I’m ready to change my ways, says UND Today writer who volunteers as a practice client
Editor’s note: The National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching says on its website that it has worked with the National Board of Medical Certification since 2016 to administer rigorous testing and has produced more than 10,000 certified health and wellness coaches.
This prestigious credential represents a standard of training, education and recognition that has advanced the profession in all aspects of medicine and health. UND Today Special Projects Editor Janelle Vonasek recently volunteered to take part in a small portion of this training, and she shares her experience in the story below.
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It was so strange that it surprised me: a mysterious manila envelope had been slipped under the locked door of my shared office space. And it was my The name is written there.
Was it a pile of secret photos to blackmail me? Hmm, I doubt it. My life is far too tame for that. This must be something more interesting.
And it was.
it is Anne Bodensteinerclinical associate professor and graduate program director at UND Nutrition and dietShe was looking for volunteers to serve as practice clients for students working towards national certification. Health & Wellness Coach.
Volunteers were promised at least three free one-on-one health coaching sessions between February and May with an attentive, nonjudgmental support person trained to guide them on their health journey.
Yes, I want to join in. It’s a new year and time for the old me to start the new me.
I called Bodensteiner and soon had a Zoom meeting with Michon Kisilka, a student health and wellness coach with undergraduate and graduate degrees. Nutrition and diet She was attending the University of North Dakota and was in the process of packing up her home in Oregon to move to Helena, Montana.
There, she was hired as the new weight-control dietitian at the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center. She also told me she already had over 10 years of experience as a registered dietitian, so I felt like I was in pretty good hands.
“I provide medical nutrition therapy, nutrition education and nutrition counseling, but my biggest passion in the field is probably in the area of weight management,” Kisilka says. “And in working with patients who have that goal, I’ve found that there’s a lot of teaching that goes along with that. A lot of times, my clients already know what healthy food choices are. They know that physical activity is important, too.”
“But how do I apply the science and my knowledge to help them put it all into action? I realized that if I had some additional experience in coaching skills, I would be able to better support my clients.”
And that’s what prompted Kisilka to pursue a year of online courses at UND. Certified Health & Wellness Coach program.
Bodensteiner added that almost anyone who works in a people-centered profession could benefit from the program.
“As a faculty member, I use coaching every day when I meet with students,” Bodensteiner says. “Coaching brings a sense of security and peace to interactions with patients and clients. These skills are universal to any relationship, including personal ones.”
She said the specialized strategies would be extremely useful not only for health educators, dieticians and nutritionists, but also for psychologists, counselors, personal trainers, nurses, physicians, physician assistants and social workers.
Let’s start coaching
Now, I was looking to be a tough challenge. I work a sedentary, deadline-driven job and have struggled with stress and weight for most of my life. What could Coach Kisilka do for me?
Like many difficult things, this process starts with homework. In fact, before our first official Zoom session, Kysilka asked me to fill out a health questionnaire and some other surveys that would give her a rough assessment of what she sees as my main health concerns.
Of course, the issues that mattered most to me—work/life balance, stress/mental health, nutrition/weight—weren’t a huge surprise, but that was beside the point. This exercise was meant to give Kisilka a head start in preparing her toolbox for our first session. And no doubt, this exercise would help her anticipate the forks (and cake forks) I might encounter along the way.
“I think one of the most important things I’ve learned is that a health and wellness coach should never come into a session with an agenda,” Kisilka said. “My focus is to understand what’s important to my client, why it’s important to them, and what they want or feel they need to do to achieve that goal.”
“I always try to ask myself: ‘If you could imagine yourself in the best state of health and wellness, what would that look like?’ I’m here to partner with you to understand where you are now, where you want to be, and then walk that path with you.”
It’s a patient-first approach that allows clients a great deal of autonomy, she explained.
“As a coach, I’m not here to tell you what to do, I’m here to help you discover what you want. you What do you want to do? you What do you think needs to be done to make that happen?”
“The research speaks for itself,” she says. “You’ll be more successful when you know the changes in your life are in your hands and you can control them. We’re there to encourage and motivate you. We give you the tools and strategies to stay successful, but it’s you, the client, who does the hard work.”
Building a Wellness Vision
From the beginning of our conversation, her independence was evident. Kisilka asked lots of questions and it was clear she was listening to what I had to say. She wanted to get to the heart of what I saw as my highest vision for health and wellness. I then came up with a short description of my “wellness vision,” followed by a three-month goal and some small action steps to achieve it.
So far so good. But wait a minute… what exactly is a wellness vision?
Kisilka goes one step further already, explaining that a wellness vision is a short, personal statement that outlines what a client or patient wants to work towards in order to achieve their desired health.
“That’s the main foundation of why we’re here and why you want to see change,” she said. “Everything else trickles down under that health vision.”
To make it easier to understand, she provided some definitions: “A wellness vision is a compelling statement of who you are and what healthy behaviors you want to adopt on an ongoing basis. Wellness is a sense of happiness and the accumulation of health and lifestyle habits. Wellness is a state of good physical and mental health, maintained especially through proper diet, exercise, and lifestyle habits.”
Ok, after much discussion and further thought, here is my health vision:
To support a healthy work-life balance, we strive to give you more “me” time each day. Nourish your body, work more efficiently, and have more time to enjoy the things that matter most to you.
That might sound a bit fancy, but it really starts to make sense when you incorporate 3-month goals and an action plan to achieve them. It would be boring to go into the details, but my SMART goals (SMART because they are specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time-based) included planning my daily hydration, meal prepping, and physical activity.
Then I added a bonus goal of meditation. (And it has become one of my favorites. I never knew there were so many free apps out there to help me calm my brain until I met my coach, Kisilka.) relax I get a reminder on my phone: Oh, Namaste.
When we met up, which was pretty regular, Kisilka continued to encourage me to celebrate even the small victories because it was important to feel every “win” along the way.
“It’s not about quick fixes,” she says, “the key is breaking down goals, sometimes even into tiny steps, to help clients find motivation and build self-confidence so that over time they can reach a sustainable desired state of health.”
My experience working with a health and wellness coach has been fewer sessions and shorter in duration than a typical practice, but I wholeheartedly recommend it.
I learned a lot about myself and it definitely motivated me.
Maybe in a few months, I’ll send Kisilka a manila envelope, an envelope with a real photo of me this time, but one with a healthier, before and after picture.
>> 7 tips for meal prep: It’s really that simple, and Kisilka says it’s okay to save an evening for dining out. Read the tips.
>> Click here for details For more information about UND’s online Health & Wellness Coach Certification Program, visit UND. Program Finder or contact Ann Bodensteiner, Graduate Programs Director, at 701.777.3752. Ann Bodenstein@UND.eduBodensteiner said she plans to recruit even more volunteers in the future.
