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The Importance of Rapport The strength of health coaching is in a relationship. The relationship between a health coach and a client (or patient) is an integral part of the client's wellness journey, but for there to be a good relationship, the coach must build and maintain rapport with their clients.    Rapport is a word that comes to us from Old French. It originally meant to bring back or to carry, but it now means a friendly and harmonious relationship (1). Baker, Watlington, and Knee (2020) researched this topic and found that the “interactions perceived [...]

Reflective Listening  Reflective listening is another core coaching skill that health and wellness coaches use, generally in every session. In a nutshell, it is paying attention to what the client says without having an agenda and reflecting on a portion of what they say to help them move closer to their health goal. Let’s dive deeper into this fundamental skill.    Reflective listening is crucial for many reasons. Firstly, it builds trust and rapport between the coach and the client. When clients feel genuinely heard, they are more likely to open up and share their thoughts [...]

Unconditional Positive Regard: A Core Principle What is Unconditional Positive Regard? Unconditional positive regard is a core health coaching principle that was initially introduced by Stanley Standal in 1954 and later popularized in psychology by Carl Rogers (1). This fundamental health coaching principle fully accepts a person without judgment by having genuine understanding and empathy. It means embracing who they are, including their beliefs, values, morals, and choices, and where they are in their journey. It does not mean one has to like them, agree with them, or endorse their beliefs or behavior. It’s about recognizing [...]

Increasing Self Efficacy Humans are multifaceted, and understanding your clients and patients will help you coach them more effectively. An important aspect to know when dealing with individuals is their level of self-efficacy. But why is it important and how can it help clients in their daily lives? Self-efficacy is the “conviction that one can successfully execute the behavior required to produce the outcomes” (1). In other words, it is the belief in your ability to accomplish a desired task. As you can imagine, our beliefs in our abilities affect all aspects of our lives. People [...]

Review of Health Summit 2024 The Health Summit Intensive 2024 was held at the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists (NAD) Headquarters in Columbia, MD, on April 26-28, 2024, as a collaborative effort between the NAD Health Ministries and the Columbia Union Conference. The intensive weekend was centered on the “Mission Accomplished” theme, equipping leaders across the Division to materialize their ideas and dreams into a mission in motion. Friday’s plenary session kicked off the Intensive, with Pastor Seth Yelorda reminding attendees that we can only get to “mission accomplished” if we are clear on what [...]

Cultivating Readiness for Change Within the sphere of health coaching, readiness to change emerges as a foundational element shaping clients' journeys toward wellness. It acts as a precursor to significant transformation, signifying an individual's preparedness and motivation to adopt healthier habits and behaviors. This article underscores the crucial role of readiness for change in health coaching and offers simple strategies to help clients prepare for transformation, drawing insights from biblical teachings.  Readiness to change encompasses an individual's willingness, readiness, and motivation to embrace healthier behaviors, habits, or lifestyle choices. It involves recognizing the need for change [...]

Members Learn About LIFT AAHWC had its first members-only meeting for the new year on February 25, 2024, where over thirty members virtually attended from the United States and Canada. They came together to learn about a training program called LIFT: Jesus’ Way of Coaching. Rick Mautz, Past President of AAHWC, created the LIFT curriculum to train lay church members to reach others by using Christ-centered health coaching principles. During the meeting, he provided an overview of the training program, which generally takes twelve hours to complete. Mautz also encouraged attendees to have the mind of [...]

Having a Growth and Spiritual Mindset In coaching, having the right mindset is important for both the coach and the client. But what exactly is the best mindset, and how can it help in health coaching?  In 1988, Carol Dweck, PhD, wrote a paper that grouped intelligence into two types: entity (fixed) and incremental (growth) intelligence [1]. She further developed these into what is now known as a "fixed" versus a "growth" mindset. Individuals with a fixed mindset believe they have an unchangeable amount of intelligence, and they allow failure and setbacks to define them. On [...]

What is a Health Coach? Health and wellness coaching is a collaborative partnership between the coach and the client. A coach meets clients where they are in their health journey, discovers where they want to be, and facilitates forward movement toward their self-directed vision and goals. They meet regularly to discuss their progress, discover and resolve any roadblocks, co-create weekly action steps, and celebrate their accomplishments. Throughout the process, the coach encourages the client to discover the answers for themselves by asking thought-provoking questions and making reflective statements (1,2). In coaching, the client is the expert; [...]

What Motivates You?  Health coaching is all about growing and discovering how to implement ways to become one's best self. One of the most important aspects of coaching is the motivation for change, but what exactly is motivation and how does it tie into our Christian walk?  Motivation is  "... a condition inside us that desires a change, either in the self or the environment" (1). All motivation falls into two categories: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation involves doing things because they lead to an outcome, such as performing a task because a reward is attached. [...]