Dr. Sears Health Coaching Program Review
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.
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.
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.
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!
Hi! I would love to hear what your opinion of the Dr.Sear health coach program is! I am trying to choose a program to go through and torn between them and another.
Are you a Master Certified Health Coach with the Sears Wellness Institute? Or a Certified Health Coach?
I’m a certified health coach through the Sears Wellness Institute!
Hi, I am thinking about signing up for Dr. Sears Health Coach Program too. How has the program helped with your career? I appreciate your time and advice. I have a BS in management and had thought about going back to college to get a Masters in Health Coach Wellness or Nutrition. Thank you!
Congrats! Sounds like a great program.
Congrats on the health coaching!!! What an amazing path for you. I am sorry I couldn’t get this life update in person, but as you know, my life has been a little topsy turvy, too. 🙂 Love, love love to you.
I’ve never heard of that health coaching program. I’m actually seriously considering becoming a health coach but I’m not sure which school to choose. Did you have other schools that you were looking at before you decided on this one? I would love to hear why you chose that one over all the other programs! Thanks 🙂
Yay for doing health coaching! I have mine through AAAI/ISMA, its’s awesome! Good luck 🙂
Thanks for the info on the health coaching, Liz, I’m definitely going to look into it. You might want to check with your local library, they might have the DVDs. Here, you can look on line and any book/dvd that is anywhere in the county system can be ordered and sent to your local library. It’s wonderful. I used to do that with audio books when I commuted. Give it a try. You could see an actual DVD and see if it would be worth paying the money for it. Hope it works!
I’ve tried Tracy’s workouts before and really loved them. I did hate that you needed quite a lot of room for the cardio sections though.
Oh congrats on the program! I think you will do great, and hopefully it is/will be a lot of fun!
I haven’t tried any videos by Tracy Anderson, but am really interested in them now. Thanks for sharing!