Why Be An Eating Psychology Coach?

The professional field of coaching has exploded over the last decade, becoming more and more widespread. Why has this happened? Well, for a number of very good reasons. In terms of life and health coaching, many people are beginning to feel that there is more to life than simply making a living. Quality of life – having a sense that you’re living as fully as you can – matters. In addition, the stigma around seeking professional help has begun to subside. Culturally, we’re beginning to realize that there is no shame in seeking guidance when it’s needed.

Here is some of the good news about coaching in general:

Anyone can be a coach.

If your life’s path has given you insights and wisdom that you feel would be valuable to others going through similar experiences, you can begin to put that knowledge to use now. What you need is an understanding of the issues at hand, and the ability to empathize with your client as you recommend a course of action.

You only need to be one step ahead of your clients to help them.

There is a common misperception that coaches need to have their own lives completely perfect and all sorted out before they can support their clients. This just isn’t the case. In fact, if you’re still struggling with an issue, this may actually make it easier for you to understand where your clients are coming from. Yes, you should be a little farther down the road than your clients in order to have a sense of perspective to offer them, but a step or two ahead is all that’s needed.

Coaches reach a wide population.

While the stigma attached to seeking a coach may be lessening, many people still feel too embarrassed or self-conscious to see a therapist. There is still the fear that others will think there’s something “wrong with you” if you’re in therapy. Coaching, however, is often seen as more acceptable. Many people feel much safer and more comfortable with this kind of professional relationship, and with the goal-oriented nature of coaching.

Coaches offer advice, education, and support.

The role of a coach is unique because not only can coaches help their clients to explore some of the personal and emotional roadblocks getting in the way of their progress, they also provide them with the tools they need to start taking tangible steps forward.

Clearly, coaching offers many benefits, and can have a profound and powerful impact on the life of a client. So why become an Eating Psychology Coach in particular? Here are a few important reasons:

Eating Psychology Coaches use a positive psychology model.

The goal of positive psychology is to help the client achieve a more fulfilling life; it’s not just the treatment of a mental illness or “pathological” state of being. The aim is, in a sense, higher. Eating Psychology Coaches understand that unwanted eating habits can be a gateway into deeper emotional concerns, life lessons, or unmet needs, and they support the client’s exploration of those issues in order to help them live more fully.

[su_note_box_green_border]Explore more about how positive psychology can affect digestive health in our FREE video series – Dynamic Eating Psychology! You can access this Free Video Series HERE.[/su_note_box_green_border]

Eating Psychology Coaches are here to inspire.

The role of an Eating Psychology Coach is to encourage clients to reach for greater health and happiness. It is not to focus on all the ways in which they are “broken” or “unworthy.” Eating Psychology Coaches start from the basic assumption that we are all inherently worthy of a rewarding life. And they meet the client where they are, without judging the experience that the client is having. In this way, Eating Psychology Coaches are able to emphasize the positive steps the client wants to take, rather than dwelling on what the client perceives to be his or her “shortcomings.”

Eating Psychology Coaches support those who need help.

While a psychiatrist, for example, works with clients who have clinical and medical conditions, Eating Psychology Coaches work with the large range of people who may not have that kind of diagnosis, but who certainly need help and support. This is significant, because most of us recognize that it doesn’t take a medical condition for quality of life to be negatively impacted. Helping a client overcome overeating or calorie counting, for example, often has a profoundly positive effect on the client’s well-being.

Eating Psychology Coaches receive a highly unique education.

Here at the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, we train our coaches in Dynamic Eating Psychology, an approach that addresses all of who we are, body, mind, and soul. It’s a method that recognizes that true healing is not just about suggesting a dietary protocol. Rather, it’s about helping clients learn to love themselves regardless of what the scale says, to understand what’s going on in other areas of their lives, and to explore how these other aspects of life could be impacting what and how they eat.

Eating Psychology Coaches address issues a lot of us face.

Eating Psychology Coaches are educated to support their clients around binge eating, weight, digestion, mood, chronic dieting, immunity, fatigue, emotional eating, endless dieting, and more. These are extremely common issues faced by a large number of people, and many of them are unable to find the right kind of effective, results-oriented support because few approaches take the client’s life as a whole into account when recommending a course of action.

Eating Psychology Coaches are passionate.

Many of the people who become Eating Psychology Coaches have faced their own struggles with unwanted eating habits. As a result, they are usually quite passionate about helping others who are struggling with similar challenges. They love what they do, and find their work to be inspirational and rewarding.

If you’re inspired about what’s possible as an Eating Psychology Coach, then we invite you to learn more.

Our Eating Psychology Coach Certification Training is a powerful, information rich, 250-hour program that provides an unprecedented professional training that’ll leave you with a strong skill-set and the confidence to work with the most common and compelling eating concerns of our times – weight, body image, overeating, binge eating, emotional eating, endless dieting, digestion, fatigue, immunity, mood, and much more. We offer this training in a distance learning format that you can take from anywhere in the world. Graduates come away empowered around their own relationship with food, skilled in facilitating others, and confident to share their new gifts with the world

If you’re interested in our Eating Psychology Coach Certification Training, we invite you to learn more HERE.

We also welcome you to take a look at our NEW IPE Student Catalog – you can get your own copy HERE.

Warm Regards,

The Institute for the Psychology of Eating
© Institute For The Psychology of Eating, All Rights Reserved, 2018