A health coach is there to support you in making positive changes. Think of them as a guide who helps you look at your past experiences and future goals while encouraging you to take action and stay motivated. These are some of the reasons why coaching works so well: Understanding YOU: We begin by clarifying what really matters to you—what you believe in, what you value, and what gets you excited. What gets you out of bed in the morning? What’s the most important thing in your life? This helps us create a plan that fits you and your unique goals. Identifying Strengths & Past Successes: We’ll look at what’s worked well for you in the past and the strengths you’ve already got. By recognizing these, we can use them to help you get through any challenges that come up along the way. Learning from the Past: We’ll explore clues from your past—successes and challenges—and use them to uncover valuable lessons. Every experience offers something useful to guide us as we move forward. Getting Clear on Your Vision: Together, we’ll explore exactly what you want to accomplish and, just as importantly, how reaching that goal will impact your life. Having a clear vision will help keep you focused and motivated as we take the steps to achieve it. Putting It into Action: Once we’re clear about where you want to go, we’ll break it down into practical, manageable steps. Together, we’ll decide on actions that feel doable for you and figure out how to stay on track as you move forward. Celebrating Wins & Making Adjustments: As we go, we’ll celebrate your progress, regardless of size. If something’s not working, no problem—we’ll tweak it and try a different approach so you can keep moving forward confidently.

When choosing a health coach, ensure they are trained and certified by an accredited organization. Certifications like the National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) from the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) indicate that the coach has met certain standards in education, training, and ethics. The NBC-HWC credential is considered the gold standard, showing the coach has passed a comprehensive exam and demonstrated competence in client-centered coaching, goal-setting, motivation, and communication. At My Unique Health, we follow this standard to ensure the best coaching experience for you.

While diet and exercise are critical for a healthy lifestyle, health coaches focus on helping you develop sustainable habits that stick. Our role is to guide and support you in making lasting changes. For personalized nutrition plans or specific workout routines, we partner with physicians, registered dietitians and certified fitness trainers who are experts in those areas, ensuring you get the best of both worlds.

You may be able to use your FSA or HSA to pay for coaching if it's related to managing or preventing medical conditions through lifestyle changes. In this case, you'll need a letter of medical necessity (LMN) from your doctor to submit to your plan administrator. Be sure to check with your insurance plan administrator to confirm whether your plan covers health coaching as a reimbursable expense.

No, Health coaching focuses on building new habits and occasionally reflecting on past experiences to gain valuable insights, all while keeping you moving forward. It’s about creating lasting change and progress in your life. Therapy, on the other hand, is provided by a licensed therapist who specializes in exploring past experiences, emotions, and mental health concerns to heal and process past events.

Health coaching is offered in packages rather than individual sessions because lasting change takes time and commitment. By purchasing a package, you’re making a commitment to yourself and giving yourself enough time to see real progress. Packages allow us to work together consistently, build momentum, and make the necessary adjustments along the way. This approach ensures you stay focused and supported as you create new habits and achieve your goals.

The great thing about coaching is its flexibility. If you haven’t met your goal and would like continued support, we can reassess your needs and extend your package. If you feel confident maintaining on your own, rest assured that you can always schedule a check-in session down the road if your plan needs tweaking or if you encounter an obstacle that needs troubleshooting.

Are you frustrated by having the same conversation about lifestyle changes with your patients? A health coach could be your answer. By collaborating with you, the health coach helps your patients put their care plan into actionable steps. Creating sustainable nutrition, exercise, and stress management changes improves patient outcomes and a stronger patient-physician relationship. What makes health coaches unique is their partnership-based approach. Specializing in behavior change, goal setting, and motivational interviewing, health coaches use techniques like active listening and tailored action plans to support clients in improving nutrition, exercise, stress management, sleep, and mindset. This helps clients who may already feel overwhelmed or defeated to feel recognized and empowered, boosting their motivation to align their lifestyles with their values and long-term goals.

When working with a provider, we aim to create a seamless and mutually beneficial process for both the patient and the provider. Understanding each provider’s preferences and workflow is essential in establishing a strong foundation for collaboration. Referral Process: Once a patient is referred and the release form is signed, the Health Coach connects with the provider to gather important information, such as the patient's current care plan, any relevant restrictions, key metrics to monitor, and specific lifestyle factors (nutrition, exercise, stress management) that need attention. Maximizing Provider Time: Through client self-reporting, the Health Coach closely monitors the patient’s progress and health metrics, providing the physician with regular monthly updates. This ensures that follow-up appointments are focused on leveraging the physician's expertise for specialized discussions and adjustments, ultimately optimizing their time for the most impactful interventions.

When choosing a health coach, be sure they are trained and certified by an accredited organization. Certifications like the National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) from the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) indicate that the coach has met specific standards in education, training, and ethics. The NBC-HWC credential is considered the gold standard, showing the coach has passed a comprehensive exam and demonstrated competence in client-centered coaching, goal-setting, motivation, and communication. At My Unique Health, we follow this standard to ensure the best coaching experience for you.

A health coach focuses on supporting clients in making sustainable lifestyle changes to improve overall well-being. They also may provide health resources as needed from evidence-based, reputable sources. While health coaches cannot diagnose or treat medical conditions, prescribe medications, or offer therapy, they collaborate with healthcare providers to enhance a client’s care plan and promote healthy behaviors that complement medical treatment. Their role is to empower clients to achieve lasting health improvements through personalized, non-clinical coaching.

Helping clients understand how to improve and maintain overall health by personalizing the connection between their habits and well-being. Guiding clients to set realistic goals that align with their motivations and physical health needs. Promoting daily movement, stress management, sleep hygiene, and self-care through small, achievable steps that build over time. Tracking key metrics and celebrating progress to keep clients motivated. Collaborating with healthcare providers to ensure clients are safely progressing towards their goals.

The tricky part of behavior change is its dynamic nature, as an individual's stage of change can shift quickly for various reasons. However, collaborating with the client to identify their desire, perceived ability, and sense of need gives us insight into where to begin. Additional factors include past experiences, shared ambivalence, current behaviors, and the support system.

The approach to tracking progress is always client-centered, focusing on understanding each client’s unique motivations and needs, while also incorporating the specific areas requested by the physician. Tracking methods are carefully chosen to engage and empower clients, ensuring they stay motivated and are supported in making meaningful, lasting changes. Common methods of tracking include: Monitoring Health Metrics: Monitoring key health indicators, such as blood pressure, weight, glucose levels, and other relevant biomarkers, provides measurable insights into progress and is done through the client self-reporting. Setting and Tracking S.M.A.R.T. Goals: Collaboratively establishing Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals and reviewing progress regularly to ensure clients stay on track and make consistent advancements. Journals: Encouraging clients to maintain journals or logs to track their nutrition, physical activity, and emotional well-being while highlighting potential obstacles and areas needing adjustment.

While health coaches do not prescribe or manage medications, we play a key role in supporting medication adherence by helping clients integrate their medications into daily routines. Through education, we emphasize the importance of consistency and its impact on health outcomes. Additionally, we work to uncover and address any fears, ambivalence, or barriers clients may have, providing support to help them overcome these challenges and stay on track with their medication regimen.

Health coaches are not mental health professionals and cannot diagnose or treat mental health conditions. However, we play a supportive role in mental well-being by offering non-judgmental listening and guiding clients through coping strategies for stress and anxiety, such as mindfulness, deep breathing, and relaxation techniques. We also focus on fostering emotional resilience and help clients reframe negative thinking, enabling them to develop healthier, more positive thought patterns that enhance overall mental wellness.

Health coaches can offer resources to educate clients on nutrition by utilizing widely accepted dietary guidelines such as MyPlate from the USDA, as good nutrition is essential for a healthy lifestyle. However, since individual nutrition needs can vary greatly, collaboration between the health coach, physician, and possibly a dietitian is necessary. During the intake questionnaire, the client's physician will identify specific dietary recommendations and suggest the most suitable food plan for the patient's needs, such as the Mediterranean, DASH, Mitochondrial, Elimination, or Low-FODMAP food plan. The health coach will then assist the client in exploring, adopting, and implementing the selected eating plan. This collaborative approach ensures that clients receive personalized support tailored to their unique health needs.

My Unique Health is committed to ensuring the confidentiality and privacy of all client information. Virtual coaching sessions are conducted through HIPAA-compliant platforms, and all coaching notes, communication, and billing details are securely stored on HIPAA-compliant systems. Any communication or information shared with the client's physician will only be done with the client’s written consent, and only relevant health details will be shared to support the client’s well-being.

Once clients have completed their coaching package and are ready to hit the ground running, they can feel confident knowing that if any obstacles arise or adjustments are needed, they can always schedule a check-in session for continued guidance and support to ensure long-term success.

If you have questions or would like to discuss how this may benefit your practice, please feel free to email me at tauna@myuniquehealth.com or call me at 713-484-9278.