Health Coaches empower their clients to take charge of their health, meet and exceed their wellness goals, and create lasting change. Coaches provide accountability and a personalized approach, and they help the client tap into their motivation and overcome roadblocks in order to continue moving forward. Many health coaching clients report improved quality of life, physical health improvements, improved emotional well-being, and feeling less stressed.

Source: Functionalmedicinecoaching.org

The functional medicine model is an individualized, patient-centered, science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness. It requires a detailed understanding of each patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors and leverages that data to direct personalized treatment plans that lead to improved patient outcomes.

By addressing root cause, rather than symptoms, practitioners become oriented to identifying the complexity of disease. They may find one condition has many different causes and, likewise, one cause may result in many different conditions. As a result, functional medicine treatment targets the specific manifestations of disease in each individual.

Source: IFM.org

The Functional Medicine Coaching Academy offers the only Health Coach Certification Program in collaboration with IFM, sharing many of the same faculty members and much of the same course content. Functional Medicine Health Coaches use Functional Medicine principles and positive psychology coaching techniques to:

•  Provide a positive relationship that empowers the client to make lasting changes for better health and well-being.
• Educate clients and help them understand their doctor’s plan of care
• Offer tools and accountability when client’s implement new lifestyle changes
• Motivate clients using positive psychology techniques
• Guide clients through dietary changes, food plans and physical activity protocols
• Lead clients through group coaching sessions on specific topics

The Functional Medicine Coaching Academy is an approved Health and Wellness Coach Training and Education Program by the National Board for Health and Wellness.    

Source: Functionalmedicinecoaching.org

A therapist or counselor takes care of your emotional and mental health by discussing feelings and experiences in your life that are causing stress or confusion, and can create a treatment plan for mental health conditions.   As such, a therapist tends to focus more on the past and present.

In contrast, coaches tend to focus more on the ‘here and now” and are future focused. Health coaches use a client-centered approach wherein clients decide their goals, engage in self-discovery or active learning processes, build new habits, and self-monitor behaviors to increase accountability.