website - http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book/9781848190634
Note to editors
About Wellness Professionals at Work
Wellness Professionals at Work offers career coaching, business start-up and flexible learning opportunities, to those wanting to get into the industry and those already working in it who would like to improve best practice. WPAW offer qualifications and CPD courses including the
Diploma in Stress Management Coaching and are:
an organisational and training provider member of the Association for Coaching
independently accredited by the National Council of Psychotherapists as a CPD Centre a recognized and authorized course provider of the Complementary Medical Association For more information, please visit www.wellnessprofessionalsatwork.com.
About Laurel Alexander
Laurel’s passion for health and wellness over the past 25 years has led her to two businesses; Wellbeing for Life offering complementary therapy and coaching and Wellness Professionals at Work.
Laurel is an experienced author, tutor and therapist in the wellness industry and has written 30 books on various wellness related subjects. Laurel has worked with many organisations to deliver courses, coaching and advice on wellness and stress management and has appeared in the media including on Meridian TV. Laurel is a Fellow of the National Council of
Psychotherapists. Book examples:
30 books published on health, career management, business and training including: o How to Incorporate Wellness Coaching into Your Therapeutic Practice (Jessica
Kingsley) -
o Women’s Wisdom: natural wellness strategies for menstruation (Findhorn Press) o Women’s Wisdom: natural wellness strategies for pregnancy (Findhorn Press) o Women’s Wisdom: natural wellness strategies for the menopause years (Findhorn
Press)
o Everyday Calm (Octopus) o Medicine Uncovered (Trotman)
o Getting into Complementary Therapies (Trotman) o Getting into Healthcare Professions (Trotman). Client examples:
Brighton & Hove City Council (stress coach for the Ninelives Campaign).
Designed and delivered wellbeing courses for: Sussex Hospital Trust - Sussex Career Services - WEA - University of Sussex - Brighton and Hove City College - Business & Professional Women UK – Social Service Family Centres - Breast Cancer Care Charity – Sussex Down College staff - Seeboard staff - Lewes Prison - International Stress
Management Association – MIND staff - British Gas staff – Dryad staff - Turning Point Charity - Tinnitus Association - Nigel Porter Unit, Royal Sussex County Hospital -
Institute of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Brighton (Cancer Nursing Pathway Course) Trained personnel to qualification level in stress management and coaching for; West
Sussex County Council, Protocol Skills, Ford Motor Company, Priory Group, South Downs NHS Health Trust, Travellers Worldwide and American Express, Brighton & Hove Council, University of Sussex and Emirates Airlines.
Press office contact:
For more information or for enquiries about Laurel Alexander helping with research, interview or comment please contact the press office at press@kameleonconsulting.com.
