WHAT IS A MENOPAUSE COACH?
Today we are tackling a big question that you yourself may have. What is a menopause coach?
Let’s get into it. A menopause coach is a coach who works specifically with women in the menopause transition and throughout postmenopause. The menopause transition spans perimenopause and early-postmenopause, and postmenopause spans the remainder of a woman’s life (we have a great post here that describes these phases in more detail.) The menopause coach provides lifestyle, fitness, and nutrition coaching to help women in this phase of life manage symptoms and ensure their body and mind are optimized for longevity.
What credentials does a menopause coach have?
This is a great question and a tricky one to answer generally. Technically, anyone can stand up a coaching practice and call themselves a menopause coach. At Strong In Menopause, we don’t believe that is the best way to help women. We mandate that each of our coaches must hold three up-to-date certifications: A certified personal trainer certification from a recognized credentialing organization (ex: NASM, ACE, ISSA, etc.), a certified nutrition coach certification from a recognized credentialing organization, and a certified menopause coaching certification from Girls Gone Strong . This ensures all of our coaches are experts in fitness, nutrition, and menopause-specific coaching. This also broadens our scope of practice so we can coach women on lifestyle, fitness, and nutrition best practices, while designing programs specific to our clients.
How is a menopause coach different from a doctor?
The story we hear over and over again from our clients goes like this: They are experiencing symptoms that impact that quality of life so they schedule an appointment with a doctor. They are seen for a maximum of 15 minutes, are not able to fully articulate their symptoms or experiences in that amount of time, and are dismissed by their doctor as being too young, too old, too inactive, too unhealthy. They are often offered antidepressants and told (incorrectly) that hormone replacement therapy is too risky to prescribe. These women never get the time they need with their doctor to fully share their experience and get a solution tailored to them.
This is BULL SHIT. A menopause coach, and specifically the coaches at Strong in Menopause, are different in every way. We want to be the center of your care team. We work with you one on one to learn about your unique experience. We listen to the things that are challenging for you, dive into your goals and priorities, and develop solutions tailored specifically to you. We don’t brush you off, we don’t limit you to some absurd shortened amount of time, and we stick around. Whether you choose to be part of a cohort program or choose to work with our coaches one on one, we have regular check-ins to track progress and make necessary changes. If our clients bring up something that is out of our scope, we can refer them to providers in our vast referral network, and then work with those providers to ensure high level of care and communication between your care team.
One other difference: Your doctor isn’t a menopause expert. One of the most shocking things about care for women over 40 is that doctors often don’t get any training on menopause. This includes MDs in the gynecological specializations. Not only is there no training provided in medical school, there is no continued education requirement related to peri- and postmenopause. This means unless your doctor takes an interest in learning more about menopause, they have absolutely no training on this phase of a woman’s life. Menopause happens to every living woman, and the postmenopausal phase may account for half of a woman’s life. Let that sink in- you doctor only has information on the first half of your lifespan, and after that the extent of their knowledge may be zero, or may be dated information from a study they read 20 years ago that has since been disproven.
If you are at all concerned about your current symptoms or longevity and your future, working with a menopause coach is the best first step.
Who should see a menopause coach?
Anyone who feels they don’t have enough information to adequately manage their symptoms, meet their goals, and prepare for the future. Not everyone needs a menopause coach. Menopause coaching is for women who are struggling with menopause symptoms, are noticing that what worked for them in the past (in their workouts, in their diet, for their mental health, etc.) is no longer effective, or those who want a partner to help them reach their short term and long term goals.
At Strong in Menopause, we love working with women at all different stages in their menopause journey. Our coaching is 100% personalized to each of our clients. Fitness and nutrition are at the core of our programming because research shows those two things have the biggest impact on long-term health. If you are interested in learning more about menopause coaching, connect with us!