As a coach, therapist, health coach, or dietitian, you probably see your clients more than most doctors see their patients.
That extra time allows you to build relationships and trust — key ingredients to getting customers out of a predicament.
Now here’s what you might not have known:
That relationship and trust can make you Seriously great sleep coach.
Why: A lot of emotional investment will help people change countless daily habits that affect sleep, says Chris Winter, MD, a leading sleep expert and author of several books. (consists of Solution for sleep and Child rest in peace) and expert contributor to PN’s Certified Sleep, Stress Management and Recovery.
“Trainers, therapists, health coaches and nutritionists can be positioned to do it better than doctors,” says Dr.
(And, yes, it’s really coming are from a sleep doctor.)
Plus, according to Dr. Winter…
No doctor gets enough sleep.
Long waiting lists keep people from getting the help they need — and some of those people suffer from mild sleep problems that really don’t go to the point of “I need a doctor to look at this problem.” this”.
Let the person know that their 4 p.m. cup of coffee keeps them up at night.
This person most likely doesn’t need a doctor. On the other hand, a sleep coach can help them identify and try a variety of strategies – eliminate caffeine slowly, substitute another activity at their break, drink a beverage instead. – until the customer finds the right type.
That’s just the beginning.
Sleep, stress management, and recovery coaching are often the missing links to achieving nutritional and fitness goals.
With specific training courses, you can help your clients go from feeling overwhelmed and slipping to feeling as if they can handle whatever life pushes them to.
(And life throws some cruel curves.)
The best news…
You probably HAVE some of the traits and skills needed to become a highly effective sleep, stress management, and recovery coach.
Here are three reasons why you’re perfect for the job.
Reason #1: Sleep and stress affect health and fitness… a lot.
Professional sports teams like the Red Sox hire sleep experts like Dr. Winter to help their players level up.
That’s because elite performers know:
Improved sleep and stress resilience lay the foundation for improved health and performance.
This is true for all humans, not just professional athletes.
Greg Wells, PhD, performance physiologist, author of Rest, refocus and rechargeand is a consultant for our Sleep, Stress Management, Recovery certification.
(Preach!)
Reason #2: You already have a lot of the qualities needed to help people change.
Maybe you’ve committed your life to helping people.
“That means, almost by default, you are empathetic and you have compassion,” says Dr. Wells.
In addition to those traits, you may also have developed many skills to help change behavior.
For example, you might know how to:
- Clarify people’s goals (and learn the important motivations behind them)
- Listen to (and really listen to) people
- Helping people convert old habits into healthier new behaviors
Despite all that, you may still feel inadequate when trying to help people deal with their sleep problems and manage their stress.
That’s where additional training can help. By gaining specific knowledge and expert techniques, you can build the confidence you need.
Reason 3: This is entirely within your practice.
Knowing when to mention sleep, stress, and recovery isn’t all that different from knowing when to mention health or fitness.
As a sleep coach, you can work with people to develop methods to improve the quality and quantity of sleep — but you can not diagnose their sleep apnea or insomnia, suggest doing a sleep study, or tweaking someone’s CPAP machine. They’ll want to see a doctor for that sort of thing.
Their doctor will likely prescribe some behavior changes:
- “There’s a better bedtime ritual.”
- “Practice these cognitive-behavioral therapies for insomnia exercises (CBT-I).”
- “Use CPAP consistently.”
And that’s where you come: You can really help your customers do these things… successful.
(If you ever have doubts about what is and isn’t the scope of your practice, see Scope of Practice Sheet.)
Lesson learned: While you can’t replace the value and necessity of your doctor, you can effectively help your client carry out his or her advice.
You’ve got the chopsticks. (Really.)
By learning how to help your clients improve sleep, manage stress and recover, you’ll add an edge to your coaching expertise and business.
But even better? You can help your clients move to levels of health they never realized was possible.
If you are a fitness and health coach…
Learning how to help clients manage stress, build resilience, optimize sleep, and recover can be profoundly transformative — for both of you.
It helps customers “release” and makes everything else easier — whether they want to eat better, exercise more, lose weight, or recover.
And for the coach: It gives you a prized skill set that will make you an elite change maker.
The brand new certification in Sleep, Stress Management and PN Level 1 Recovery Training will show you how.
You want to know more?
