University of Arizona’s Integrative Health Coaching among Nation’s Elite

The Integrative Health Coaching program at the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine recently was accredited by the National Consortium for Credentialing Health & Wellness Coaches (NCCHWC), joining the ranks of only 11 other health coaching programs in the United States that have achieved this recognition.

According to the NCCHWC, an “explosion” of health and wellness coaching programs has occurred and it can be difficult to determine the expertise and quality of programs and those practicing as coaches. Therefore, the NCCHWC has established benchmarking criteria for the training and practice of health and wellness coaches.

 “The UA Center for Integrative Medicine boasts a strong foundation of faculty leaders and a long legacy of successfully training health professionals in practicing the absolute best patient care,” said Robert Crocker, MD, the Center’s director of strategic clinical planning and implementation and assistant professor of medicine at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson. “As proud as we are of what we’ve built, this recognition underscores and validates the strength of our Integrative Health Coaching program by an unbiased national authority in the field.”

The Center’s Integrative Health Coaching program, established last year through the UA College of Medicine – Tucson, is an interprofessional, six-month distance-learning program that trains licensed, registered integrative health professionals to empower patients in making transformational lifestyle and behavioral changes for sustainable wellbeing.

“It’s great that the Center’s Integrative Health Coaching program is being recognized as part of building a new industry standard,” said Andrew Weil, MD, Center founder and director and a pioneer of integrative medicine. “Integrative health coaching encourages practitioners to develop skills that will help them empower their patients or clients to make meaningful, sustainable changes in their way of living.”

An NCCHWC statement added, “The National Consortium for Credentialing Health & Wellness Coaches is delighted to announce that the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine has qualified to become an Approved Transition Program, per the NCCHWC’s standards. As a result, health and wellness coaches who have met NCCHWC’s requirements and completed the Integrative Health Coaching program will qualify to sit for the national exam, to be launched in 2016. We are in a time of deep collaboration with health and wellness coach training programs that are working diligently toward creating a national standard that will help further professionalize and advance the field of health and wellness coaching.”

“Our program is unique in that it combines the convenience and flexibility of an online training program, but our students also get to practice in small groups in real time from all over the country via Google Hangout, getting instant feedback from peers and mentor-supervisors,” said Molly K. Burke, MFA, UA Center for Integrative Medicine director of online education. “We also have very rigorous assessments in place to ensure our students graduate with the skills necessary to be powerful health coaches.”

For more information about the Integrative Health Coaching program, please visit https://awcim.arizona.edu/education/lifestyle/im_health_coaching.html

Media Contact: Keith LaBaw

Release Date: 
11/18/2015 - 8:30am