Working with a health coach can be one of the most affirming, valuable, inspiring things you can do when you decide that yes, it is time to make some change. And yet, as a person with a complex condition (or list of conditions) it is, as always, a bit more challenging than what the average person who simply wants to develop a personalized health plan would experience. You need to know what type of health coach to work with and it’s that much more important for you to be clear about your goals and what you want to achieve by working with a coach.
When you really and truly want to sort out your obstacles and prioritize certain areas so that you can strategize, though, it may be time to find that health coach. When you need a certain level of accountability and support, it’s time.
Are you ready for some change?
Why would someone with EDS want to work with a health coach?
People work with health coaches for a number of reasons. Probably the most common one is weight loss. A personal trainer will help you to make an exercise program, supervise you during your sessions, and may guide you as you track your macros. A health coach, on the other hand, may help set you up with fitness programming but they won’t usually supervise you when you exercise. What the health coach will do, instead, includes things like work with you to identify your goals, your strengths, and your obstacles. We’ll create a plan to use your strengths and overcome the obstacles so that ultimately, you end up achieving those goals.1
A person with EDS (and when I say this, I mean EDS and comorbid conditions if there are any) might want to work with a health coach for weight loss. It could be that you want some nutrition guidance or to learn how to put into action a diet program your MD has given you. But that’s not the only reason to work with a health coach, especially when there may be other more important issues to consider.
Maybe you want to hash out a daily living plan that meshes with your particular health profile so that you live the best life possible for you. Or it could be that you need to learn ways to deal with your doctors and live your life on your terms. There are a lot of reasons why a person with EDS would benefit from working with a health coach.
*****
*****
Like a life coach, but health is the primary focus:
People tend to know about life and business coaches but health coaches tend to be overshadowed by personal trainers when it comes to lifestyle change. And yet…there is a difference and there are reasons to choose one over the other.
Any coach for any purpose should be bringing encouragement, accountability, and inspiration to the table. In the context of health coaching and chronic conditions, your coach should be able to work with you to choose some starting points that directly relate to your lived reality. You should begin your series by identifying which aspects of your health condition are the pillars of your wellbeing and which aspects are the seemingly unyielding roadblocks.
*****
*****
Moving from the intangibles (encouragement, accountability, and inspiration) to the tangibles brings us to your plan.
When you work with a health coach, you can expect to work out a plan with them. Together, you will identify and set specific goals. Your program should provide you with structure that makes sense to you, so: not a daunting to-do list but, instead, a set of options and potential choices that you can make. (I say this as a former professor: people learn by doing. Health coaching clients learn by doing. Sometimes there are mistakes, and that’s part of the learning process. With the right support, you are able to try again, maybe try something different, and that’s the process of learning. You can do this!)
*****
*****
What about edu-coaching?
The origin of the term itself is in the field of education. An edu-coach would be a master teacher who then mentors (or edu-coaches) a more junior colleague or someone who wants to specialize in some way. The term lends itself well to working with chronic illness health coaching clients for two reasons:
1. It may well be that the client wants to learn something and become a specialist in their own condition;
2. The client could be new to their diagnosis and the equivalent of a junior colleague.
Edu-coaching, consequently, is a bit more akin to mentoring or teaching than health coaching, which aims to draw out of you what you already know and can do and strategize according to strengths. The coach is a bit more of an instructor than a teacher, if you view instructing as informative and teaching as interactive (I do).
*****
*****
What about a consultation?
Sometimes, you need clarification. Dr. Google and their colleague, Dr. Chat GPT, are giving you contradictory information. Your MD is not giving you any meaningful information. You love your Facebook group and appreciate the community on Reddit. But you’re overwhelmed by the variety of information you’re getting and you just do not have the energy to double-check and assess the validity of the seemingly-good material you are getting online. And your MD’s gaslighting sheds no valuable illumination of your situation.
A one-off consultation might work for you, especially if you are fairly self-reliant. Sometimes, your best bet might be to have a short series of sessions, each with a clearly defined topic of discussion and goal. If this is what you would like, the coach’s credentials should be the first thing you check. Does this person have substantive credentials that match your goals? Be prepared before every session and expect to do the daily work on your own. But if you function better that way, then this could be great for you.
*****
*****
Choices, choices…
A few things that make a difference in what you decide to do include the credentials of the coach or consultant. Some health coaching certifications are fairly involved and tend to be aligned with biomedicine. I’m a former Spanish professor and a PhD with a third master’s degree that reflects my pivot into Chinese medicine.2 I’ve seen some interesting coaches who are also physical therapists or nutritionists or shamans. It really all depends on what you are looking for in terms of your own creativity and approach to being coached.
I do think that a certain level of biomedical knowledge is important for a coach who works with complex chronic illness. I also think it’s important to know your boundaries and for the coach to be very clear about scope of practice in these cases. Your health coach is not your licensed healthcare provider and should not be trying to sell you supplements, for one thing. In addition, there is a line between being a coach who will encourage, inspire, educate, and guide you and a licensed mental health care provider who is the one who will support you as you work through trauma.
This is important in any health coaching scenario, but when complex chronic illness enters the chat? We need to be that much more aware and respectful of boundaries and scope of practice.
What resonates with you? I have had short-term client who came to me wanting to learn how to communicate with and set boundaries during appointments with their biomedical healthcare providers. For other people, learning this skill is part of a larger, more long-term project related to living their very best life in accordance with their condition(s).
*****
*****
In conclusion:
When we are so tethered to our doctor’s appointments and the uncomfortable and challenging aspects of chronic pain or illness, it may seem frivolous to want to work with a health coach. It’s not, though. The little things that you do every day and the messages that you impart to yourself build your worldview. Sometimes, we get caught in a narrative that keeps us on track (more or less) but at best, it keeps us stuck and worst it hurts us. Sometimes, a guide for a portion of our health journey sees us realizing avenues that we did not even know existed.
A health coach can provide you with that kind of support structure, while an edu-coach or a consultant will teach you something new. Sometimes, a combination approach is your best option. Either way, there is a place for coaching in your wellness program.
Where do you want to begin?
*****
*****
Dr. Paula Bruno, Ph.D., L.Ac., is a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, an AOBTA-CP traditional Chinese bodywork therapist, an author, and a health coach. She maintains an active and growing practice at Two Hearts Wellness, her Austin, TX office. Dr. Bruno is also available for distance appointments for wellness consultation or coaching.
In her first career, she was a Spanish professor.
Dr. Bruno’s specialties as a Chinese medicine practitioner include: • Musculoskeletal health (acute or chronic pain relief; Ehlers Danlos syndrome & hypermobility support) • Digestive support, gut health, and weight loss • Aesthetic treatment, including scar revision • Men’s health • General preventative care and wellness support for all persons.
She is the author of Chinese Medicine and the Management of Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome: A Practitioner’s Guide.
When you are ready to discover what traditional medicine plus a vibrant and engaged approach to holistic health can do for you, either contact Dr. Bruno or book an appointment online.
*****
*****
Two Hearts Wellness/Holistic Health & hEDS does not accept paid advertising on this website
Note: Material on this web site site is not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease, illness, or ailment. A Chinese medicine practitioner in Texas identifies syndrome patterns but does not diagnose illness. Material on this web site does not purport to identify syndrome patterns.
*****
- One of my early posts at Two Hearts Wellness, “Health Coach? Personal Trainer? (Which, What, When, and Why)” shares some thoughts on choosing between a personal trainer and a health coach. ↩︎
- For a list of my credentials, refer to “Credentials: Degrees and Certifications.” ↩︎
Holistic Health and hEDS 