Dr. Victor Peña-Araujo, MB, BCh, BAO, MRCSI, Dip ACLM, NBC-HWC

What's Health Coaching?

Health coaching , also known as wellness coaching, is the process of educating, guiding and supporting a client to achieve their chosen health goals, including reducing the risks of developing lifestyle-related chronic diseases.


In short, an excellent health coach experience should bring you structure, evidence-based methods, expert guidance & personalized accountability to help you achieve the health & vitality you are looking for.

Warning:
 Not all "health coaches" are created equal.

Learn more below.
 

Our unique health coaching approach involves a through, systematic, forward-looking process that defines your motivations, leverages past achievements, optimizes your mindset, and leads to the development of completely personalized, transformative and long lasting lifestyle changes that improve your health, happiness and the quality of your life.

Is "health coach" a reliable qualification?

No, it is not.  Even the term "Certified Health Coach" doesn't have much meaning since one may not know who or what organization has 'certified' the health coach in question.

'Health Coach' is not currently a legally protected term like  "M.D." (medical doctor) or "R.N."  (registered nurse). This means that it may be used by anyone, irrespective of their background or training.  So consumer beware!  We recommend that, when shopping around you closely examine every health coach's relevant degrees, accredited qualifications and clinical experience.  If 'Health Coach' is the only qualification a practitioner offers, then you are probably better off continuing your search.

For over a decade we have been supporting the great efforts to establish a national standard in health coaching and it's now a reality!  It is called the National Board of Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC). 

As you can imagine, Dr. Peña is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC), which is the gold standard in health and well-being coach training.   We will continue to advocate for high-quality, professional coaching that is scientific, evidence-based, ethical, and avoids all of the common conflicts of interest, such as the selling of nutritional supplements and other products.

What is a properly qualified health coach?

A health coach uses health education, evidence-based methods and expert guidance and accountability to facilitate sustainable behavioral changes that lead you to improved, long-term health, happiness and fulfillment.

Today, a properly qualified health coach is National Board Certified, ensuring a national standard in excellence. But that, in our opinion, is not enough. You deserve a health coach who is also expertly trained in one of more areas of health and wellness, at least to a master's degree level, such as Exercise Science, Nutrition, Lifestyle Health Sciences, etc.

Dr. Peña is a trained medical doctor and surgeon with a decade of intensive clinical experience, and he is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) with another decade of experience coaching people like you to reaching their health goals and leading the lives their deserve.

What is an "Certified Wellcoach"?

A 'Certified Wellcoach' is a health coaching professional who has been trained, has undergone extensive practical skill training and has successfully completed all assessments administered by Wellcoaches School of Coaching.

This School is the de-facto gold standard in lifestyle medicine health and well-being coaching as evidenced by the fact that its curriculum is solidly based on the best behavioral science available and its founders have been leaders in the establishment of the National Board of Health & Wellness Coaching, in collaboration with the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), which is the organization that vets medical doctors in the United States.

Furthermore, Wellcoaches School of Coaching also has had a long and exemplary collaboration history with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, effectively blending the latest medical science of health and wellness, with the latest science in psychology and behavioral change.

Dr. Peña is a Certified Wellcoach and a Diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
For more information on Health/Wellness Coaching check out these articles:

WedMD, Health & Balance - "Wellness Coaching: The Latest Trend in Fitness."

Health.com - "Do You Need a Personal Health Coach?"