Posts Tagged ‘holistic nutrition’

What is a Health Coach, Anyway?

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

What is a health coach, anyway, and how can you benefit from having one? Health coaches offer guidance for simple, health-promoting changes to your diet and lifestyle, and help you learn to deal with the practical and emotional aspects of implementing those changes for good. With the right health coach, you can heal and prevent most illness.

Take a look at some of the recent press around Health Coaches:
• Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks on CNN about the need for health coaches in America.
ABC News reports on health coaching – what it is and how it can help you.
• Dr. Andrew Weil’s Self Healing magazine reports: “When athletes want a competitive edge, they hire a private coach to monitor their progress. When it comes to your health, using this mindset could also be beneficial. Health coaches are increasingly being hired by corporations to help employees stay healthy and by individuals seeking to improve well-being. For some, these coaches offer assistance in managing dietary constraints (due to conditions such as celiac disease or diabetes), and for others, they might focus on teaching stress-reduction methods. In some ways, the health coach picks up where your physician left off, helping you implement wellness strategies suggested after a check-up or diagnosis.” In the article, Integrative Nutrition graduate Christi Collins recommends finding a coach who has received training from a reputable program, and whose personality resonates with your own.
CBS News reports: “Congress will miss the boat if it ends up perpetuating a system that reacts to illness rather than preventing it. Chronic diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes wreck our quality of life and cost a fortune. In recent years, a new and intriguing concept has emerged in the prevention and treatment of chronic illness: the health coach.”
NY Times article on coaches.

Choices in Fertility: Shades of Grey

Friday, December 4th, 2009

The fertility world is painted in shades of grey—answers to challenging questions are nuanced, and many times the right answer for you may be in opposition to your partner’s. At each juncture there is a decision to be made that can stretch personal boundaries or pose ethical dilemmas.

Should I use ART’s or try natural conception? How far am I willing to go down each path to keep my own mental wellbeing? What are my beliefs about fertility drugs, donor eggs or adoption, and how many medically stimulated cycles am I willing to include as part of my treatment plan? These choices bear no absolute rights and wrongs, and they’re all theory anyhow against the backdrop of the trying, waiting, hope, and dejection of another unsuccessful cycle.

To this end, most reproductive centers offer some sort of counseling. Many of my clients have benefited greatly from these services to help with the grief from unfruitful IUI/IVF attempts or pregnancy loss. Their availability usually maxes out at 1 or 2 sessions, however, which is why continued mental health counseling with a licensed practitioner is so important. But these therapies still often don’t tend to employ a very holistic approach, focused on longterm wellbeing, which is where Holistic Health Counseling can be of benefit. I have coached many couples in various stages of their fertility journey, and understand the complexities of the decisions they face and the need for sustained self-care.

Much can be done from a holistic nutrition approach, not only to enhance fertility, but to truly promote the physical health and emotional wellbeing of the parents-to-be. As a Holistic Health Counselor, I’m here as a guide.

If this resonates with you, please contact me for a free 15 introductory session so we can discuss your concerns and how I can help.

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