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.
Jane Giambrone, RN, CDCES, CPCC, is a nurse, certified life coach, and diabetes educator for over 30 years. She specializes in type 2 diabetes and owns Diabetes Help 4U, which provides coaching, consulting, and education. She wrote, Take Charge of Type 2 Diabetes …Successfully Solve Your Diabetes Puzzle. Her book can be found on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH2BSSQW.
Join Coach Beverly and Team for two and a half days of knowledge-sharing, fun, networking, games with prizes, and “aha” moments in beautiful San Diego on October 9-11, 2024.
You don’t want to miss this one-of-a-kind learning opportunity. Get away from all those daily responsibilities and immerse yourself in a fun and intensive conference with plenty of networking opportunities.
Attendees will leave this conference with new tools and a more complete understanding of the latest advances in diabetes care, from medications to technology to Medical Nutrition Therapy!
Each day, we provide a healthy breakfast, including fresh coffee, to kick off your morning. Our instructors co-teach the content to keep things fresh and lively. Plus, we play DiaBingo to reinforce key content and give away prizes. In addition, we provide plenty of movement breaks led by volunteers from the audience. Did we mention delicious lunches and a conference meeting space just minutes from San Diego Bay?
Friend Discount: 3 or more only $559-$799 (based on registration package) per person. Email us at info@diabetesed.net with the name and email of each registrant to get the discount!
Time: The course is Wednesday through Friday. Join us for breakfast at 7:00 a.m. each day. The class begins at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.
Accreditation: Diabetes Education Services is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider 12640, and our CPEU courses have received Prior Approval* from the Commission of Dietetic Registration (CDR), Provider DI002. Since our CPEU courses received Prior approval* from the CDR, these CPEU courses satisfy the CE requirements for the CDCES /BC-ADM regardless of your profession!
The use of DES products does not guarantee the successful passage of the certification exam. CBDCE and ADCES do not endorse any preparatory or review materials for the CDCES or BC-ADM exams, except for those published by CBDCE & ADCES.
Diabetes Education Services offers education and training to diabetes educators in the areas of both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes for the novice to the established professional. Whether you are training to be a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES), practicing at an advanced level and interested in board certification, or a health care professional and/or Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) who needs continuing education hours to renew your license or CDCES, we have diabetes education information, resources and training; learning and teaching tools; and diabetes online courses available for continuing education (CE). Read our disclaimer for full disclosure.