I scoffed when I first read
about wellness coaching, but the
more I read and learn about it the better it sounds. My initial reaction was to think that people should
be able to take be able take care of themselves, but do you know what? They can’t.
Generally, we rely on family and friends to help us through the rough
patches but that doesn’t always work. Through no fault of their own, people who
are closest to us tend to enable our dependency. A wellness coach can help you get past the
“poor me” doldrums and focus on how to take care of yourself.
In crisis we often turn to
others going through the same pathology (a support group), at the gym we hire
someone to count our repetitions and teach us how to exercise safely, so what
is so odd about having a wellness coach help us cope with
disease and disability?
A new diagnosis of
arthritis, diabetes, heart diseases or a plethora other disabilities leaves
people reeling. All of the handwritten
information and books in the world can’t alleviate the confusion and panic that
assails them. A wellness coaching
program is designed to help people improve their health through lifestyle
changes, such as weight loss, exercise or quitting smoking.
It is easy to follow instructions on a
medication bottle but making lifestyle changes can be a lot more difficult. Just as with exercise programs, people are
eager to make changes at first but when the newness wears off and the results
don’t happen quickly enough; the tendency to slough off is overwhelming and a
little coaching may be the answer.
A wellness coach can help
break down goals into manageable segments and inspire behavioral changes. A
good coach can help you ward off many of the health problems and/or
complications associated with chronic disease. Fortunately,
many insurance companies are starting to offer wellness coaching as a part of their health maintenance
programs. They are recognizing that
coaching can be an important adjunct to medical care.
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