What is a Health Coach + Health Coaching Career

There are many places you can get certified as a Health Coach, and each has a slightly different curriculum and/or wellness philosophy. Be sure to read our recent blog post comparing several popular health certification programs here. 

But, regardless of where you choose to get certified, most programs are focused on personalized care and support to help people overcome their symptoms and live healthier lives. 

In some instances, a Health Coach will partner with a physician or medical team, and will be responsible for helping the patient follow through with a treatment plan. For example, they might use a strategy called motivational interviewing to dive into things such as: 

• What the patient’s home lifestyle is like
• What excites and frustrates the patient
• What are the patient’s coping mechanisms 
• What is the patient’s idea of optimal health 

Getting to know their patients on a deeper level allows a Health Coach to serve as a powerful guide throughout the healing journey. 

At Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN), we actually prepare students to go beyond traditional Health Coaching. Graduates of our functional health certification program are equipped to run their own online wellness businesses, without the need to partner with a physician! 

Similar to Health Coaching, we take a personalized approach at FDN, using custom diet & lifestyle protocols to help people improve their health. However, we also teach students how to run & analyze specific functional health tests to pinpoint underlying causes of their symptoms. 

Talk about a game changer. 🙌

Sounds pretty good right?  

So, let’s take a closer look at the difference between these two roles.