So, what is Health Coaching, anyway?

What is Health Coaching?

Health Coaches are agents of behavior change who support clients in creating sustainable lifestyle changes to improve their overall wellness. I work with client strengths, as well as any limiting beliefs that may create obstacles to personal growth and improvement, and hold space for a process of supported self-discovery that encourages clients to be reflective, stretch outside their comfort zones, and become their best selves in a respectful and non-judgmental environment. As a Coach, I’m your facilitative partner, helping you uncover your strengths and find ways to enhance them, while inspiring and empowering you to maximize your unique health and wellness potential. I believe that you are already whole and resourceful — you don’t need fixing, and everything you need is within you. I’m just here to help you pull back the layers and examine the barriers between who you are, and who you want to be: a healthier, stronger, and more resilient you. And the best bit? I’m never gonna tell you NOT to feel how you’re feeling, and I will ALWAYS validate your life experience because…guess what? I believe you.

A non-exhaustive list of the specific skillsets at my disposal that might help you:

  • Organization and creation of a health history timeline (for use with new clinicians, and to organize records)

  • Advice on collation of medical records

  • Practical advice for navigating clinician appointments, including prep, time restriction optimization, and how to get what you need — including referrals

  • Referrals and research into new clinicians/practitioners specific to your needs, as well as in shaping your entire medical team

  • Toxin reduction in the home & environment, including awareness education

  • Root cause approaches, including guidance on practitioners, testing, and what to look out for (including common underlying infections like Lyme, EBV, mold, and parasites)

  • Meditation and mindfulness

  • Gentle movement guidance / referral (it is out of my scope to create exercise plans, but I can certainly help you find referrals OR help keep you accountable to your own plans)

  • Nutrition guidance (keeping in mind I’m not a dietician, so I don’t prescribe diets or cleanses — but I can assist you in finding what works for you, and in providing education / filling in gaps)

  • Assistance in finding communities specific to your diagnos(es)

  • A look at complementary and integrative health (CIH) approaches, bridging the gap between allopathic and holistic medicine — and what might work for you

Health coaching: 

  • cultivates a supportive and safe space to reconnect to oneself, and to embrace your potential for transformation with a fiercely loyal guide-on-the-side (that would be me!)

  • is a collaborative, client-driven process

  • has a goal of supporting clients to make long-term, sustainable behavioral changes (which may include some shifting of perspective, too!) that will support their personal wellness goals

  • is about boosting your autonomy, and finding your way back into the driver’s seat where your wellness is concerned

  • stays true to your values while working toward positive lasting change

If you live with chronic illness(es) or disability, Health Coaching:

  • is a collaborative and empowering space to lean into your sovereignty

  • supports you in learning how to advocate for yourself every step of the way

  • illuminates paths to total wellness that are within your control, so you can learn to thrive rather than just survive

  • is not about coaching you to cure you — it’s about meeting you where you are

For further information on health & wellness coach scope of practice, please refer to the NBHWC guide.

About Lauren

I was in the midst of a career change in 2017 when I lost my sense of self entirely. I began to experience brain fog, cognitive decline, joint pain, and a host of other symptoms. The fatigue — functional exhaustion, as I’ve now learned to call it — was perhaps the most debilitating. Diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (an autoimmune disease of the thyroid, which causes hypothyroidism) and obstructive sleep apnea, I was additionally given the diagnosis of idiopathic hypersomnia (doctor-speak for “medically fatigued”) some years later. (It may also bear noting that I had been living with depression and anxiety — and had even come through a long battle with obsessive compulsive disorder — since I was a teen, so this barrage of diagnoses wasn’t entirely unfamiliar…but it was certainly off-putting.)

I felt VERY alone, and struggled to find community.

One of the newer experiences I endured as a complex patient was medical gaslighting — when a practitioner led me to believe that some of my physical symptoms were, in fact, “all in my head”. (Needless to say, I never went back to that particular doctor.) I’d been an activist for some years at this point, especially where women’s health was concerned — and I’d trained as an actor to boot, so the idea of combining my skills, interests, and talents to create a community and platform took shape quite organically.

In 2019, I launched Uninvisible Pod®, a podcast that takes an intersectional view on what it’s actually like to live with invisible chronic illness and disability. I became a full-time patient…and a full-time advocate both for myself, and for a host of others in my new community (including close friends, who suddenly began to crawl out of the woodwork to reveal the diagnoses they’d been secretly harboring — many of them, for years).

As my work grew, so did my network and opportunities. I’ve now had the honor of speaking about patient advocacy and invisible illness across multiple platforms, from podcasts to conferences. All while keeping UP alive and well, featuring new patient stories biweekly.

My work is centered in deepening narratives about chronic illness and disability: raising awareness, inspiring inclusion, and cultivating community for those living the Spoonie life — because the act of sharing these stories has helped me find healing, again and again. I came to Health Coaching as naturally as I did to podcasting, too — I was introduced to a coach who filled me in on the process, and was immediately hooked. Almost two years later, I have opened my own practice — and bring with me my years of experience living with chronic illness, as well as my insider knowledge of the healthcare system and the mind/body/spirit connection (because, let’s be real…I’m living it, right alongside y’all!).

When I’m not working, I am BIG into naps and Netflix binges (comedy and period pieces, GET AT ME), playtime and snugs with my cat, spending time outdoors (I actually go for a walk every day and marvel at the trees!), obsessing over pretty much any animal doing its cute lil’ thing (except for sharks! I am SO AFRAID of sharks!), non-toxic skincare and bathtime rituals, and finding ways to get myself to the ocean at every opportunity. Did I mention I spend a decent amount of time watching the hummingbirds on my balcony while I sip medicinal teas? My friends have dubbed my treetop spot the “immersive hummingbird experience” for a reason! I am a big-time consumer of matching pink desk accessories, colorful clothes, crystals, whimsical tchotchkes, big-ass rings and earrings, and framing ANYTHING except for actual art (case in point: I have a framed shopping bag over my desk, several embroidered pieces, and numerous scarves, rugs, and hankies hanging all over my house!). I’ve also got a super close-knit group of friends who span the planet, so I spend a good deal of time invested in continually deepening those relationships.

 FAQs

 

  • EVERYONE — not just those of us with complex medical charts (um hi, I’m also team complicated *hums in Avril Lavigne*).

  • • The proof is in the pudding: research has demonstrated that the “clinical effectiveness of this evidence-based approach in terms of modification of multiple risk factors in healthy persons as well as those with certain common chronic diseases” leads to more optimal results.

    • Check out this piece in The New York Times all about Health Coaching, and why it’s such a powerful tool in our approach to health and wellness.

  • Initial sessions (which, ahem, are FREE!) last 30 minutes, and are an opportunity to explore whether or not we’d be a good fit to work together. For me, that means finding out about where you’re at, where you want to go…and what might be standing in the way. If there’s time, we might get into some light coaching to move you into the proceeding weeks.

    Ongoing sessions last 50 minutes, and are typically scheduled on a weekly or biweekly (every two weeks) basis. We ALWAYS start where you are, establishing goals and action steps, exploring what went well and what needs refinement, and responding in-the-moment to whatever comes up — from emotions, to logistics, to whatever is going on in your body! I like to kick off most sessions with a grounding exercise, which can take any number of shapes depending on what kind of energy you need access to during our session. We always set you up with a plan going into the next few weeks, so you feel you have some accountability established that’s based in your value system, motivating you to continue growing from a meaningful place. I’m always available via email between sessions, should anything come up!

  • Health Coaches DO:

    • Work with clients seeking to address general lifestyle and wellness goals

    • Listen attentively

    • Ask powerful and illuminating questions

    • Create a safe, nonjudgmental space that is respectful, warm and friendly, and collaborative

    • Take a client-centered and individualized approach in empowering clients

    • Guide clients to identify obstacles

    • Respectfully challenge clients to shift their perspectives

    • Empower clients to tap into their resources, thereby honoring their autonomy

    • Hold clients accountable for their progress

    • Evoke and elicit information (rather than imparting it)

    • Work alongside other healthcare professionals in a complementary manner, following treatment plans prescribed by individual clients’ medical providers

    • Specialize in behavior modification: Health Coaches are agents of behavior change, assisting clients in creating sustainable lifestyle shifts. As a client, you do the work…and I am here to support you

    • Work alongside clients as facilitative partners, operating from the belief that clients are already whole and resourceful – they don’t need fixing

    • Hold space for a total learning and self-development model where the client is the expert

    • Introduce a paradigm of possibility – and encourage forward-thinking

    • Help refer clients out to specialists where necessary (mental health/counseling, nutrition, personal training, etc)

    • Have knowledge of nutrition, but are not necessarily experts — and cannot diagnose or prescribe diet change

    • Help clients explore nutrient-dense foods

    • Discuss symptoms and help clients discover what foods work best for them

    • Encourage bio-individuality

    • Help clients develop strategies to incorporate gentle, low-risk forms of physical activity

    (Some information courtesy Institute for Integrative Nutrition, 2022)

  • Health Coaches may NOT:

    • Diagnose, prescribe, or treat

    • Provide counseling, mental health work, or therapy

    • Order or administer lab tests or interpret lab results

    • Use titles reserved for other health professionals, such as “counselor” or “dietician”

    • Give medical advice or personal opinions

    • Suggest clients stop or change prescription medications or stop seeing their doctor

    • Make assumptions about food sensitivities, food allergies, or digestive disorders

    • Recommend or prescribe any supplements or dosages

    (Information courtesy Institute for Integrative Nutrition, 2022)

    Bottom line: Health Coaches are NOT therapists, dieticians, or personal trainers (unless we have specific degrees or certifications in those fields). We are considered allied health professionals, and can work with you and your team to optimize your health and wellness goals.