How Do I Become a Wellness Coach?
Wellness Coach Requirements
Health and wellness coaches have a unique ability to inspire positive change in their clients. It’s a more personal relationship than someone might have with their doctor, nutritionist or personal trainer. Part supportive mentor, part wellness authority, wellness coach requirements usually include certification from a professional association.
If you’re asking yourself “how do I become a wellness coach,” here are some things to consider before investing in your education.
A Willingness to Take Risks
When you’re starting a new career path, you’ll need to find opportunities that fit with your new career goals. You’ll need to meet new people, and tell friends, acquaintances, and strangers what you are up to. While it might seem scary at first, learning to put yourself out there isn’t as hard as it seems.
As a wellness professional, there are many ways to share your passion and message. You might lead wellness retreats or community events. You could write articles, blogs or even publish your own book. Some wellness coaches create informative videos from their own phone or desktop and upload them online to share with others. Maybe you will even develop a line of healthy products. You could work with companies to improve the health of their employees. In any case, networking with others and being visible is essential.
You’re Action-Oriented
Like any new journey, you have to take action and apply what you are learning. Sitting behind your desk all day hoping your first coaching clients will magically find you is not the path to jumpstarting your new career. Whether you decide to have your own wellness coaching practice or work within a company, a take-action mindset will be essential to your success. The good news is, you don’t have to figure out what actions you’re supposed to take all on your own. With the support of the IAWP systems, we’ll show where to focus your time and energy.
You Are Committed to Working on Yourself
If you genuinely want to help others, you’ll need to be willing to work on yourself, too. We’re not talking about being perfect by any means. In fact, it’s quite the opposite when it comes to achieving balance. It’s not about being perfect all of the time, rather accepting that health is an ongoing journey. Having this open mindset to working on yourself will help you to inspire others. With that said, you don’t need to be the picture of perfect health to get started in your new career. In fact, often people who enroll in certification programs do so to learn how to manage their own chronic condition or improve their own health. Becoming a wellness coach ends up having a multiplier effect as you work on yourself and learn how to help others do the same.
You Have a Willingness to be Vulnerable
Becoming a Wellness Coach means sharing your health story and experiences with others. Opening up about your challenges and what’s worked for you can be used to inspire people to see that change is possible. Having a story to share and an openness about personal struggles can build rapport with potential clients, too. After all, whom would you rather learn from: Someone who tells you what to do but has never experienced your problem? Or someone who has solved the problem you have? Wellness Coaches who have a personal journey to share often are the most inspiring coaches.
You Want to Make a Difference
Holistic health and wellness professionals are in a unique and empowering position. They have the opportunity to impact people’s’ lives in a personal way. The changes that they help a person to make often impact many areas of a person’s life. Tapping into the desire to make a big difference and follow your passion means you’re embarking on a path with purpose.
As you forge your path, you will be required to “think outside of the box”. Motivating others isn’t a cookie-cutter approach. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. That’s because there are so many factors at play that affect a person’s well-being. This is at the heart of our philosophy here at the IAWP called Wellness 360, a holistic approach to your health that examines all areas impacting your wellness.
For example, the advice you provide to someone who has a busy corporate job and is experiencing a lot of stress could be entirely different than what you’d tell a retiree looking to stay active in the final phase of their life. The point is, a customized, holistic approach to achieve our goals make a difference.
Willingness to Set Goals
Starting a business means you will put in significant time and energy marketing yourself and connecting with clients. As such, you’ll need to approach the road to building a business as a series of milestones. First, make sure the certification program you choose offers business training along with a support system. When you complete your training, you want to have a wealth of knowledge in wellness, coaching and business. Second, find a network of wellness professionals you can lean on for support.
Finally, while marketing might not be your cup of tea, here at the IAWP we teach authentic marketing and conscious business which allows you to share your message even if you have no prior business experience. As long as you are willing to learn and set goals along the way, starting a Wellness Coach business is something anyone can learn.
Prospects After Certification
If you’re reading this and considering becoming a wellness coach, it’s likely because you have a passion for holistic health and wellness. You may or may not be passionate about business, but keep in mind it’s an important part of becoming a Wellness coach. Learning about the business side of things means that you will learn how to effectively share your message and find people who need your help.
It’s not as hard as it sounds though. Thanks to our proven process that we’ve taught for over a decade, we have a track record of showing our students how to use a simple system to generate and retain new clients. For example, our Coach Launch track included in our Wellness Coach Certification shows students how to easily attract clients and jumpstart their business in 90 days. If you’re interested in starting the journey toward becoming a certified wellness coach, reach out and we’ll help you get started.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Holistic Wellness Coaches are professionals who take an integrative approach to help people learn to make healthy lifestyle changes. They take into account more than just nutrition, fitness or simple habit changes, but all aspects of a person’s health and life in true holistic fashion.
IAWP Holistic Wellness Coaches are highly trained coaches, providing support and accountability for their clients so they can make lasting lifestyle changes.
Today there are many people calling themselves “Health Coaches”. They have varying educations and backgrounds, some with extensive training, others with no training at all. “Health Coaching” is a general term that does not tell people what area of health you help with or your specific approach. Many Health Coaches focus solely on nutrition, exercise and habit changes.
“Wellness Coach” is a more specific term. It denotes that more than just general health is being considered in the approach. Wellness signfies well-being and lifestyle aspects beyond food and exercise.
When evaluating various health and wellness coaching programs, it is important to understand the difference between becoming a generalist and a specialist. Whether a training program calls their graduates a “health coach” or a “wellness coach,” they often have a particular angle that they work from.
Holistic Wellness Coaching is a specialty term in which professionals will take a holistic approach to wellness, considering all aspects of a person’s well-being as well as the support provided involves holistic remedies, therapies, and a more natural approach to wellness.
While generalist coaches can be useful, you’re guaranteed greater success when you choose a specialist track like Holistic Wellness. You probably know that in the field of medicine a doctor who is a generalist is paid much less than a specialist. Generalists do not have the same level of training and the market allows for specialists to charge higher fees. This is also true for a Holistic Wellness Coaches.
The International Association of Wellness Professionals is recognized world wide and we have students participating from countries all over the world.
The IAWP offers accredited coach training and is aligned with several accrediting bodies.
Upon completion of our Holistic Wellness & Holistic Life Coach Dual Certification coaches can become a board certified Health and Wellness Coach with through the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP).
Our Holistic Wellness Coach & Holistic Life Coach Dual Certification integrates three pillars of learning – holistic wellness, coaching and holistic business. Our coaching curriculum is CCE Accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF). ICF has the highest standards for its approved coaching programs and we are proud to provide an advanced coaching education that meets their standards. Current coaches who are ICF accredited and complete our coaching pillar, are eligible for continuing coach education CCE credits with the ICF.
Our Certification program is also approved by the Canadian Health Coach Alliance.
With approval and accreditation from leading organizations across the globe, you can feel confident that our curriculum has met a high standard in terms of the education and support you will receive.
The IAWP is committed to supporting you during your training and for the life of your new career. Our curriculum is built on support and systems which set the foundation for launching a thriving coaching practice. Our certification is unique because it’s built on an experiential learning method where coaches-in-training receive a full immersion in their learning with unlimited support.
For example… You will have have unlimited opportunities to receive personal coaching from our IAWP Master Coaches during our weekly Live Coaching Labs. You can learn from multiple mentors and experience different coaching styles during these group coaching labs. We offer a wide variety of days and times so you will receive personal support in these highly transformational training sessions.
You will also have unlimited access to our live training calls and workshops each month, where you will receive personal support from a Master Coach, a guest teacher or our Founder, Suzanne Monroe.
These events are live, interactive workshops held over video conference and are a great way to connect with our faculty and fellow students, with a laser focus on subject matters related to wellness, coaching, business and mindset.
Our mission at the IAWP is to provide the most supportive online education experience in the industry and we take our mission seriously. The way we deliver our training and support is what makes our program unique from any other training in the online education field today.
Our unique training method is called The Immersive Transformation Training Method™ (ITTM), where you will personally experience and practice everything you learn in your program. This process allows you to master your own wellness, become a highly effective coach, and launch a profitable practice…all during your training.
Unlike most online education, where you “read, watch and learn”, here at the IAWP you will “read, watch, learn and DO” through our hands-on learning experience. ITTM includes interactive training, hands-on application, application modules, real-world experience, small group coaching labs and ongoing support.
This full immersion means you always have a place to get direct and personalized support and you not only end up with superior knowledge of coaching, but more importantly, you have the ability to coach.
We also give you all the tools and systems you will need to be confident as new Wellness Coaches, without having to reinvent the wheel or start everything from scratch. You’ll get to build on a foundation that’s guaranteed to help you create success in your new business or career path.
With a large international student population, you will form lasting friendships and peer support relationships with students from around the globe and in your local communities.
We don’t stop offering support after graduation, though.
One of the most impactful parts of an education with the IAWP is that we offer lifetime support for all of our students. Our community is always there to provide advice, feedback, and inspiration, no matter where you are in your Holistic Wellness Coach career journey.
Don’t just take our word for it, check out what our students are saying!
The short answer is Yes! In fact, we are so confident you will get your first client by the time you graduate, that we guarantee your success. If you follow the steps in our program and fail to attract your first client by graduation, we will refund your tuition and you can keep your certification.
At the IAWP, our program is based on our Immersive Transformation Training Method™. This method ensures you are applying your knowledge during every stage of your training and this includes taking the right steps to attract your ideal clients.
Through our business training, you will follow our Coach Launch system, which is designed to take you step by step through a process that will guide you as you attract and sign up your first 10 clients, or your next 10 clients, again and again.
When you enroll in our Holistic Wellness Coach Certification program, you will receive Lifetime Access to our training, plus continued education and support for the life of your career. This is very unique in the online education industry and we are unaware of any other organization that provides this level of access and ongoing support.
This also means that you will be part of a community that is committed to supporting one another. Unlike other training programs where access to other students might be limited to your current class, at the IAWP you will have the opportunity to connect with former students and grads who are always excited to share their experiences and pay it forward. It’s truly a unique community like no other.
While you do not need continuing education credits to maintain your IAWP Holistic Wellness Coach Certification, our training is recognized and accredited by several organizations, like the International Coach Federation where our program allows you to earn Continuing Education Credits.
Our primary focus is on giving you the systems and support you need to build a thriving practice, helping others.
Our business training can be applied to building a practice in your local community or creating an online coaching business. Some students prefer to work locally, others go straight to online. The choice is yours and will largely depend on your preference.
Through our Coach Launch Fast Track system, you will learn how to set up your business and determine which career track best fits for you. You will also learn the ins and out of online marketing, social media, video conferencing and other virtual business tools. You’ll also personally experience virtual coaching and online workshops through your training.
Because launching an online practice requires some additional technical skills, we encourage our students to apply our systems in their local community first and then expand to online as they build proof of concept with their niche, their signature coaching program and our client attraction strategies.
