As a Functional Medicine Health Coach, I combine my training and knowledge of Functional Medicine principles and approaches with my expertise in coaching psychology, behavior change and more. My work is aimed at empowering people to take charge of their health, and guide them to make lasting, sustainable changes to optimize their wellbeing.

In my years of working in Functional Medicine, I witnessed a gap that some people experienced. While these folks invested their time and money into meeting with highly qualified practitioners who provided them with very comprehensive treatment plans, they couldn’t figure out how to take that plan and make it work in their lives. They understood the directives they were supposed to follow to get healthier, but they couldn’t figure out how to go about doing it. This gap often resulted in frustration and struggle, impeding their success in reaching their goals for improved health.

This spurred me to create a Functional Medicine Health Coaching practice to address the need for support and guidance on 1.) how to implement treatment protocols, along with 2.) how to make Lifestyle changes that would successfully lead to reaching goals, and 3.) how to cultivate potential for greater fulfillment and wellbeing in life.

 

What does Functional Medicine Health Coaching offer me?

Studies show that people have much greater success in creating positive, long- lasting changes when they have the support and guidance of a professional wellness coach. Coaching improves the efficiency of your journey and ensures a greater outcome achieved. Athletes and high-performance professionals wouldn’t think of trying to achieve their goals without the guidance of a coach.

What can you expect from Functional Medicine Health Coaching?

  • Mentorship and guidance
  • Education
  • An objective perspective 
  • Opportunity for self-discovery and growth 
  • Strategies to support habit changes 
  • Empowerment to change and progress
  • Tools to support motivation
  • Accountability 
  • Individualized action plans, and much more… 

These would be difficult to access if trying to do this alone. 

* My personal style blends knowledge and science with intuition and wisdom derived from many years of working with patients in healthcare. I employ many holistic tools, modalities and techniques based on individual needs and presentation.

 

Get Support from a Functional Medicine Health Coach

Functional Medicine Health Coaching is useful whenever you’re attempting to make changes in habits and patterns aimed at improving the quality of your wellbeing. Taking steps to upgrade Lifestyle habits is an investment in your health.  Simple changes can lead to huge strides in feeling better, having more energy and vitality, improving the quality of your health, being more content in your life, and ultimately living with greater fulfillment.

What exactly are “Lifestyle Factors?” These are the choices you make every day that define how you live, impacting the quality of your health and your life.

There are nine pillars that lay the foundation for our health and well-being.  They include:  

  • Nutrition
  • Exercise and Movement
  • Sleep
  • Stress Management
  • Positive Relationships
  • Creativity
  • Meaning and Purpose 
  • Connection to Nature and Environment
  • Avoidance of Toxic Substances

 

If I’m working with a Functional Medicine healthcare provider, why do I need a coach?

Functional Medicine providers are highly skilled at identifying the root cause of your ailments and devise brilliant treatment plans to alleviate your condition. However, they commonly don’t have the bandwidth nor the skills to help guide you on how to make behavior changes or integrate treatment protocols into your life.

Collaboration with a Functional Health Coach expedites the process. When these two professions are employed in tandem, it creates a synergy that makes a recipe for success and the results are beyond impressive. 

Changing habits and patterns can be complicated. It becomes easier when you have someone who is knowledgeable on the nuances of your treatment plan – a coach to guide and educate you how to carry it out, support your motivation, provide accountability and help keep you on track.  Results are often accelerated, and more lasting levels of change are achieved. It’s your willingness and dedication to the process that brings the alchemy to fruition!

 

Meet Health Coach: Catherine Willows, RN, BA, FMC-HC, NBC-HWC

Catherine is a Registered Nurse and a seasoned healthcare professional with years of experience in a wide variety of clinical settings. Her long-standing passion for integrative and holistic health practices led her to studying and certifying in many holistic modalities, including herbalism, energy work, somatic therapies, and much more. This eventually led her to serving as a leader in the Obesity Prevention Initiatives in Chicago, and brought her to Functional Medicine where she worked as Clinical Services Director for Dr. Mark Hyman’s clinic, the UltraWellness Center. Catherine is a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, and a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach.

 

If you really know me, you would know that…

I am dedicated to personal growth. I believe we’re all here to become our best version of ourselves. My purpose is dedicated toward helping others become their best version of themselves too!

I deeply value Creativity and Creative Expression. I believe everyone is inherently creative, even though many people have lost touch with it. Through Creativity, we have the opportunity to express our unique gifts in the world. I make it a practice to carve out space for Meditation, personal Freedom, Creativity and Inspiration – as these are essential to my wellbeing.

I love the arts. I love to engage in art-making, painting, fiber arts and more.

I love Nature – the Beauty of Nature – all its seasons and elements, plants and animals alike. I believe that the Essence of Nature has much to teach us about how to live in greater balance, and our individual health is intimately connected with the health of the planet.

I am a life-long learner with burning curiosity that drives me to continuously expand my knowledge in many areas of interest.

I enjoy riding my bike through the backroads of the Berkshires, kayaking, gardening and spending time with my Australian Shepherd.

 

If I could snap my fingers and be anywhere in the world, I would be

along the coast in Portugal I love to travel, and being seaside is one of my favorite places –  among natural beauty, in a place rich in culture and arts, with healthy food, a temperate climate zone, and a more easeful lifestyle.

 

New Functional Medicine Health Coach Program

Have you heard about my new group coaching program yet? This hour-long virtual gathering will be offered to current clients twice monthly and hosted by Catherine Willows. Its aim is to provide you with greater support in making lifestyle choices and habit changes to bring your health to a better place. Catherine’s next session is February 1st – get the full scoop here.