Health Coach

Are Health Coaches Regulated?

While “health coaching” has been shown in studies to be useful for improving physical health, the term “health coach” is currently unregulated. That means anyone can give themselves this title. The same goes for wellness coaching, which is why we also have health and wellness coaches.

Regulation is the people’s representation for the profession through the government, usually administered as a college like as doctors, physiotherapists or RMT's. Regulators set the bar for professionals and handle complaints, but to date health coaching remains an unregulated industry.

These laws do not exist for health coaches leaving only the health coach associations who already represent health coaches. They advocate for members and offer their members the title of certified health coach. They are important organizations representing the practitioners to help with their education, marketing and professional rights, and they also accept consumer complaints.

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Certified Health Coach Boards

In Canada the main association is a national board called Health Coach Alliance (HCA). The national commission in the US is the National Society of Health Coaches (NSHC) and the International Association of Health Coaches (IAHC) joins members internationally. The HCA is a sister organization to the Canadian Association for Integrative Nutrition, a well established nutritionist association and a demonstration of how closely these professions are tied.

Health Certification is also available from the American Council on Exercise (ACE), a well established certification board for personal trainers. Again, this link is a testament to the niche that health coaches occupy between personal training and nutrition.

Can a Kinesiologist be a Health Coach?

As long as kinesiologists work within their scope of practice and work in collaboration with their client's professionals health team, they are perfectly suited for health coaching. Members of a kinesiology association carry insurance, abide by a code of ethics and adhere to strict qualifications such as an undergraduate degree and first aid.

So kinesiologists have both a degree and continuing education giving them knowledge around a wide variety of wellness and fitness topics including weight loss, hypertension, aging and chronic diseases. Kinesiologists are trained to use an evidence based approach in their practice. This level of training ensures that you are receiving a service based on the most up to date science health trends.

Do My Benefits Cover a Health Coach?

A health coach helps all sorts of people to improve their health. Engineers, doctors, lawyers, marketers, programmers, managers and leaders are examples of folks who are busy with a career and might not have time to also optimize their health.

Health and wellness coaches in the corporate environment are perfectly trained to oversee corporate wellness programs. A wellness coach helps private companies make sure staff achieve their desired level of physical activity through tips,  fitness programs and training. Employers can rely on a health coach for research-backed guidance to keep their staff happy and healthy.

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Why Choose Symmetrix for your Health Coach?

Symmetrix was voted Vancouver Top Kinesiology studio for 2022 by the Top Choice awards, and our clinical director Dasha Maslennikova was named Kinesiologist of the year in 2021. Our team of health professionals have helped thousands become physically active and achieve a healthy lifestyle.

Kinesiology is the study of human movement, so our kinesiologists are experts in exercise and active rehabilitation. In addition to providing personal training and active rehab to clients, our kinesiologists use coaching to help clients overcome or better manage their roadblocks and impediments for a better life.

As a team of 10 we’ve helped thousands of clients achieve their health goals. Over the past 3 decades our team of kinesiologists have trained everyone from students to olympic athletes. In the years that followed, we earned the trust of attorneys, physiotherapists, physicians and other health practitioners throughout the Lower Mainland. We are proud of our hard-earned reputation of the highest quality service and care for our clients.

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