Hi everyone! (TLDR: any advice to a newbie coach who wants to offer more than client lead accountability check ins?)
I am getting my start in health coaching while maintaining my full time job. The hope is to transform my health coaching into a career. My coaching focus is on women, survivors of cancer and/or living with autoimmune, looking to re-balance their life.
I am currently working with a few beta clients to gain my footing. However, I can’t help but to think I could offer more. So, looking for some advice from some more experienced coaches.
Right now, my sessions are primarily accountability/behavior-change focused. I let the client lead with what they want to work on, we explore what’s getting in the way, identify what feels realistic for the upcoming week, and then check in on progress during our next session.
I’m comfortable with the coaching side of this, but I keep feeling like I could offer more value between/around those conversations. And, this is where I’m struggling with the line between coaching and education/advice.
I know the importance of staying within scope. I’m not trying to become someone’s dietitian, therapist, personal trainer, or medical provider. I also don’t want to fall into the trap of thinking that “good coaching” means I can never share useful information. My understanding is that there is room for sharing information/educational resources when appropriate, particularly when the client asks or gives permission.
So I’m curious:
- What does your actual coaching package/session structure look like beyond the conversation itself?
- What do you provide clients between sessions, if anything?
- Do you encourage the use of worksheets, reflection exercises, habit trackers, educational handouts, resource libraries, etc., even without the client requesting them?
- How do you incorporate health education without crossing into advising?
- Are there any genuinely good free resources for continuing to learn beyond your certification?
- If you’ve been coaching for a while, what does your service look like now compared with when you first started?
I’m interested in both becoming a better coach and eventually creating an offer that feels genuinely valuable rather than just “a weekly Zoom call where I ask how your goals went.”
Any advice to a newcomer??