Holistic Wellness Coaching?

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Hello,

I was curious as to how many of you have pursued a certification in coaching, as a nurse....more specifically a "Holistic Life Coach" certification. I'm researching various avenues, and Spencer Institute offers a short/self paced certification process to obtain such a certification.

However, I was wondering, if I were to work as a Holistic Life Coach, promoting wellness of mind, body, and the spiritual being, would being an LVN hinder me from having my own independent practice? I'd like to include in my "bio" of sorts that I'm a nurse w/ experience, but wondering if I should keep that separate as I won't be working under a RN or MD...for liability purposes....

any info would help!

Thanks!

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Specializes in Oncology Home Care.

Hi,

The answer to your question about "would being an LVN hinder me from having my own independent practice" is NO, absolutely not. In fact you are at an advantage being a nurse and yes in your bio make sure you state you are a nurse. Many people are Holistic Life Coaches without a health or nursing background, you go for it.

I would suggest you take a course that allows you to demonstrate how to do coaching as it is not want you are used to doing as a nurse. The American Holistic Nurses Ass. has a list of approved programs on their website. Take a look at these programs and understand by reading, researching and doing all you can to learn what Holistic Coaching is all about.

This is a great field to get into, Good Luck!

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Please check your state's board of nursing practice act first. If you state you are a nurse in advertising yourself as a coach it may be a problem in some states.

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I am finishing up on my certification through Wellcoaches. I highly recommend their program. Wellcoaches is affiliated with Harvard Med, and is widely accepted. My goal is to grow my business and leave bedside nursing next year.

Good luck!

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HI Well coach Rn,

i just Pm you and hope you respond, i am interested in health coaching also.

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Good luck to you.

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I agree with the previous poster that if you are licensed as a LVN and want to work as a independent practitioner, you need to check with your board of nursing. I would surmise that a good number of states would want you to be supervised by a RN or physician. Best wishes.

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I am in the process of being certified as a health coach, so I've been looking into this in depth. I am an LPN, but I also have a bachelor's degree in psychology and health science. I've been wondering if being an LPN would hinder me, and I decided that it would be best not to market myself as an LPN coach, but instead to leave the LPN out of it altogether. People become coaches without being a nurse, but as soon as you connect your nursing with it, you increase your chances for liability. You are at an advantage because of the knowledge base you have, not because of the license you hold. You don't need to justify your ability to do coaching. Your certification will speak for itself.

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I think with all of these programs it is "buyer beware." I look at some of these programs developed by people with no health care credentials or no degrees in medical psychology (Spencer) or neither (Wellcoaches), and I wonder if we would take a program on diabetes developed by people without clinical training training or expertise in diabetes. Our company spent a year reviewing all the programs and our criteria was it had to be evidence-based, recognized by payers, developed by professionals with training and credentials in health care and health psychology, but designed for interdisciplinary care team. We chose HealthSciences CCP Health Coach, but I guess the whole experience made it clear to me that you really have to do your own research on the program. We counted over 20 certifications programs and some were complete scams and listed online as scams-but I knew friends who wasted money on them! Then there are supposed Health Coaching "Societies" that are for profit companies. Anyway, you have to focus on a program based on motivational interviewing because it is the only approach proven to work. It is supported by over 300 studies and used all around the world. I am working on my Registered Health Coach certification, and then will apply to the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers Course next, but it is tough to get accepted. Anyway, do your homework! Anyone else applied for the MINT new trainer course?

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Specializes in Ambulatory Care, Rheumatology.

Agreed, you do not have to use LVN in your title to do that yet if you choose to bring Licensing into it, you may want to check with your local Nursing board. The National Nurses in Business is a great first step as well. I am pursuing becoming a Health Coach, one thing to keep in mind: Marketing and Sales. IMHO a good Coaching Certification program will want to prepare you for the all-important task of, how to actually make money with their Certification. It's the ethical thing to do in my opinion.

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If you are a licensed practicing nurse or licensed vocational nurse with a current non-restricted nursing license, you can sign up for the NIWH program (Whole Health Training and Education - Accredited | Holistic Health Programs) and upon completion of their program, receive an NPI number. The program allows you to earn an NPI number, a billing manual, and provides the training so you can work with doctors or on your own. They are credentialed by the Institute of Credentialing Excellence, give ANCC nurse CE contact hours, and have a program exclusively for nurses. I think it would be worth your checking this program out for expanding options for work and income.

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