Brazos Minshew, a Member of the International Coaching Federation and a Health Coach since 1997
Health Coaching reveals you power to change. Coaching illuminates how you make lasting health behavior changes that are the cornerstones of lifelong wellness. Coaching bridges the gap between medical recommendations and your abilities to successfully implement those recommendations into your complex life.
“As a Health Coach, I honor the client as the expert in his or her own life. I believe every person is creative, resourceful and whole. A disease is something a person ‘has,’ not who they are. In preparing a customized treatment plan, I help my patients discover, clarify, and align with what the patient values and wants to achieve. A treatment plan is really client-generated solutions and strategies chosen from all healthcare disciplines in harmony with personally held values. I work with the whole person, take time to listen, ask powerful questions help facilitate change in health status through a structured, supportive partnership between me and my patient.”
ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their potential, which is particularly important in today’s uncertain and complex healthcare environment.
Professional coaching focuses on setting goals, creating outcomes and managing personal change. Sometimes it’s helpful to understand coaching by distinguishing it from other personal or organizational support professions.
“Medical Therapy deals with healing pain and dysfunction. Coaching, on the other hand, supports self-initiated change in pursuit of specific outcomes. Coaching is future focused. While medical approaches vary widely, the assumption is the consultant will diagnose problems and prescribe and, sometimes, implement solutions. With coaching, the assumption is that individuals and their support teams are capable of discovering their own solutions, with the coach supplying resources to help the patient find supportive, discovery-based approaches that align with their values and beliefs.”
Health Coaches are making a dent in some of the toughest challenges of our times: the epidemics of obesity, diabetes, sedentary lifestyles, poor nutrition, chronic stress, distracted minds, and ever-rising healthcare costs. Seventy-five percent of healthcare costs are related to preventable diseases: more than ever before, we need well-educated, skilled Health Coaches.
Brazos Minshew 