Coaching is a new focus in the field of mental health. It offers solutions for individuals looking to improve their mental wellness from a nonclinical standpoint. While “mental wellness” is a broad term, it can be captured specifically through the lens of behavioral science and self-improvement.
Training programs for aspiring mental health coaches typically touch on a combination of tools and techniques that coaches can introduce to clients on their journeys to better themselves. Some primary methods stem from neuro linguistic programming (NLP) and “parts” psychology. The blend of traditional psychology modalities alongside modern applications of the science of neuroplasticity gives mental health coaches a wide range of tools and techniques to help clients.
If you’re curious about becoming a mental health coach, look at the credentials you’ll need to complete after enrolling in a training program. After reading more about what you’ll learn, you may wonder whether mental health coaching is the right career for you. Here are four suggestions to help you determine if mental health coaching is the right professional path for you.
1. Are you pursuing mental health coaching to help people?
Before diving into mental health coaching, the first question to ask yourself is if you are interested in helping people as a career path. Working with clients to improve their mental wellness takes patience and consideration of the client’s individual needs and how you may implement your approaches and tailor them to client-specific needs. If you enjoy helping others or are passionate about this, mental health coaching may be an ideal career path.
If your passion for helping people falls in other domains, you will likely be a good candidate for mental health coaching. For example, let’s say you’re a certified fitness trainer. You may still benefit from completing mental health coaching to add more value to your current career. Your clients may find that developing the right mindset makes a lasting difference in their fitness goals. As long as you have some passion for the career path, you are likely a good candidate for pursuing mental health coaching.
2. Do you believe language can promote positive change?
A significant focus for mental health coaches is utilizing language to help clients make positive life changes. Before starting your journey to train as a mental health coach, make sure you believe in the core principles of mental health coaching. Currently, NLP is a significant component of this coaching. It looks at how we can consciously use language to identify and change behaviors based on individual needs, such as identifying unconscious biases, limiting beliefs, and other internal maps of how they see the world.
Some people firmly believe that results come from action steps and that actions cultivate real change. NLP agrees with this concept but also believes that language is a necessary motivator to make cognitive changes. In other words, until the thought process changes, the action steps that bring about these changes and results may be less likely to occur. To be a mental health coach, you must believe in the power of language and its ability to promote positive change.
3. Are you open to utilizing multiple schools of thought?
Although mental health coaching is a branch of life coaching and not psychology, some people may have difficulty introducing more than one modality into their teachings. Mental health coaches are there to provide guidance and help clients reach their goals by introducing clients to the best methods to create lasting changes. If you’re not willing to utilize all of your resources, you may not be the right fit for mental health coaching. It would help if you instead considered another professional in mental health, such as a licensed career as a licensed therapist, which may allow for a focus on a particular niche or treatment modality.
4. Are you willing to train and get certified?
To get started with mental health coaching, you must complete an online program and achieve the necessary credentials required to get certified. While many of these online programs are self-paced, you still need to complete course requirements, which take time and application. You must complete assignments, attend live training, and work alongside peers to complete your program and get certified. Make sure you’re willing to take the time required to train and get certified if you’re serious about becoming a mental health coach.
Are you ready to start your career and enroll in a program?
Mental health coaching is a popular career path or add-on to another career related to wellness and health. People can benefit from training in their personal and professional lives. If you’re serious about getting started in your career as a mental health coach, consider the four questions above to verify that it’s the right choice for you. Then, reach out to a program and start the enrollment process.
