If you are not sure about where to start with person-centered coaching, this blog by our guest contributor, Jane Giambrone, RN, CDCES, CPCC provides some helpful insights.

Person-centered coaching engages clients with diabetes where they are in their journey and provides a judgment-free space utilizing specific coaching skills and processes. Coaching starts with a discovery process, identification of barriers, developing strategies for overcoming them, and ultimately, working toward goal achievement.

As diabetes care and education specialists know, change takes time and focused attention, which needs to last longer than when motivation has waned. Person-centered coaching and support is invaluable in supporting this long-term change.

In my book, Take Charge of Types 2 Diabetes…Successfully Solve Your Diabetes Puzzle, I take my 30-plus years of experience working with clients as a CDECS, Life Coach, and RN, and write about a simple approach to understanding diabetes and learning how effective self-coaching to make lasting changes.

Although time with a CDECS or a coach is ideal, clients spends most of the time self-managing their diabetes outside of a health care appointment. I wrote the book because I found that knowledge, self-reflection, and self-coaching are powerful tools for empowering clients to make lasting changes. An additional benefit is more productive and insightful client follow-up visits with their healthcare professionals.

Coaching and Self-Coaching Skills

Curiosity evokes self-awareness. The client will reflect on the question, “What am I willing to do to change my life that will positively affect my health and diabetes?”

Powerful Questions using open-ended instead of yes-or-no questions. This approach provides insight and awareness into behavior. Some examples of powerful questions would be, “What is holding me back? What healthy habit do I want to start?”

Values Clarification is essential in determining what is important to the client. Knowing core life values helps a person understand what has meaning for them. Values may include family, friends, learning, humor, honesty, loyalty, productivity, etc.

How often have you noticed that people would do more for family or friends than they would for themselves?

Perspective Coaching involves examining many ways of thinking (perspectives, beliefs, frames of reference) and identifying alternative ways that are more clarifying and empowering. This is a similar skill to reframing different possibilities. For example, “I am a failure; I ate too many cookies, and my blood sugar is high now” reframed to “I realize I ate too many cookies. I am doing the best I can. Next time, I will have fewer cookies.”

 SMART Goal Setting is a practical framework for creating more specific, attainable goals. The acronym SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goals.

Self-coaching using coaching skills is a strategy for helping clients address self-limiting behavior, which often manifests strongest when people experience barriers to change. It is an effective way for a diabetes educator to assist clients in making the most significant changes. Additionally, coaching can be added to one’s “toolkit “to help clients get the most out of their visits/time with the healthcare professional.