I completed the Dr. Sears Health Coaching Program in 2013 so I wanted to share my honest thoughts and reviews about the program.

Why I Wanted to Be a Health Coach

I had been thinking about it for a couple of years and I wanted to learn more about health and wellness, as I expanded the topics on my blog.

me wearing a hat

How I Picked a Coaching Certification

I considered Dr. Sears Wellness Institute, the Integrative Nutrition Institute, and the Duke Integrative Medicine Program.  Dr. Sears’ program was one of the more affordable options and the program was entirely online and fairly quick. I still wasn’t exactly sure how I wanted to use my certification, so it seemed like the right place to start.

What exactly is a health coach?

Truthfully, this is still being defined. Generally, it’s someone who can help you create healthy habits that fit into your lifestyle. Health coaches are not medical professionals and they can’t give medical advice. Health coaches typically aren’t covered by insurance although I think this is started to change.

me holding a salad

A Review of the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute

The program I completed was a three part series that focused on health coaching for families

  • Part 1 focused on basic nutrition and lifestyle changes
  • Part 2 was all about coaching methods
  • Part 3 focused on marketing yourself as a coach

I found the curriculum to be pretty basic and the nutrition portion was very high level. The coaching methods were helpful as I thought about what it would look like to work with clients, but it was a very cookie-cutter approach.

In terms of marketing myself as a coach, I wasn’t as interested in that section, since I already had my blog up and running. They don’t give you a lot of specific information around pricing, packages, etc. So you still have to figure out a lot of it on your own.

dr sears coaching program

Would I recommend Dr. Sears’ program?

It depends. For me, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to do 1 on 1 coaching. I just wanted to get a better understanding of health and nutrition for my blog. In that regard, I think it was the right fit for me. But I don’t feel equipped to do anything beyond very basic coaching tasks. (For example, I’d be comfortable walking someone through a grocery store and helping them find healthy food options. But I wouldn’t be making someone a meal plan.)

If you have an interest in health and wellness and want to get a basic understanding of nutrition principles, I think it can be a good investment. If I was interested in full-time coaching, I think I’d consider a dietetics program or one of the more advanced health coaching programs as I don’t think this course is comprehensive enough. To be fair, I took this program in 2013 and I’m sure it’s evolved over the years. I can only speak to the course when I took it.

I hope this helps as you evaluate the right health coaching program!

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