Today 1 out of 2 adults has a chronic illness. Yet 70% of healthcare costs are related to preventable diseases. With the right education and support, people can improve their health and lifestyle. They just need someone who can show them the way. That’s where Holistic Wellness & Health Coaching can help.
What is a Holistic Wellness Coach?
A holistic wellness coach is a specific type of mentor, motivator, and guide that focuses on helping people improve their overall health. This includes a more integrative approach, helping people through lifestyle changes, self-care, improving eating habits by teaching holistic nutrition fundamentals, working on weight loss, increasing physical activity in fun ways, teaching stress management skills, and navigating chronic disease/conditions.
What is a Certified Holistic Wellness Coach?
A certified holistic wellness coach is a licensed practitioner that works with people in health and wellness who have moderate to high health risks, chronic conditions, and disease, working with them to motivate a change in their behavior to improve their health.
Wellness coaching offers a unique perspective in the health field, as coaches use motivational interviewing and client-led methods to inspire healthy lifestyle changes. It’s related to life coaching in the methods, modalities, and style of coaching but focuses specifically on creating healthy changes in an individual’s life.
Wellness coaches aren’t always licensed healthcare professionals and they don’t diagnose or treat diseases.
They can complement medical care by coaching clients through lifestyle changes prescribed by a physician or dietician, or simply offer accountability and inspiration for those who are ready to feel more vibrant by improving their health behavior.
Licensed healthcare and public health professionals can also become holistic wellness coaches in order to add another skill set to their healthcare toolkit to better serve patients.
Should I Choose Holistic Wellness as a Career?
A Holistic Wellness Coaching career is more than just a trend. People are seeking the support of Health Coaches now more than ever as they have a greater understanding of what health and wellness really means and how it impacts their life. Our health is more than our physical appearance, the number on a scale, or even our blood pressure. True health and wellness are beyond numbers and how we look.
Our well-being is a much deeper, holistic look at how we feel and live each day.
Millions of people set health and wellness goals every year. Whether it’s a New Year’s resolution or a response to some not-so-great news from the doctor, we tend to want to do better.
Our health impacts every area of our life. But when it comes to getting fit, changing old habits, or improving our emotional wellbeing, making changes is not always easy to do.
Having someone to support you to reach your holistic health goals with a program can make a big difference.
Becoming a Wellness Coach means you serve as a specialist guide for clients to study from on their wellness journey. As opposed to health coaching, which is limited to physical health, Wellness Coaches guide clients, providing support and accountability to help their clients reach their goals and make lasting positive lifestyle changes.
If you only want to focus on helping people with their physical health, get a health coach certification—but if you want to help people with their holistic health, you’ll be more satisfied as a holistic wellness coach.
Holistic Wellness Coaching is a Rapidly Expanding Field
It’s an exciting time to get started in this field. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wellness Coaching is growing much faster than average career paths. This is due in part to several factors across a variety of fields.
Corporations are expanding into wellness services and offering corporate health & wellness programs to support employees.
Additionally, the healthcare field is broadening its scope and traditional medical centers are incorporating alternative and preventative care.
Finally, technology is booming which allows professionals in this field to leverage tools that may not have been at their disposal in the past. All of these factors are strong reasons to get started in a new career, especially if you like helping people make changes that positively impact their health.
Work Opportunities
There are a variety of job opportunities for Certified Holistic Wellness Coaches whether you want to work full-time, part-time, run your own business or alongside others such as:
- Running your own business with local clients
- Running your own business from the comfort of your own home with remote clients using tools like Skype, Zoom, Slack, etc.
- In corporations leading workplace health and wellness programs.
- In schools helping children and educators.
- In wellness centers and holistic clinics.
- In yoga studios and fitness centers.
Career Earning Potential
Holistic Wellness Coaches are able to command top dollar, especially when they are specialized and have deep knowledge, as IAWP graduates are.
A study done by PricewaterhouseCoopers and The International Coach Federation found that the average salary of a coach is $82,000 per year.
According to Forbes magazine, the highest-paid Wellness Coaches can earn well over $100,000 annually.
When you specialize in Holistic Health and Wellness Coaching through IAWP, you’ll be positioned to be able to create this kind of income with your new career. [Don’t just take our word for it, check out successful IAWP Holistic Wellness Coaches here.]
Why People Choose to Get Certified with the IAWP
Helping Clients Create Change that Sticks
If you’ve ever looked at changing your diet, you know that there’s conflicting information out there. Take to the web and you’ll see health websites that tell you to go vegan or follow a vegetarian diet. Yet, there are just as many that claim the Paleo diet or Whole 30 is the way to go.
With so much health advice that seems convincing yet contradicts itself, it’s hard to know whom to trust and what information is correct. What should you do? Where should you turn to learn? We invite you to stop the madness now! You don’t have to jump on the latest bandwagon or fad diet to help live a life of wellness.
At the IAWP, we provided our coaches with our Wellness 360™ system, which is based on the philosophy that every individual is unique and has a variety of lifestyle factors that determine what works for them. IAWP Health Coaches study to understand all of these lifestyle factors affecting a person’s well-being and help clients find the right foods and lifestyle choices for their unique makeup.
One thing we’ve noticed over the years of training our students in wellness coaching is that when a person discovers their own unique path to wellness, the changes are easier to make and easier to keep. Empowering people to make choices that work for them is a key aspect of health coaching.
You might be wondering how wellness coaching fits in with traditional health advice and care. It’s a great question. In some cases, a wellness coach picks up where a doctor or nutritionist leaves off. A doctor may recommend a patient work with a Wellness Coach to help them reach their health goals.
A Wellness Coach can’t diagnose illnesses or prescribe medications. However, they can affect change on a deeply personal level and help to tie an entire healthcare plan together for a successful outcome. Wellness Coaches are like the glue in someone’s health journey.
Own Your Own Business
Many Holistic Wellness Coaches opt to work in private practice running their own coaching business. You can work from home, rent a shared or solo office space, partner with another holistic professional, or even work virtually from your local coffee shop using the latest technology to support your sessions with clients.
One of the big benefits of becoming a Wellness Coach is the ability to set your own hours and be your own boss if you desire. While you can work within an organization or traditional work environment, there are many options to create more flexibility.
The freedom of working when and where you want allows Wellness Coaches to design careers and lifestyles that represent their individuality and tap into their creativity.
The opportunities for sharing your message of health and helping others are endless with today’s technology. You can incorporate working with clients over Skype, your own website, email, blogging, starting a YouTube channel, podcasting, public speaking, starting wellness session events in your local community, and other innovative marketing techniques to grow your business.
You’re Always Learning Even After Getting Certified
The field of being a Holistic Wellness Coach is ever-evolving. If you enjoy staying on top of the latest wellness changes, then this could be an ideal career for you. Finding a wellness coach training program that provides continuing education and support is the key to your long-term success.
Whether it’s new science in nutrition, innovations in psychology, or a new business strategy, there’s plenty to stay on top of so you can best support your coaching clients.
A Passion for Holistic Health
The number one thing needed to be successful before entering any certification program having a passion for holistic health.
With that, you can learn everything else from our programs if you are open to it.
A successful coach should be curious about what makes people tick and enjoy helping them.
Communicating effectively with others is another important trait. Chances are, you’re already the person your friends and family come to learn and get health advice. If so, that’s a great sign!
If you’re thinking about making this a career, you’re probably already sharing your passion with others. All you need are the classes that teach you the skills and the coaching certification to turn your passion into a real career.
Our Wellness Career Kit
Take the first step towards a new career by downloading your Wellness Coach Career Kit. It’s our complimentary gift to you and you will find a ton of valuable resources to explore your exciting career opportunities.
With your career kit, you can learn more about how the International Association of Wellness Professionals will provide you with customized training experiences designed for your success.
CCE Accredited
IAWP Students and Grads are globally recognized and accredited. We have CCE accreditation through the International Coach Federation and approved by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, and the Canadian Health Coach Alliance.
Because we’re accredited through the AADP you can also become board certified as a health and wellness coach.
Wellness & Business Coaching to Help You Succeed
Our certification and study don’t just teach you about holistic health and wellness and coaching, but also business skills.
We also give you lifetime access to classroom access, new curriculum updates, and personal support even after you’ve finished the program. No other organization provides this level of personal support.
Learn Remotely with Convenient Online Training Options
The IAWP Wellness Coach Certification Course is designed to work with you and your schedule in our interactive, virtual learning classroom. Whether you have an extra 2 hours a week or 20 hours a week to devote to your coursework, our program is flexible to your needs.
Get Real-World Experiential Learning
Gain hands-on experience while learning so you’re confident in your coaching skills with clients by the time you graduate. We provide hands-on training through our Immersive Transformation Training Method™.
This provides you with unlimited support and practice so you grow in both your knowledge and ability to be an effective holistic wellness coach.
Get Started or Learn More
Not sure if the IAWP is right for you? Schedule a call with one of our graduates or view our student case studies to see if we can help support your personal and professional goals.
Or, if you still want to learn more, move on to the next chapter in this series about Wellness Coaching.