Health Coaching for Chronic Conditions: Hope for Better Living
What Is Health Coaching For Chronic Conditions?
Navigating life with a chronic health condition can often leave you feeling a bit lost at sea. The impact of symptoms and treatments can ripple through your life and feel a bit overwhelming. Yet, you can find your unique direction and the support to move forward with the assistance of a health coach.
In this post, I will discuss the path health coaching paves for those living with chronic illness and I will shed some light on why this supportive, empowering partnership is not just an option, but a lifeline.
Understanding Your Chronic Illness Journey
Chronic conditions are the unseen anchors that can tether an otherwise vibrant life. They are illnesses that persist over time, often presenting challenges that extend beyond the physical into the realms of emotional, mental, professional and social well-being. From autoimmune diseases to cancer to invisible disease, the term chronic illness encompasses a vast spectrum of conditions.
These conditions command not just attention and treatment, but a comprehensive understanding of how they shape daily existence. Health coaches serve as guides to help individuals find their bearings, set realistic goals, and take proactive control over their health and happiness. Because the chronic illness experience is unique, it can be important to find a coach who knows firsthand how it feels to live with chronic illness so that they understand the challenges.
The Role Of A Health Coach
Health coaches are partners on the chronic illness journey. Their role is different than that of a conventional healthcare provider; they are motivators, confidants, and strategists rolled into one. Through one-on-one conversations and support, health coaches:
Collaborate with you to set life and health goals that are attainable and meaningful.
Use evidence-based strategies to foster sustainable practices and habits.
Provide a safe space for expression and exploration to nurture your voice in your life and health decisions.
Health coaching is tailored to each person's unique health and life situation. Coaching is a testament to the unyielding belief in the power of human potential and the tenacity to never give up.
For further discussion of health coaching, check out my blog post “What Is A Health Coach?” HERE.
The Benefits Of Health Coaching For Chronic Illness
Engaging in health coaching for chronic conditions helps illuminate your path forward. The partnership between you and your coach can transform a tumultuous health trajectory into a structured journey toward holistic wellness. The benefits include:
Personalized Guidance: Health coaching tailors support to the individual, accounting for your nuanced needs and situation.
Building Resilience: Through regular coaching, clients develop tools to face challenges with a renewed sense of resilience and problem-solving skills.
Improved Self-Advocacy: Coaches often help patients advocate for their needs in daily life, in the workplace and in healthcare delivery.
The results are compelling, often leading to a decrease in stress and an increase in quality of life.
Why Does Health Coaching Work?
The effectiveness of health coaching is due to its carefully designed framework. It is rooted in evidence-based methodologies and behavioral science, which recognize the significant role of motivation in driving sustainable change. Through techniques like motivational interviewing and positive psychology, coaches are adept at nurturing transformation within their clients.
Furthermore, the emotional support and non-judgmental philosophy at the core of health coaching foster an environment where clients feel free to express their concerns and experience. This human-centered approach catalyzes change that is not just meaningful, but lasting and sustainable.
How Chronic Illness Shaped My Approach To Health Coaching
I'll start with this - none of us want to live with a chronic condition. Because of that, you are in a situation that you don't really want to be in. You want to figure out how to make things better and how to live your life the way you want to. And, you know there is no magical way to do that.
So, where to start?
After going through this myself with recurrent lymphoma and autoimmune issues, I determined that there are basically two simultaneous tracks that each of us needs to follow in order to find our way to living well with chronic illness. And, I work with my clients to make this happen.
TRACK ONE - Self-Advocacy in healthcare
The first track is continuing to find your medical answers and treatments. While a health coach does not give medical advice, they can provide resources, support, planning and encouragement as you navigate the healthcare system (whether that is traditional, integrative, etc.).
Having a health coach in your corner who has experienced what it is like to search for the right providers, and the right treatments, can be a game-changer. It is important to work with someone who knows what it is like to navigate roadblocks including insurance, referrals, waiting to get in to see a particular provider, all while feeling awful. It is also helpful to work with someone who understands what it feels like to be gaslit and minimized by certain healthcare providers. A health coach who has been there understands the challenge, can empathize with you and help you to create a practical plan to jump through the hoops that the healthcare system requires to get what you need.
After years of navigating the healthcare system myself, I understand that self-advocacy is crucial to getting the care that you need. I also understand that it is a long-game. I work with my clients to keep moving the ball forward in a way that works for them and their priorities. It is important to me that you get the care you need. It can be demoralizing to continually have barriers to care put up by insurance companies or healthcare providers, especially when you are vulnerable and feeling unwell. We work together to keep you going step-by-step, because getting the care you deserve is fundamental to managing, and potentially improving or healing, chronic conditions.
Read more about self-advocating in the healthcare system HERE.
Track two - Adopting A Holistic Approach
The second track to follow is taking a holistic approach to your life and health so that you are in the driver's seat. This ensures that you get what you want out of your life. A health coach can help you to consider all aspects of your life and how your chronic illness is impacting you. From there, we work together to gain clarity on your priorities and how we can work together to focus on your priorities and stressors so that you are living a life that is more aligned with what you want most. (Read more about taking a holistic approach HERE).
Taking a holistic approach typically includes making changes in habits and lifestyle. Most of us living with chronic illness could benefit from attention to our wellness (whether changes are prescribed by a healthcare provider or are self-prescribed). This could mean paying attention to rest, sleep, stress levels, nutrition, hydration, movement or finding more balance in your life. Taking steps to do what nurtures your underlying wellness is important to maintain or improve your health and well-being.
My approach to coaching people living with chronic illness is deeply rooted in taking actions that are realistic and flexible enough to adapt as your symptoms fluctuate. I know firsthand that it can detrimental to your health to "push through" and feel pressure to take actions when it is not realistic. Therefore, I think it is important to be compassionate with yourself and create expectations that take into account how you are feeling each day. (Read more about how to do this HERE).
Are you ready to THRIVE with chronic illness?
Explore how to work with me to find your unique path to living well with chronic illness through my one-on-one THRIVE coaching package.
Anchoring Your Chronically Well Journey With Health Coaching
For those grappling with chronic illness, choosing health coaching is nothing short of a decision to chart a new course. It is a bold step toward a life that is not defined by illness, but by your power to shape your own narrative. Whether it's reclaiming a sense of identity lost to the diagnosis or creating a plan for wellness amidst chronic illness, health coaching can provide hope and empowerment in your life with chronic illness.
It is time to seize the day and consider health coaching as part of your path to living a balanced and fulfilling life with chronic illness! I invite you to explore how to work with me through either my Chronically Well or THRIVE one-on-one coaching programs. Apply to work with me and we can set up a complimentary call to discuss how health coaching can get you to more ease and balance in life with chronic illness.
Seize the day and live the life you want!
What would be possible in your life if you had a clear path forward and the support you needed?
Does this resonate?Please share this post with friends! Click the menu on the right to share on social media.
