Transform lives as a Certified Health Coach:
Train with the only health coaching program designed in collaboration with The Institute for Functional Medicine
As the only health coaching program established in collaboration with The Institute for Functional Medicine, our Health Coach Certification program is an immersive and in-depth training. In this 12-month online program, you’ll learn core coaching techniques and the principles of Functional Medicine and nutrition, mind-body medicine, and positive psychology.
Download our Info Packet to get all of your questions answered about the registration process, tuition and payment plans, curriculum, student life, continuing education, and more.
What you get when you join our Health Coach Certification Program
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Have questions? Need help? Call us anytime at 855-270-FMCA (3622)
Curriculum Overview
Month 12: Consolidating Learning, Tracking Progress, And Preparing To Move On
• Ethical guidelines and core competencies for certification • The Business of Coaching •The future of coaching • Overcoming fears • What coaches need to know about HIPAA
Month 11: The Functional Coaching Approach To Coaching Challenges
• Working with a functional medicine collaborative care team • Where to start when physician expectations are high and client motivation is low • How to keep coaching simple to prevent clients from becoming overwhelmed • Self-care in coaching • Review of functional medicine lab testing • Corporate wellness
Month 10: Running Group Wellness And Body Composition Programs
• Using character strengths to help clients who are overweight or underweight• Integrating detox into a healthy weight loss plan • Food plans for healthy weight loss • How to run virtual and clinic-based groups • Coaching clients with distorted relationships to food
Month 9: Coaching Strategies For Working Through Emotional Content
• Using character strengths to heal from depression and anxiety • Mood disorders, inflammation, toxicity and hormone imbalance • Mood foods: Managing challenging cravings • Reading food and supplement labels • Cooking for a healthy mind • Coaching behavior with wearables
Month 8: Coaching Strategies For Clients With Challenging Gastrointestinal And Immune Compromise Conditions
• Intestinal permeability and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth • Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity • The gut-brain-obesity link • Gut healing foods • Visualization to strengthen the immune response • Introduction to the business of coaching
Month 7: Integrating Detoxification Into A Functional Medicine Coaching Practice
• Shedding toxic thoughts • Toxins and illness • Ensuring a safe detox • Therapeutic foods to support detoxification • Influences of the food and advertising industries • Whole self detox: Mental-Emotional-Spiritual
Month 6: Creating And Sustaining Energy And Resiliency
• Techniques for implementing specific food and exercise plans • Common causes of fatigue and decline in resiliency • Function of the mitochondria in cellular energy production • Eating to increase energy and slow aging • Considerations for meal timing • Mindfulness and meditation for generating energy and resiliency • Navigating coaching challenges
Month 5: Improving Communication & Hormone Balance Through Positive Psychology And Functional Medicine
• Using character strengths to improve communication • Nonverbal communication in coaching • Stress, adrenal dysfunction and hormone balance • The thyroid connection • Insulin and hormone balance • Dietary impact on blood sugar regulation • Movement and physical activity for a healthy lifestyle • Dietary plans for hormonal issues • Emotional eating as a response to hormone fluctuations • Learning to use HeartMath
Month 4: Supporting Digestion & Reducing Inflammation Through Healthy Lifestyle And Behavior Change
• Digestion basics • Reducing inflammation through character strengths • Stress as a source of inflammation; inflammation as a source of stress • The Functional Medicine elimination diet • Sugar and inflammation • Emotional eating • Explaining the relaxation response • Inflammation-reducing imagery
Month 3: Targeting Goals With Values-Based Nutrition And Lifestyle Change
• Mindfulness-based strengths training • The Functional Medicine matrix • Diet and nutrition journal • Phytonutrients • Family, peer, cultural influences • Breathing techniques • Mindful eating • Goal setting
Month 2: The Power Of The Personal Narrative In The Coaching Conversation
• Recognizing character strengths • Listening to the story and developing a timeline • Effects of personality, age and gender on eating habits
Month 1: Coaching Fundamentals And Creating Positive Coaching Relationships
• Gain inspiration from leaders in functional medicine, positive psychology and coaching • Learn positive psychology fundamentals and basic coaching skills
The Only Health Coaching Program in Collaboration with The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)
Established in partnership with IFM, we share many of the same educators and curriculum with IFM’s practitioner training. Because of our partnership, we're the only health coaching program where you learn to “speak the language of Functional Medicine”—and that sets you apart for the rest of your career.
The Functional Medicine Coaching Academy is the only health coach certification program that has completely incorporated Functional Medicine and Functional Nutrition into the curriculum. The letters you’ll add after your name as a graduate—FMCHC—will let the world know you’re a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach.
NBHWC-Approved
As an Approved Health and Wellness Coach Training & Education Program with the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC, formerly ICHWC), graduates may choose to pursue board certification through NBHWC’s Health & Wellness Coach (HWC) Certifying Exam. The new credential, “National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach,” or NBC-HWC, is quickly become the indicator for coaches with the highest level of training available. Naturally, many of our graduates are choosing to sit for their NBC-HWC to take their certification to the next level.
Earn Continuing Education Credits
Our Health Coach Certification Program has received approval for Continuing Education with a variety of professional organizations. Below, you will find some of our current Continuing Education approvals. Download our Info Packet for more details.