What is Health Coaching?

Social Prescriber, Carol Stockman, talks us through what Health Coaching is and how the Cotswold Community Wellbeing Service use this to help you.

HEALTH COACHING is used by us as Social Prescribers (Cotswold Community Wellbeing Service) in helping clients become more accountable in their own health behaviours.

We work ‘with’ clients not ‘for them’, encouraging them to make changes that will improve both their health and wellbeing. Coaching is about change, transformation and the ability to grow and to create new ways of thinking. As individuals we can sometimes focus on “I can’t do that” but how about thinking but “I can do this”. Our conversations with clients challenge their present belief systems.

We want to work with clients to transform goals into action and by using behaviour change techniques, together we look at Goal Setting, Action Planning, Self-Monitoring and Reviewing with follow up meetings. We want to do what we can to help clients to help themselves.

Before any change can happen a client needs to believe that there is an advantage to change and MUST be willing to put in the effort into making it happen. By using the following SMART steps together we can reach a positive outcome.

S – Specific

M- Measurable

A – Achievable

R – Realistic

T – Timely

By taking small steps and just one or two things at a time we can encourage and bring about change. When a client has decided on a goal we then look at what they will do, when will they do it, where will they do it. By self-monitoring a client will be able to record what they have done. This can be done with a simple written chart or phone app. Our engagement with clients looks at what is working well (or not so well), challenges along the way, changes that need to be made, bad days ( we all have them don’t we) and celebrating personal achievements.

We are here for YOU! The best bit is that the Cotswold Community Wellbeing Service is FREE. Get in touch and find out more about the service by heading to our dedicated page.