Health Coach Talk: Conversations About Wellness Through Functional Medicine Coaching

Workplace wellness isn't just a hot topic for human resources departments or a recruitment tool. It is a tool that has been shown to help employees take control of their health and wellness. This week, Dr. Sandi discusses workplace wellness and menopause with expert Jaqueline Olivera-Cella of wellBe Consulting.

As a professional actuary, Jaqueline helps employees mitigate risks for their employees. Lately, her focus has been on employee health concerns and developing solutions for employers to implement. She recently created cases about menopause in the workplace and how women can care for themselves at work.

Health coaches can be instrumental in helping women navigate this time of their lives and advocate for themselves in the workplace. They ask questions and encourage their clients to be curious, especially when it comes to their health. Together, coaches and clients can pause and ask, "What is happening?" and then seek out answers. Health coaches are also essential in helping clients find the language to explain what is happening and express their needs while remaining professional. In the workplace, health coaches are not only a tool for employees to reach their health and wellness goals but also a guide to advocating for employee needs.

In This Episode:

• How can health coaches benefit employers and employees?
• Understand how menopause affects women in the workplace.
• Learn more about Jaqueline's publications and cases about workplace wellness.
• How menopause can affect women in the workplace and ways to advocate for yourself.

One of the most confusing parts of health and wellness is nutrients. What should you be getting? How can you get them? Can you get everything you need from food? Should you take supplements? Which ones? With so much information out there, it is difficult to filter the good information from the bad. This is where a health coach can help.

This week Dr. Sandi discusses all things nutrients with expert Chris Kresser. Did you know that 90% of Americans are deficient in several micro-nutrients? Chris explains some of the reasoning behind this statistic and why even those who eat healthy and nutrient-dense diets might not be getting enough vitamins. Moreover, Chris explains the importance of nutrient synergy and how some nutrients work hand-in-hand to keep you healthy.

Chris Kresser has made it his mission to provide safe and effective supplements to people worldwide. He shares what to look for when shopping for supplements and highlights the three biggest problems he finds with many supplement brands.

In this Episode:

• Learn how nutrition synergy affects nutrient absorption
• Hear how whole foods are losing nutrition quality
• Understand what you should be looking for in a supplement brand
• Know the 3 big problems to look out for when purchasing supplements

Six thousand women enter menopause in the United States every day. Yet many people don't know the difference between premenopause, perimenopause, and actual menopause. This week, Dr. Sandi welcomes Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz to share her expertise. Dr. Suzanne is the Chief Medical Correspondent for the Drew Barrymore Show and author of Menopause Bootcamp.

Menopause isn't "one-size-fits-all." From plant-based options to pharma to self-care, Dr. Suzanne shares her menopause toolkit. She discusses various tools and treatments available for women to help with the effects of menopause. Moreover, she and Dr. Sandi discuss how health coaches can be an excellent resource for women during this time.

Menopause and post-menopause are significant parts of a woman's life. It isn't an ending; it's a transition into a new period of life. So, let's talk about it.

Episode Highlights:

• Understand the difference between menopause and peri-menopause
•  Learn Dr. Suzanne's 6 S's of Self-Care
•  Hear about the benefits of plants and plant medicine
•  Dr Suzanne shares the various tools available for pre-, post-, and menopausal women

Functional Medicine Coaching Academy graduates are changing the world. Alum Shawn Blymiller is making a difference in the lives of families one coaching session at a time. This week, Dr. Sandi sits down with Shawn Blymiller of Pure Living and Pure Living Family to discuss his work in building a successful business and non-profit. He is helping kids and families with special needs thrive.

In 2018, Shawn's son was diagnosed with Autism and PANDAS a year later. This started Shawn and his wife's journey to discovering functional medicine, health coaching, and FMCA. Shawn saw firsthand how health coaching can improve the lives of families and children with special needs. However, he also knows that those families don't always have the resources available to hire health coaches.

This inspired Shawn to create Pure Living and Pure Living Family, a non-profit built on a model inspired by Toms creator Blake Mycoskie, and raised $30,000 to help give families with special needs access to health coaching. Now these families can start thriving.

In This Episode:

• Hear Shawn's inspiring story of finding functional medicine and health coaching.
• See the steps taken to create a health coaching-based non-profit.
• Take a look at how Pure Living is helping coaches build client lists and work with corporations.
• Learn how you can help families with special needs access health coaching.

Everyone loves the delicious smells of baking bread or cookies, gardens in the springtime, or fresh fruit ready to eat. But did you know that those smells have a significant impact on your eating habits? This week, Dr. Sandi welcomes Rachel Herz, a neuroscientist and expert on the psychological science of scents and smells.

Without a sense of smell, food wouldn't be the same. According to Herz, aroma has such an impact on our taste that it can genuinely make a difference in the enjoyment of eating. Sure, the mouth can taste the five different flavors (salt, spice, sugar, sour, and umami) and feel the texture of the food, but the smell gives us complex flavors and tastes that draw us to our favorite foods. Moreover, food scents drive cravings and hunger, influencing our food decisions in ways you might not believe.

Episode Highlights

• Learn why your sense of taste mostly comes from your sense of smell.
• Understand why smelling sweets or fast food for a few minutes leads people to eat healthier options.
• Get tips and tricks on how you can improve your sense of smell.
• Hear about how you can make the most out of your eating experience by adding a bit of mindfulness.

Find the transcript here: https://functionalmedicinecoaching.org/podcast/rachel-herz-074/

Starting a health coaching business can be a daunting task. Where do you start? What do new health coach graduates need to get started? How do you make your first sale? This week, Dr. Sandi sits down with expert business coach for health coaches, Hailey Rowe.
Hailey Rowe has a passion for health and a calling to help health coaches make the most out of their health coaching business. She guides coaches at all levels through everything from first steps to finding clients to growing sales. Her insight into sales and marketing in the health coaching industry is invaluable. Hailey shares her best advice, such as the benefits of getting a "No," examples of great content, like lead magnets, and walks through her 4 Steps of Client Attraction. In This Episode: ~ Learn the 4 Steps of Client Attraction
~ Gain insight into how you can grow your business.
~ Understand what you need to get your health coaching business started.
~ Hear Hailey and Dr. Sandi's tips on making your first sale.

s the healthcare landscape changes, it's becoming more and more important for patients to become their own healthcare advocates. This week, Dr. Sandi welcomes the Medical Advocate, Dr. Howard Elkin. Trained as a cardiologist, Dr. Elkin worked in healthcare for years before finding himself on the other side of the table. After having a heart attack, despite living a healthy lifestyle and having no family history of cardiovascular disease, he realized that there were serious problems in healthcare.

Known as the Medical Advocate, Dr. Elkin's mission is to help empower patients to embrace their ability to be in charge of their health. He has built a "patient bill of rights" and encourages everyone to be their advocate, be their own first opinion. Dr. Elkin shares his opinions on the importance of building relationships between doctors and patients, the benefits of lifestyle medicine, and how to advocate for heart disease testing.

In This Episode:

• Learn what it takes to be your own health advocate.
• Discover the benefits of building a good patient/doctor relationship.
• Gain insight into how lifestyle medicine can improve heart health.
• Check out Dr. Elkin's YouTube channel for more in-depth conversations about heart health.

Can artificial intelligence be used to improve overall health? This week Dr. Sandi discusses how AI is being integrated into healthcare with Jona founder, Leo Grady. After working with and developing artificial intelligence systems for the last 20 years, Grady has put this important tool to work helping people live healthier lives.

AI is currently being used to help people analyze and assess their gut microbiomes. So much of our health is impacted by our microbiome, health coaches know it is an important part of health and wellness. Jona uses AI as a tool to help provide clients with research-backed recommendations to improve their health.

AI is becoming a vital tool in healthcare. Learn how health coaches can use AI to help guide their clients along their health and wellness journey.

Episode Highlights

• Understand how artificial intelligence is being used by healthcare companies.
• Learn how health coaches can coach clients through AI-generated results and recommendations from tests such as those from Jona.
• Gain insight into Jona Health and how clients can use their DTC lab tests.
• Discover how artificial intelligence provides research-backed recommendations to customers.

Aging isn't a bad thing. Instead of trying to find the best anti-aging solutions, consider instead living a more pro-aging lifestyle. Consider a life of longevity. This week, Dr. Sandi discusses all the ways she embraces longevity and how she remains pro-aging in a world of anti-aging.

Dr. Sandi shares her 6 keys to longevity. These keys help to bolster the mind and body as you age. Through functional movement, social connections, diet, and more, you can age well and avoid some of the common issues that can develop as you age. From micro-connections to resistance training to staying curious, see how you can easily add these actions into your daily routine.

In this Episode:

• Understand the benefits of building and maintaining social connections.
• Learn the connection between aging, protein, and resistance training.
• See how staying curious can help you find meaningful work in your later years.
• Check out additional resources on these topics from industry experts, JJ Virgin, Mark Hyman, Gabrielle Lyons, and Debra Atkinson.

Mental health and mental health care have only gotten worse since 2020. It's becoming harder and harder for people to make appointments to see therapists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals. This week Dr. Sandi discusses mental health, health coaching, and collaborative care with the founder of Intuitive Mental Health, Ravi Hariprasad.

With the state of healthcare today, many turn to their primary care physicians(PCP) for mental healthcare. Approximately 80% of all anti-depressants are prescribed by PCPs. Intuitive Mental Health is a startup that is working to help PCP to deliver comprehensive and personal mental healthcare support. Ravi shares his thoughts and expertise on what the future of mental healthcare can look like when combining collaborative care, lifestyle medicine, and AI technology.

Episode Highlights

• Understand the state of mental healthcare in the US today.
• See how health coaches can fit into the Intuitive Mental Health collaborative care model.
• How can lifestyle medicine be added to a collaborative care model for mental healthcare.
• Learn how AI and tracking technology can assist physicians in the future.

Insurance billing and reimbursement is a complex topic that can be difficult to navigate. This week Dr. Sandi discusses recent changes to Medicare and Medicaid billing that affect health coaches in 2024. She is joined by FMCA educator and insurance billing expert Sonda Kunzi of Coding Advantage.

If you are new to medical billing or want a better understanding of how it affects health coaching, listen up. Sonda covers the basics of the three billing categories, how health coaching currently fits into these categories and potential future changes for our industry. What's more, Sonda discusses different ways health coaches can work with physicians to potentially be reimbursed for their services.

In This Episode:

• Understand the CMS changes to Medicare and Medicaid for 2024 related to health and well-being telehealth services.
• What are the different insurance billing categories and what do they mean?
• Learn how health coaches can potentially get insurance reimbursement.
• How to use this knowledge to sell your services and partner with physicians.

Bone health is a concern many think they don't have to worry about until they are older. Many think about it as mostly an issue for older women. That is not always the case, however. This week Dr. Sandi talks all about bones and bone health with expert Kevin Ellis, aka The Bone Coach.

Kevin Ellis was diagnosed with osteoporosis at a young age. After learning that he had celiac, a doctor suggested that he take a bone density test as celiac leads to nutrient malabsorption. That test would change his life. After learning all that he could about the condition and becoming a certified health coach, Ellis created a program to help others combat bone loss naturally. Osteoporosis doesn't make a person weak. Actually, according to Ellis, the best way to fight back against bone loss is to become stronger, healthier, and optimistic.

In This Episode:

• What tests are available to get a full picture of your bone health?
• The difference between osteoporosis and osteopenia.
• How are gut health and bone health connected?
• Dr. Sandi shares her routine for building bone strength.

Encouraging clients to eat better only works if they have the resources available to make it happen. A common barrier to eating healthful is cooking. Some clients may not have the culinary skills, while others might not have the time, which can lead to pre-prepared, processed, or take-out dinners. This week, Dr Sandi speaks with Olivia Thomas about her revolutionary digital platform, Rewire Health, which helps make cooking healthy foods easier for everyone.

Episode Highlights

• Learn about the practice of culinary medicine.
• What does the Rewire Health platform teach users about healthy eating?
• How can health coaches use Rewire Health in their coaching practice?
• Hear how personalization in recipes and cooking can help clients start eating healthier.

How can we keep the human connection in healthcare while still taking advantage of modern technologies? Dr. Sandi and her guest, Casey Hughes explore answers to that important question this week.

Episode Highlights

• How can technology aid health coaches?
• Learn how health trackers can sometimes be terrible for clients.
• Understand the importance of human connection in changing behavior.
• Better understand the crossroads between human connection, technology, and psychology.

Where can a health coaching career take you? Many people considering a health coaching education or graduating from a program like FMCA wonder what comes next. This week Dr. Sandi shares her list of 26 Career Opportunities for Health Coaches.

While most think of health coaches working solely within medical offices, that is only one of the many career opportunities available for health coaches. As health coaching grows, more and more industries are hiring health coaches. Corporations are hiring health coaches to help their employees. Schools are hiring coaches to assist students. Even grocery stores are hiring coaches to help shoppers. There are opportunities everywhere for health coaches to thrive.

Episode Highlights

• Get ideas for new health coaching businesses.
• Learn which industries are hiring health coaches.
• Be inspired to create your unique career in health coaching.
• Think outside the box when looking for a health coaching position.

This week Dr. Sandi welcomes Chief Wellness officer at Evolution Hospitality, keynote speaker, author, and physician, Dr. Romie Mushtaq to talk about brain health, burnout, and health coaching in corporate wellness. As a physician, Dr. Mushtaq suffered from severe burnout. She shares her experience with discovering mindfulness, meditation, and other ways to quiet her busy mind. Dr. Mushtaq and Dr. Sandi discuss recent studies on the impact of health coaches in cognitive health, as well as how coaches can reduce burnout in the corporate world.

What's more, Dr. Mushtaq offers coaches insight into her eight-week program to help reduce anxiety, improve sleep, and increase focus, which is found in her book The Busy Brain Cure. Learn how you can help your clients quiet their busy brains and improve their wellness.

In This Episode:

• How can coaches and clients recognize burnout?
• Learn about the Busy Brain Test.
• See how health coaches can help clients avoid burnout in a corporate setting.
• Read about Dr. Mushtaq's eight-week program to quiet a busy brain.

This week Dr. Sandi sits down with Anindita Rungta, an FMCA alum who is working on functional medicine health coaching awareness in India. After her daughter's struggle with eczema put her in the ICU, Anindita searched for a kinder way to treat her daughter. This search introduced her to Functional Medicine, and eventually, FMCA. When she joined FMCA in 2017, health coaching and functional medicine weren't really practiced in India.

Since then Anidnita has worked hard to build her own practice, inform local doctors of the benefits of health coaching, and help her fellow FMCA graduates across India begin coaching. Anindita shares her story about embarking on her health coaching journey, how she found functional medicine, and how health coaching is growing in India.

In This Episode:

• Discover how Health Coaching is creating a positive impact in India.
• Hear Anindita's story about finding functional medicine.
• Learn how she is using her certification to spread the word about health coaching.
• Get advice on how to start your own coaching business.

True health is not done in isolation, it takes collaboration. This week Dr. Sandi welcomes Dr. Monisha Bhanote, one of the few quintuple board-certified physicians in the country. Dr. Bhanote is passionate about creating a happier and healthier world, and she does so by working closely with health coaches to form an exceptional collaborative care team for her patients.

While doctors and physicians possess extensive knowledge in diagnosing and treating ailments, effective communication with patients can sometimes be a challenge. This communication gap can often lead to confusion and misunderstanding on the part of the patient. That's where health coaches come in. They bring a unique set of communication skills that complement the expertise of doctors. This powerful combination of medical knowledge and communication skills is the secret behind achieving optimal health outcomes.

In This Episode:

• What are the benefits of health coaches working alongside physicians?
• See what a collaborative care team looks like from a doctor's point of view.
• Learn how Dr. Bhanote uses mind-body medicine to un-stick her patients.
• Check out Dr. Bhanote's book, The Anatomy of Well-Being.

Discover groundbreaking developments in health coaching research! In this week's episode, Dr. Sandi presents new findings exploring profound impact health coaching can have on preventing and treating cognitive decline. She also shares research highlighting the potential of adopting a systems biology approach, revealing how addressing nutrient deficiencies can improve or even eliminate various symptoms. Lastly, Dr. Sandi unveils a compelling report that spans nearly two decades of research, evaluating the overall effectiveness of health coaching.

Visualization and imagination are powerful tools that can be used to help you achieve your goals. This week, Dr. Sandi discusses the power of Functional Imagery Training (FIT) with industry leader Joanna Grover.

Grover was trained in FIT and made it her mission to give others access to the world of imagery to help shape human behavior. FIT uses imagery to override natural imagery to help people reach a goal. Whether that goal is to live a healthier lifestyle, manage stress, or overcome fear and hesitation. Grover shares success stories from athletes and business leaders. Learn how you can use the power of FIT in your own life or in your coaching practice.

In this episode, join Dr. Sandi as she sits down with Stefanie Defiglia, a highly experienced Functional Medicine Nurse Practitioner. With a background as a John Hopkins trained nurse practitioner, Stefanie felt compelled to explore new avenues beyond the limitations of conventional medicine. This journey led her to discover the power of Functional Medicine and IFM.

As an IFM certified practitioner, Stefanie is an expert in addressing health concerns using cutting-edge tools like the IFM Elimination Diet. However, embarking on behavior changes can be challenging for patients. Tune in to discover how Stefanie works with health coaches to provide the best outcomes for her patients.

Who helps healthcare professionals stay healthy? How can they feel supported in their self-care? This week Dr. Sandi is joined by Dr. Robyn Tiger, the founder of Stress Free MD. Dr. Tiger's mission is to help support people with their self-care, specifically in the physician community. Doctors across the medical field are burning out, overworked, and frustrated with the healthcare system, which can affect how they work with their patients. Dr. Tiger works to partner doctors with health coaches.

In this episode:

• Learn how health coaches can help doctors with self-care.
• What can doctors learn from health coach training?
• How does AI fit into the future of health coaching?
• How do patients benefit from their doctors working with a health coach?

Join Dr. Sandi on a riveting journey through the cutting-edge world of functional medicine health coaching. In this episode, she unveils three groundbreaking research papers that shed light on the profound impact of health coaching in the realm of chronic illness management. Dr. Sandi always says, "Health coaching is the new primary care," and these new studies showcase the truth in that statement. According to one study, health coaching improved workforce outcomes. Another showed the benefits of collaborative care teams for both patients and physicians. Health coaching is improving healthcare and the research confirms it.

In This Episode:

• Learn how health coaching resulted in positive outcomes for aging adults.
• See what doctors are saying about working in collaborative care teams
• Does health coaching improve labor outcomes?
• How is health coaching improving outcomes for patients with type 2 diabetes?

This week, Dr Sandi speaks with health coaching superstar Hally Brooke about how she went from FMCA student to thriving business owner. After graduating from FMCA, Hally started discussing health coaching with her personal training clients.

Thanks to the power of word-of-mouth marketing, before she knew it, her calendar was full and her new business was growing exponentially. Today, Live Nourished Coaching is a premier health coaching agency connecting clients and physicians with health coaches. Learn how to start building a business that helps you achieve your coaching mission.

In This Episode

• Learn how Hally started building a business through word-of-mouth.
• Tips and tricks to starting your own thriving health coaching business.
• Understand how coaches and coaching businesses can work with functional medicine physicians.
• See what Live Nourished Coaching can do for FMCA graduates.

Explore the transformative power of muscle-centric medicine. Dr. Gabrielle Lyons, the author of "Forever Strong," delves into the crucial role of skeletal muscle as a vital endocrine organ and its profound influence on other facets of our well-being, particularly as we age. Discover why skeletal muscle is the key to longevity and more than mere physical strength. Dr. Sandi and Dr. Lyons unravel the significance of muscle, the effectiveness of weight training, and the pivotal role of protein.

In This Episode:

• What is muscle-centric medicine and how it can help with longevity?
• Learn more about Dr. Lyon's new book, Forever Strong.
• Tips and tricks for weight training no matter your age.
• Hear about Dr. Sandi's personal experience with weight training.

When Beth Lambert became a mother, she started noticing that children were not okay. Many were suffering from gut health issues, sensory issues, autism or ADHD. She wanted to find out what was wrong with this generation of kids and how to combat it. After studying functional medicine and holistic medicine, Beth created Epidemic Answers, a resource for parent and professionals who want to know more about how to treat these conditions through lifestyle changes. Her goal is to show that there is hope in overcoming these chronic illnesses.

In This Episode:

• What makes this new generation of children different?
• Explore Epidemic Answers and how it can help parents.
• Discover how health coaches are making a difference with families.
• Learn about the Documenting Hope Project.

How can tracking health data enhance overall healthcare? This week, Sandi sits down with FMCA graduate Omar Shaker to discuss doctor burnout and health data. After working as a doctor, Omar experienced burnout firsthand. He thought he was the only one, but it turns out burnout is common among healthcare workers. After this experience, he looked into ways doctors can re-engage with their patients. Turns out, the answer can be found in data tracking.

What inspires a health coaching journey? On this episode, Sandi is joined by Alessandra Miele, who shares her journey from running a Yoga studio to becoming a health coach. So many people who discover functional medicine and health coaching do so after a health diagnosis or another life event. Allesandra shares what inspired her, and discusses what it's like to be a student at FMCA. Listen along!

Robert Luby, Director of Medical Education at IFM and FMCA faculty member, discusses how doctors and health coaches can work together to transform healthcare. With the democratization of healthcare and patients looking to take their health into their own hands, doctors want to go beyond the conventional to improve patient outcomes.

Doctors ask “What is wrong with you,” while health coaches ask “What is strong with you?” Together it equals progress for patients.

Functional Medicine is all about addressing the root cause of illness. FMCA graduate Matt Portwood has taken the principle of "searching for the root cause" to another level. Matt explains how he went from job-hopping to graduating from FMCA and owning his own business. Now he addresses not just health concerns, but business problems with a "searching for the root cause" mentality.

Matt Portwood owns Chronic Health Club and founded Healthy + Whole, which works to make health coaching available to all regardless of income. He hopes to expand his efforts. You can follow him @healthyandwholeyou on social media.

FMCA graduate and serial learner Ashley Taylor Haupt sits down with Dr. Sandi on this week's episode of Fresh From FMCA. Ashley started her journey to becoming a health coach as a board-certified nurse. She first enrolled in the Health Coach Institute, but felt she needed more practice and wanted to qualify to take the NBHWC board exam. This led her to FMCA.

After completing two health coaching programs and her years of education to become a nurse, Ashley is still learning something new every day. She shares how she continues to learn and grow with every client she works with. What's more, she discusses ways she can see health coaches and nurses can work together after working as both a nurse and health coach in a hospital setting.

Chris McClay, FMCA graduate, plant-based chef, and Recode 2.0 coach, shares her story about how she was able to coach her mother through her Alzheimer's disease, which lead to significant improvements in cognitive behavior. Chris also shares about finding her niche in health coaching, as well as how she was able to help others through her video, "Saving Livia."

Dr. Sandi sits down with Suzie Glaskie, founder of Peppermint Wellness and host of the Midlife Illuminated Podcast, to talk about shifting careers into health coaching. Glaskie is a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach and a graduate of FMCA. Her first career was as a PR boss, but after a loss in her family and a strong draw to holistic healing, she decided to make a big career change. She found health coaching and is now using both her PR and health coaching skills to help others thrive.

Glaskie admits that changing her career was scary, but she followed her passions and kept moving forward. Listen as she and Dr. Sandi share stories of her first AIC conference, how she made so many mistakes while interviewing Dr. Mark Hyman, and just how terrified she was before starting her podcast.

Join Dr. Sandra Scheinbaum, FMCA Founder & CEO, and Dr. Nathan Price, Chief Scientific Officer of Thorne Healthtec and author of The Age of Scientific Wellness, as they discuss how health coaches will make an impact during an age of Scientific Wellness.

Scientific Wellness focuses on preventative medicine, addressing health issues before there are even symptoms if possible. By focusing on four important Ps of health - Predictive, Personalized, Preventative, and Participatory - Scientific Wellness will be a major factor in future wellness. People want care that focuses on prevention, which is where Functional Medicine health coaches can make a significant impact.

To learn more about FMCA and Functional Medicine health coaching, follow us on social media and explore our website.

Can leveraging accountability, community, and empathy transform the healthcare paradigm?

Join Dr. Sandra Scheinbaum, FMCA Founder and CEO, with Sachin Patel, Founder of Perfect Practice Mentorship, as they discuss one of the most important roles in healthcare: the health coach. By focusing on a whole body plan, partnering with a health coach can create results when all else has failed. Helping others see what they don't see in themselves is the transformative catalyst.

"Coaches teach you skills ... not pills." – Sachin Patel

Join Dr. Sandi, FMCA Founder and CEO, and Ellen Rudolph, Founder + CEO at WellTheory and FMCA graduate, as they delve into supporting women with autoimmune diseases. Embracing whole-body care, education, and community is the support that enables them to become the best version of themselves.

WellTheory is on a mission to reverse the autoimmune epidemic. Combining food as medicine, community care, and personalized insights from health data to build a membership experience that supports women in their autoimmune journey.

Supported by data-driven, science-based research, and published studies.

FMCA graduate draws on health coaching as she specializes in strategic and organizational development.  

Join Dr. Sandi, FMCA Founder and CEO, and Rebecca Thieneman, Vice President, Nutrition of Monj Health, in this inspiring conversation about the ever-expanding landscape of health coaching. FMCA recently partnered with Monj to offer Continuing Education Units to our alumni community.

MonjCOOKS™ for Coaches is the perfect course to keep coaching credentials current while learning how to make healthy food taste delicious from Chopped Champion Chef Eliza Martin. Plus, get the scoop from our Head of Coaching on how to level up coaching skills beyond motivational interviewing, and help clients reach their food goals.

Supported by data-driven, science-based research, and published studies.

How does "reimbursable value" drive the expansion of the health coaching industry? 

Dr. Sandi, FMCA Founder and CEO, with Leigh-Ann Webster, the Executive Director of The National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) give an inside view of the Category I CPT code with reimbursable value for the health and wellness coaching industry. The NBHWC recently applied for the Category I code and is set to present its case to the American Medical Association (AMA) CPT Panel Review. 

As a reimbursable service, the health and wellness coaching industry is projected to be widely recognized in healthcare, industries, employee health plans, unions, digital health companies, technology, school systems, government entities, all branches of the military, and entrepreneurial businesses.

There’s never been a better time to train as a health coach and enter this rewarding profession. As of 2022, there were approximately 23,000 health coaches in the United States. This figure will increase rapidly, as health coaching is poised for tremendous growth.

Choosing where to train can be confusing, as the number of programs keeps growing. Currently, 114 schools earned approval from the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC). Many other programs offer certification but are not NBHWC-approved. Although most of these schools share some standard features, such as remote learning, their philosophies, type of training, and the overall quality of the educational experience vary widely.

Join Dr. Sandi as she identifies the most important questions to ask when choosing the best program for you.

"At the end of the day, YOU know which program feels right. Find a program that aligns with your values, one that resonates with your passions and goals."

– Dr. Sandi

Can the impact of health coaching shift the worsening trend of physician burnout?

Dr. Sandi, FMCA Founder and CEO, with Dr. Robyn Tiger, lead faculty and stress management subject matter expert for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and founder of StressFreeMD, join perspectives on the documented value of health coaching. The inhibitor in our current system is not seeing the human as the whole person. Re-imagining the basis of "what's the matter with you?" toward the more empowering "what matters to you?" is the catalyst.

We're on the same team, how can we help each other? – Dr. Robyn Tiger

Supported by data-driven, science-based research, and published studies.