by Duncan Rinehart, Ph.D. Yesterday, July 19, 2024, I sat in a cubicle at a Prometric testing center in Asheville, NC for four and one-half hours answering 150 multiple choice questions over a wide range of health coaching issues to become a board-certified coach. In the field of coaching this is a respected and “hard” test. People often study for months to prepare for it. I started studying for this test in February. I read or reread several books, participated in an online study group, and took a total of 9 practice tests to prepare for this. And this is after passing written and oral/performance examinations of my Wellcoaches program, passing the exam for Lifestyle Medicine coaching certification and logging over 50 coaching sessions with real people.
Credibility
This National Board exam is a big deal in the growing field of health and wellness coaching. This exam is created and administered through the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). When I get my results in 6 to 8 weeks, if I was successful yesterday, I will be a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) by the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC).
Why this is important
Why is this important enough for me to write this post for my blog? There are a few reasons. The biggest reason for me is that I can provide my clients with a credibly certified high standard of excellent coaching. So that in comparison to a high and independently set standard of practice, I know that I have the knowledge and skills to provide the best coaching. Also clients can have confidence in this new field of coaching and in the value they will receive from working with me.
Another reason is that as medical and psychological practitioners turn to coaches to help their patients make the changes they need for their health and happiness, I will have the credentials these practitioners expect so they can have confidence in the effectiveness of care their patients will receive.
A third reason is that as the effectiveness of health and wellness coaching becomes increasingly established through clinical studies, payers like Medicare, some health insurance companies and Health Spending Accounts/Flexible Spending Accounts are reimbursing for health coaching that is provided by coaches certified by NBHWC.
And finally, as a “senior citizen” myself, I can be among the few board-certified coaches specializing in working with seniors, in assisting people through the changes of the later years of life.
Conclusion
It felt good to finish the test, not only because it was a long process of preparation and the test itself was long and challenging, but also because I think I did ok. But I won’t know the results till September. Through my years in school and my years as a teacher, I have taken and written many tests. This one was difficult. Mostly because many questions provided scenarios of an interaction between a client and a coach, and the response choices required selecting the “best” answer among several good ones. It tested judgement as well as knowledge. I hope that sharing this with you will help you know more about the credibility of this fairly new field of health and wellness coaching.