You might have been hearing and reading more about health coaches recently, which is unsurprising to me as a health-coach-in-training. In the UK alone, the number of NHS-employed health coaches increased from just 60 in 2020 to over 1,100 by 2025, reflecting the growing role of health coaching within public health and primary care1. Internationally, the profession is also expanding rapidly, with the global health coaching market valued at around USD 17 billion in 2024 and projected to reach approximately USD 24.5 billion by 20302.
You might be wondering exactly what a health coach is, though. Are they the same as a nutritionist or a personal trainer? And how do they actually work with clients? Do they simply tell you what to eat and how much to exercise? If you’re reading this, you may already be wondering whether a health coach could help you achieve your own health and wellbeing goals.
What health coaching isn’t
There are several common misconceptions about the role of a health coach and health coaching’s place in the world of health and wellbeing professions. Let’s start by clarifying what health coaching is not:
Not a quick fix or about deprivation or restriction
Health coaching isn’t about crash diets, extreme routines or overnight transformations. Instead, it focuses on helping you make small, sustainable changes between each session that fit into real life and can be maintained long-term. Similarly, rather than focusing on what you can’t have or should give up, health coaching encourages a more balanced, compassionate approach to health that supports enjoyment, flexibility and sustainability. No one is going to force you to only eat lettuce and plain chicken or fish!
Not a one-size-fits-all approach
There’s no single ‘perfect’ way to be healthy, and what works for one person certainly won’t necessarily work for everyone else. Health coaching is highly personalised, recognising that everyone’s lifestyle, challenges, motivations and starting point are different.
Not instruction or being told what to do
The word ‘coach’ can conjure up (often unpleasant) memories of school sports lessons, or of someone forcing you to push forward in something that really doesn’t do it for you — honestly, it was a bit like that for me before I started to train as a coach. A health coach doesn’t simply hand out meal plans or tell you what you should and shouldn’t be doing, without considering the nuances of your own life, commitments and routine. The emphasis is on collaboration, helping you explore what works for you and supporting you to make changes you genuinely feel able to sustain.
Not therapy or counselling
While health coaching draws on principles from positive psychology and behaviour change, it is not therapy. A coach does not treat mental health conditions but can support you in identifying barriers, reframing challenges and getting ‘unstuck’ in practical, forward-focused ways. A coach has a duty of care and must stay within their scope of practise, so if they feel therapy or counselling would be appropriate for a client they should gently encourage them to explore that avenue alongside their coaching.
Not personal training or medical advice
Health coaches don’t prescribe exercise programmes or diagnose conditions (unless they also happen to be a qualified PT or doctor, of course). They also don’t replace doctors, nurses or other healthcare professionals. Instead, they often work alongside medical and allied health practitioners to support dietary, lifestyle and behaviour changes that complement clinical care. A good health coach will always ensure that any medical conditions are being closely monitored by your medical teams, and that you are consulting your doctor before making dietary changes.
So what is health coaching?
A health coach is a trained professional who supports individuals to make sustainable lifestyle and behaviour changes that improve their overall health and wellbeing. Rather than prescribing or directing, a health coach works collaboratively with clients to clarify goals, strengthen motivation, build healthy habits and create practical, personalised strategies that fit into real life. From working with a health coach, you can expect….
A supportive, motivating and encouraging accountability partner
A health coach provides structure, encouragement and accountability to making positive lifestyle changes. Having someone to be accountable to can make a powerful difference when it comes to following through on intentions and staying focused on goals. A coach helps clients recognise progress, celebrate wins and build confidence. They also work with you to identify or ‘unlock’ your innate resources and potential.
This focus on strengths and progress can be key to maintaining momentum over time, as the consistent motivation that ‘small wins’ provides are often far more successful than bursts of drastic change at keeping progress on track.
Evidence-based behaviour change support
Health coaches are trained to be experts in supporting positive behaviour and lifestyle change, receiving structured training in areas such as habit formation, positive psychology, motivation and sustainable change. Through this, they help clients to explore what’s getting in the way, identify patterns and develop strategies that fit their real lives.
Just as they help you uncover true barriers to change, they can identify and challenge you on less genuine ‘obstacles’. For example, you may claim and truly believe that you ‘don’t have the time’ to build in new habits. This is incredibly common but rarely truly the case. A health coach can guide you through breaking this belief down and unlocking time and resources you might not have realised you had.
A collaborative, empowering process
Going back to the point above about a sports coach shouting instructions at you…is it not the case that often when we’re told what not to do, we feel compelled to do exactly that? Giving people unsolicited advice based on our own experience often falls on deaf ears as well, because it just isn’t right for the individual.
Coaching’s power lies instead in the empowerment it gives clients. Health coaches mentor and educate their clients in nutrition and healthy lifestyle habits, but rather than simply telling them what to do (and not do), they support them to take ownership of their own health and wellbeing, based on what works for them personally. This empowerment, which has its roots in human-centred psychology, is a core part of what makes health coaching different from advice-based approaches.
Why we need more health coaches
Modern life makes looking after our health harder than ever. Many of us know what we ‘should’ be doing, eating better, moving more, managing stress, sleeping well, yet turning that knowledge into consistent, sustainable habits is often where things break down. Busy schedules, work pressures, chronic stress, burnout and a constant stream of conflicting health advice can leave people feeling overwhelmed, stuck or unsure where to start.
At the same time, chronic lifestyle-related conditions are rising. According to the World Health Organization, noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory disease now account for around 74% of all deaths globally, and many are strongly linked to modifiable lifestyle factors including diet, physical inactivity, stress and tobacco use3.
Traditional healthcare often has limited time and resources to support people with the day-to-day realities of changing habits, though. This is where health coaching plays a vital role, helping to bridge the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it, through personalised, ongoing support that focuses on habits, mindset and real-life context, not just information.
Could health coaching be right for you?
Health coaching is suitable for people at many different stages, from those just beginning to think about change to those who want support in maintaining progress and staying motivated.
Health coaching may be helpful if you:
- Want to build healthier habits but struggle to stay consistent
- Feel overwhelmed by where to start
- Have tried to make changes before, but found them hard to maintain
- Want support that is personalised, supportive and non-judgemental
- Are looking for encouragement, accountability and structure
- Want to improve your relationship with health and wellbeing, not just follow rules
It’s important to be aware that the industry is currently unregulated in the vast majority of countries, including the UK. This means that many people may call themselves health or wellbeing coaches without having completed any formal training, and some may make claims that are not evidence-based.
For this reason, it’s essential to choose a coach who is properly trained and holds a qualification that’s recognised by the UK & International Health Coaching Association (UKIHCA), which is the leading professional body for health coaching in the UK. For example, I’m currently training through a UKIHCA-approved Level 5 Diploma, and this is also recognised and approved by the Association for Coaching — a leading International professional body promoting best practice and raising the standards of coaching.
- Financial Times (2025). Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/81b5b042-dfc6-493b-92f3-95d0035f763f ↩︎
- Global Industry Analysts (2025). Available at: https://www.marketresearch.com/Global-Industry-Analysts-v1039/Health-Coaches-41093229/ ↩︎
- World Health Organization (2025). Available at:: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases ↩︎