Becoming a Holistic Health Coach
What are Health Coaches?
A Health Coach is a supportive mentor who assists clients in achieving their wellness objectives and feeling their best by providing tailored, one-on-one guidance in identifying the foods and lifestyle habits that are most beneficial to them.
A Health Coach’s main role is to support clients in achieving their unique health and wellness goals, from making healthier nutrition choices to managing stress and anxiety. We help clients implement sustainable long-term habits, and a Health Coach curates a safe space for them to explore all areas of their well-being.
So, What Does A Health Coach Do?
A Holistic Health Coach is there to guide the clients in living a healthy life, but not just through diet, through lifestyle too, focusing on bio-individuality, we’re all different and have unique dietary, lifestyle, emotional, and physical needs.
Beyond diet, holistic health coaches also look at your goals related to relationships, career, spirituality, creativity, finances, physical activity, health, joy, education, cooking, home improvements, environment, and social life. Diet is just one part of your health, let’s find balance in all areas of your life.
Health Coaches work with clients to help them discover how to fuel their bodies, live a healthy lifestyle, and become the healthiest, happiest versions of themselves by finding exactly what works for them.
Why The World Needs Health Coaches
- Nearly 30% of the world’s population are overweight or obese.
- Doctors receive little nutrition training in medical school.
- 70% of deaths each year are caused by chronic conditions.
- One in three American adults have high blood pressure.
- Preventative health services are only used at 50% of the recommended rate.
Many holistic health coaches go on to work one-on-one with clients, in group formats, lead corporate wellness programs, or integrate their offerings into other wellness offices (i.e. working alongside a chiropractor, massage therapist, or acupuncturist).
Health Coaches are the Future of Healthcare
Why Become a Health Coach?
Health Coaches are the future of healthcare. They work to make wellness more accessible, and access to health resources more equitable. Your career in health coaching will guide your clients to become happier and healthier.
Choosing the Right Health Coaching Program for YOU!
I am someone who does a lot of research before making a decision, especially before making a big purchase! I want to get the most I can out of a program to become more knowledgeable and to be able to help others in the best way possible. I researched Yoga trainings for over a year before committing to one, and it was the best decision of my life!
Do some of your own research, and see which program is right for you!
Institute for Integrative Nutrition
Institute for Integrative Nutrition Health Coach Review
(IIN Review)
After all my research searching for the right health coaching school for me, I decided to gain my holistic health coaching certification through The Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
You can either gain your certification in a year or the accelerated option, completing your training within 6 months. I chose the accelerated option, which if you have the time I recommend taking the full year! It is a lot of information to obtain within 6 months!
Integrative Nutrition is the longest-running institution that offers training in health coaching. IIN is licensed by the New York State Department of Education: which means that the curriculum is regularly reviewed to ensure that the content is both up-to-date and accurate.
IIN is also partnered with a variety of U.S. and international academic institutions to allow you to advance your education – and your career – with your IIN certificate: Health Coach Training Program is worth up to 29 credits towards a bachelor’s, master’s, or even a doctorate degree, at participating institutions. It is also worth up to 43 CEUs with our State University of New York (SUNY) partner so that you can apply your IIN education towards propelling your existing career forward. As of right now, I work for SUNY Oneonta, and we are allowed to take 2 courses a year, that the union will pay a proportion of your bill, so they paid for half of my IIN tuition.
You’ll learn from over 90 experts, experts in their fields such as integrative health, public health, nutrition, functional medicine, spirituality, alternative healing modalities, business, and coaching.
Graduates of this program are eligible to apply for the HWC Certifying Examination to become a National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC). Graduates of IIN’s Health Coach Training Program are also eligible to take the IAHC certification exam to become a Certified International Health Coach (CIHC), as well as able to become members of the IAHC with great membership perks.
Options for after you’re certified
- Partner with doctors in their private practices
- Uplevel existing career with your health coaching knowledge – many Health Coaches already have careers in health and wellness
- Become a Health Coach for a wellness center, spa, gym, or health food store
- Open your own wellness centers, spas, gyms, or health food stores
- Create your own products in the food, beauty, or supplement industries
- Become involved with local & federal government to influence health and food policy
- Create your own podcasts and TV shows
- Write books such as cookbooks, how-to books, and self-help books
- And so much more!
How IIN works
Every Monday, modules are released, if you are in the 6-month accelerated program, 2 modules are released, which include new lectures to listen to, handouts to review, discussion boards, and assignments to help you implement what you just learned.
There are 4 tests, 1 test after every 10 modules. The week a test is released, no new modules will be released, so that’s a good time to review your material, and to have some time to test out some of the new things you just learned on yourself, or family or friends.
You will learn about Health Histories, these are the first step to working with clients. This is where you discuss your client’s past and present health concerns and goals, get to know your client better and determine if you want to work with one another. You need to complete 6 Health Histories for graduation.
You will also need to attend 4 out of 6 Coaching Circles. Coaching Circles are small group calls that allow you to connect intimately with several classmates. The calls are led by an experienced Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who runs a thriving health coaching business.
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