By Duncan Rinehart, Ph.D, NBC-HWC
Aging coaching builds on the best of health and wellness coaching (HWC). To assist people in achieving the health and wellness they seek, HWC takes a whole person approach engaging client’s physical and emotional health, relationships, work, and spiritual life as they arise for the client. Aging coaching does this as well with an experienced focus on the concerns clients have as they approach and live beyond retirement. Aging coaching also can assist people in finding and using the advantages of aging. Though our youth-oriented society has little appreciation for its elders, moving into your sixties, seventies and beyond brings wonderful opportunities.
Opportunities of aging
Our senior years can give us the time and freedom to deeply explore our lives and legacy and to engage in the healing and/or changes we want to make. Old thought or behavior patterns, some from childhood, can be changed. Damaged relationships from the past can be healed. Looking back on our lives and work can bring not only perspective but also motivation to grow in other ways. Aging offers us opportunity to develop interests and parts of ourselves that career and raising a family did not allow time or energy for. While aging coaching is not psychotherapy, it does allow us to explore, heal, grow in ways that can give deep meaning, peace and completion to our lives.
What is aging coaching?
HWC itself is a fairly new field that is growing fast from changes in our health care system, our sedentary lifestyles, shortages in medical and mental health providers, and stress from social divisions and rapid changes. Aging coaching is emerging from HWC. Coach Ranks describes an aging coach as:
“…a professional who supports individuals through the transitions and challenges of middle age and beyond. They are experts in understanding the physical, emotional, and social changes that occur with age …helping individuals maintain a high quality of life throughout their later years. …aging coaching [is] not solely tied to the concept of transitioning into retirement. Instead, it addresses the overall journey of aging, making it relevant to anyone who is navigating this human experience.”
In addition, at least in my practice, aging coaching can facilitate more transformative inner work that is one of the opportunities/gifts of later-life. Many seniors find a need to reflect on their lives and relationships, to find some resolution and acceptance, to resolve sources of fear or pain; in the time they have left, to complete this life with peace and contentment. Aging coaching offers this as well.
If you would like a deeper look into the inner-transformative work of aging, see the books by Ron Pevney and by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Ronald Miller .
The bottom line
Aging coaching enables you to complete this life with whole person wellness.