WCA leads the way for Australian Health and Wellness Coaches

Last week we received the exciting news that our application to the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) for our Professional Certificate in Health and Wellness Coaching had been approved! And we are proud to be the first international course to receive that approval. 

Our course sits alongside other approved programs delivered at some of the world’s leading Universities and Training schools including University of Arizona – Center for Integrative Medicine and University of Minnesota – Center for Spirituality and Healing and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. To be featured alongside such prestigious schools is something we are extremely proud of as the standards for course approval is extremely high and only those schools that deliver on these world class standards receive this recognition. And we deliver that!

What does this mean to our students?

In essence, graduates of the current Professional Certificate course can choose to work towards sitting the National Board Certification exam and become a “Board Certified” health and wellness coach, the highest qualification internationally for the Health and Wellness Coaching field. 

This is a reasonably rigorous process and there is a stringent criteria for a coach to be eligible to sit the exam which is set by the Board of Medical Examiners.  Once you have completed our Professional Certificate course including the extra learning materials and provide evidence of work experience hours and/or post graduate studies in your examination application, you can to sit, and study for the exam.  

The exam is set by the Board of Medical Examiners in the US, who are independent to NBHWC, and exams are available to sit 2 times a year at an Australian examination centre. 

Why should you become National Board Certified Coach?

Choosing to become Board Certified is ideal for those looking to hold the highest recognised, qualification in our field. While holding this credential is not for everyone, we highly recommend consideration for students who are looking to become career coaches, working within larger health and wellness organisations or bodies that steer health policy.

Whether you wish to work towards this certification is a personal decision – based on your experience and your career intentions. We are not suggesting that you have to follow this path, however, we are delighted to have this available to our graduates if this is the right direction and qualification level for you.

In the US, many employers include Board Certified Health and Wellness Coaches in their selection criteria for high level health sector roles.  In Australia it may take some time for awareness of this new standard, however, you can be guaranteed that holding such a status would set you apart from other applicants.

To find out more about what the requirements are to apply for your Board Certification exam, please click here to download the fact sheet.

If you have completed the Professional Certificate with us prior to 2019 or have completed our Progressive Coach Training Levels 1, 2 and 3 and are interested in becoming a Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, please contact us and we will explain what the further training requirements you may need to undertake in order to receive our NBHWC approved Professional Certificate certification.