Wellness Coaching Interest Area

Interested in helping people make meaningful, lasting changes in their health and well-being? Wellness coaching may be a great fit for you.

Students from across Weber State can build practical wellness coaching skills that complement a wide range of majors and career paths. Whether you’re studying health promotion, nutrition, psychology, social work, nursing, exercise and sport science, physical education, healthcare, or another people-focused field, wellness coaching can strengthen your ability to communicate effectively, support behavior change, and help others move toward healthier, more meaningful goals.

What is Wellness Coaching?

Most people already know many of the things they could do to improve their health. The harder part is actually making those changes stick.

That’s where wellness coaching comes in.

Wellness coaching is a collaborative, client-centered approach that helps people clarify what matters to them, create a meaningful vision for their health and well-being, set realistic goals, work through obstacles, and build confidence as they make changes.

Instead of simply telling someone what to do, a wellness coach learns how to listen, ask great questions, uncover motivation, recognize strengths, and help people develop their own path forward.

The field draws from behavior-change science, coaching psychology, motivational interviewing, positive psychology, and other evidence-informed approaches to helping people grow and change.

Explore Wellness Coaching at Weber State

Students interested in wellness coaching should consider these courses:

 

HLTH 1110 — Stress Management (3 credits)
Explore how stress affects health and learn practical, evidence-informed approaches for managing it.

 

HLTH 2400 — Mind/Body Wellness (3 credits)
Explore the connections among thoughts, emotions, behavior, physical health, and overall well-being.

 

HLTH 4700 — Wellness Coaching (3 credits)
This is where you really get to learn how to coach. You’ll study the science and theory behind effective coaching—and then put it into practice.
 

What Will I Learn?

Wellness coaching is a people skill, so you won’t learn it simply by memorizing information.

You’ll have opportunities to develop and practice skills such as:

  • Active and mindful listening

  • Asking powerful, open-ended questions

  • Motivational interviewing

  • Helping people identify their strengths and motivation

  • Creating meaningful wellness visions

  • Setting realistic behavioral goals

  • Building confidence and self-efficacy

  • Supporting sustainable behavior change

  • Developing empathy and strong coaching relationships

  • Understanding coaching ethics, professional boundaries, and scope of practice

In HLTH 4700, students also get hands-on experience with coaching conversations and the coaching process. You’ll have opportunities to practice coaching skills rather than simply read about them.

Could Wellness Coaching Become a Career?

Absolutely.

Health and wellness coaching skills can complement careers in health promotion, employee wellness, fitness, healthcare, community health, stress management, lifestyle medicine, and other areas where helping people make healthy changes matters.

Some students may also choose to pursue professional coach training and credentials after graduation.

One of the primary professional standards in health and wellness coaching is the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) and its NBC-HWC board credential. Other professional organizations, including the International Coaching Federation (ICF), provide additional training, credentialing, ethics, and professional-development pathways.

You don’t need to know exactly where coaching will take you before you begin. If you enjoy working with people, are curious about why people change, and like the idea of helping someone discover what works for them, wellness coaching is worth exploring.

Want to Learn More?

Have questions about wellness coaching, HLTH 4700, professional coaching opportunities, or whether coaching might fit your career plans?

Reach out to:

Michael Olpin, PhD
Professor, Health Promotion
Weber State University
molpin@weber.edu

Curious about coaching? Come talk with me. I’d be happy to help you explore where it could take you.