Enrollment for the ADAPT Functional Medicine Practitioner Training Program Opens October 14, 2024 Find out more

Join the Interest List Today

Be the first to get details and special pricing for the Spring 2022 enrollment.

Build a Successful Career of Helping People with the Most In-Depth Health Coach Training Program That Offers 80/20 Practice-to-Theory Delivery

Take the leap toward a passionate and rewarding career with purpose through a program that teaches you to empower change in others.

Choose a health coach program that’s accredited by the most prominent organizations in the industry
UK Health Coaches Association Badge

UK Health Coaches Association (UKHCA)

Health Coach Alliance Approved School Badge

Health Coach Alliance Approved School

Health Coaches of Australia & New Zealand Association logo

Health Coaches of Australia & New Zealand Association Approved School

ADAPT Health Coach Student - Diane Baines
“I chose the ADAPT program over other programs because of the comprehensiveness: FM coaching techniques, marketing, etc.” Diane Baines

Fill the Void of a Missing Purpose in Your Career

Take the leap toward a passionate and rewarding career with purpose through a program that teaches you to empower change in others!

  • Get out of the normal 9-5 career path.
  • Build a career that doesn’t only pay the bills, but is also fulfilling.
  • Make an impact on the world and the future of healthcare.
  • Show up energized and wholeheartedly committed by seeing positive change in people’s lives.
Health Coach With Client
ADAPT Health Coach Student - Linda Franchok
“My background is biology and psychology and this program beautifully melted my worlds together.” Linda Franchok
ADAPT Health Coach Student - Sarah Wilson
“The versatility that I gained and the foundation of knowledge from this program allows me to move in different directions.” Sarah Wilson

Learn Health Coaching on a Level You Need to Succeed

Whether you are already familiar with health coaching or just a fan, the ADAPT Health Coach Training Program will make you feel prepared to work with clients and make actual progress.

  • Deepen your skills to make a sustainable health coaching career
  • Empower behavior change and improve clients’ health
  • Gain confidence in serving your clients
  • Learn to go beyond the "WHY" questions and offer solutions
  • Get familiar with the tools that make the structure of a health coaching business model
ADAPT Health Coach Student - Allison Workman
“Six months into the program, I was hired as a full-time health coach by a digital health coach company.” Allison Workman
ADAPT Health Coach Student - Meredith Amann
“It not only has prepared me to be a health coach and to coach clients but to run a business, to market myself, and to feel confident doing those things.” Meredith Amann
Health Coach Program - Enrollment Advisors

Questions? Want to know more?

Talk to one of our graduates to learn more about our program and find out if it's a good fit for you.

Phone + calendar icon Schedule a Free Call

Are You a Helper by Nature? Health Coaching Fits Your Profile!

Do you feel a deep calling to help others live a healthy life and make a difference? You can learn how to do that while using the knowledge for yourself and your family with the ADAPT Health Coach Training Program.

  • Help people see the road to health as one of reward, knowledge, and adventure instead of dread.
  • Find the right avenue to use your gift of uplifting others effectively.
  • Make a massive positive impact in this world through service to others.
  • Learn how to help others find it within themselves to make positive changes in their life.
Health Coach With Client
ADAPT Health Coach Student - Ann Aylward
“I have learned the skills I need to change behavior and lives.” Ann AylwardFort Wayne, Indiana
Health Coach Careers eBook
Free eBook

Looking for more information on establishing your health coaching career? Download this free eBook for an in-depth look at the health coaching industry and the job opportunities that are out there.

I hate spam, too. Your email is safe with me. By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy.

Program Overview

Why Choose the ADAPT Health Coach Training Program? It’s the Most Comprehensive and Robust Program Out There.

Our students describe our program as a “master’s degree” in health coaching. We strive to live up to that sentiment and provide students with the framework they need to become successful health coaches.

  • Get the full spectrum of skills you need to succeed as a health coach: Functional Medicine, coaching techniques, marketing, mindfulness, meditation, and more.
  • An online training program that seems as if it is an in-person experience.
  • Founded by Chris Kresser—one of the leaders in Functional and ancestral medicine.
  • Stretch yourself personally through journaling, thinking about your purpose, and understanding your own core so that you show up for your clients in the best way possible to support them.
  • Access a variety of learning-delivery options (audio, video, and written) and grow your knowledge through layering.
  • Get the tools you need to work on the coaching skills that are so important when dealing and communicating with people.

Functional and Ancestral Medicine

Powerful lens for focusing your nutrition and lifestyle recommendations.

Practice and Supervision

You will become a change agent through practical application.

Program Flexibility

Fully online, at-your-pace program.

Career Development

The tools you need to build a sustainable career or business.

Community

A family of health-minded professionals.

Our Program Is Approved by the Most Valued Health Coach Organization in the Industry—The National Board For Health & Wellness Coaching—and Our Students Have a 100% Pass Rate on the NBC-HWC Certification Exam.

A robust one-year program with an emphasis on practice and mastery

Enrollment

August – September

 

Pre-Practicum

October – May

Foundations: $4998.50

Practicum

May – October

Practice: $4998.50



  • The ADAPT Health Coach Training Program Begins

    Join a cohort of highly motivated and qualified individuals who will lead the next generation of health coaches and fight the battle against chronic disease.

  • Manageable Pace

    10- to 12-hour hour commitment per week, including Q/A sessions, real-life practice sessions, and watching live recorded video content.

  • Breaks

    Two breaks in July and December, giving you time to take a breather and continue the program refreshed and reinvigorated.

  • Congratulations!

    You have completed the ADAPT Health Coach Training Program, and you are eligible to apply for the A-CFHC certification application.

Topic Spotlights

Art & Practice of Coaching


  • Motivational Interviewing
    • What is motivational interviewing
    • Recognizing change talk
    • Green lights and red flags in motivational interviewing
    • Reflective listening
    • Open questions
    • Affirmations and summaries
    • Exchanging information
    • Engaging
    • Focusing
    • Evoking and eliciting change talk
    • Sustain talk and discord
    • Having difficult conversations
  • Mindful Living
    • What is mindfulness
    • Intention, attention and attitude
    • Being skills
    • Evolution of stress
    • Stress in modern times
    • Informal mindfulness
    • Creativity, innovation, and being in the zone
    • Reconnecting with the body
    • The wisdom in your body
    • The three emotional systems of the brain
    • Emotional intelligence
    • Working mindfully with emotions
    • Thinking and mindfulness
    • The brain and difficult emotions
    • Disidentifying from the web of tangled thoughts
    • Self-judgment and unworthiness
    • Cultivating positive thoughts
    • Loving-kindness and compassion
  • Key Concepts of Health Coaching
    • ADAPT model of coaching
    • Empathic communication
    • Asking powerful questions
    • Strengths coaching
    • Positive psychology
    • Emotions in coaching
    • Creating client awareness
    • Transtheoretical model
    • Goals and motivation
    • Learning capture
    • Feeling vs. thinking
    • Need vs. strategy
    • Request vs. demand
    • Observation, feelings, needs, and request (OFNR Model)
    • How to facilitate groups
    • Self-connection in the midst of difficulty
    • Elements of empathy in speaking and listening
    • Transforming anger and judgment of others—the enemy image process
    • Responding effectively to failure—mourn, celebrate, learn

Functional Health


  • Paleo/Ancestral Diet
    • Local, organic, and wild
    • Nose-to-tail eating
    • Gut health eating
    • Diet for athletes
    • Low-FODMAP diet
    • Autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet
    • Ketogenic diet
    • Shopping and food prepparation
    • Paleo for kids
  • Functional Health Pillars
    • Technology addiction
    • Physical activity
    • Sleep
    • Stress management
    • Environmental toxins
    • Cultivate pleasure and connection
    • Go outside
    • Get serious about play
  • Nutrient Density
    • Macronutrients
    • Macronutrient ratios
    • Supplementing wisely
    • Vitamins overview
  • Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, and Common Health Conditions
    • Testing blood glucose and blood ketones
    • Histamine intolerance
    • Functional lab testing
    • Health conditions: anxiety, depression, and mental health disorders
    • Addressing mental health issues in coaching
    • High cholesterol and heart disease
    • Hypertension
    • Diabetes and other blood sugar disorders
    • GERD, IBS, and other digestive disorders
    • Weight loss
    • Eating disorders and disordered eating
    • Skin conditions
    • Thyroid disorders
    • Autoimmune disorders
    • HPA axis dysregulation
    • Fertility, pregnancy, and breastfeeding
    • Kids' health

Business Development


  • Marketing Basics
    • Focus and foundation
    • Marketing myths
    • Creating authority
    • Be compelling and stop selling
    • Create content that connects
    • The power of focus
    • The Nautilus principle
    • Your Authority message
    • Build success through authenticity
    • Accelerating your business development
  • Digital Marketing
    • Your website
    • Home page
    • About page
    • Tagline
    • Turn visitors into fans and clients
    • Email marketing basics and strategy
    • Social media
    • Authority attraction
    • Four attention streams
    • Grow site traffic and authority
    • FOCUS formula

Are you ready to take the leap of faith into a purposeful career?

Phone + calendar icon Schedule a Free Call     Enroll Now

Choose from our three payment options (full tuition or monthly payment plans)

How We Compare to Some of Our Top Competitors

Kresser Institute Competitor 1 Competitor 2 Competitor 3
Functional Medicine based
Ancestral Nutrition and Lifestyle Training
"Real Life" Practice Sessions with Real Clients
NBHWC Accredited
New "Post-Graduate" Department
Motivational Interviewing Model
Emphasis on Science-Based Client Communication Methods and Techniques
Access to a Health Coach Job Board
Flexible Content Delivery (Audio, Video, Transcripts, Handouts)
Less Than 12 Hour per Week Commitment
Patient Education Handouts with Your Branding
Business and Marketing Module
Live Interaction and Q&A with Faculty Members
Evidence-Based Learning Approach to Support Long-term Mastery
A Functional Medicine Foundation:

What you'll learn as a coach

While coaches are not trained to practice medicine, having a clearer understanding of how Functional Medicine works can give you a powerful lens for working with both clients and practitioners.

As part of the ADAPT Health Coach Training Program, you’ll also:

  • Gain insights into Functional Medicine that make you more informed
  • Understand the basics of Functional Medicine lab testing (without leading you beyond the health coach scope of practice)
  • Learn three distinct models for collaborating with practitioners
  • Receive specific guidance on how to initiate and form partnerships with licensed clinicians
The Ancestral Advantage:

A powerful framework for nutrition and lifestyle recommendations

Few health coaching programs offer much in the way of nutrition training. Those that do tend to give an overview of different diets—Mediterranean, vegetarian, vegan—without specific recommendations backed up by science.

We provide in-depth and evidence-based training on ancestral health and nutrition—which we believe is the most powerful lens for focusing your nutrition and lifestyle recommendations as a coach. We’ll tell you what works—and why.

Why an ancestral diet?

The reason we’re able to provide far more practical diet and lifestyle information than any other program is because we take an ancestral approach to diet and lifestyle—the most effective approach for preventing and reversing disease. Here’s why:

  • Like all organisms, humans adapted to survive and thrive in a particular environment.
  • Our environment has changed dramatically since the days of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Processed foods, artificial light, and our largely sedentary lives have affected everything from our digestion to our sleep patterns.
  • The human body has not caught up to the changes in the modern environment—causing a mismatch between our genes and the world around us.
  • This mismatch is the driving factor behind the modern epidemic of chronic disease.

Marketing and Practice Support Kit (MAPS)

Done-for-You Tools & Resources

Imagine having not only the answers to your pressing coaching and business questions, but also the written procedures and ready-made forms to go along with them.

Our goal is to arm you with the best resources and guides to support your business, including:

For You:

Coaching Support: 50+ guides, worksheets, cheat sheets

These are designed to help you to quickly and effectively implement everything you learn in the course. Examples include:

  • 5 Steps to Success with Motivational Interviewing
  • Finding Your Authentic Voice as a Coach
  • 7 Keys to Asking Powerful Questions
  • Hardware and Software Tools for Behavior Change
  • Finding and Developing Your Niche
Various handout examples representing coaching support handouts
For Your Clients:

Client Support: 50+ customizable client handouts

Customize these client resources with your own branding using our handout generator. Examples include:

  • Healthy Eating on a Budget
  • Evaluating Your Kitchen and Pantry
  • Functional vs. Conventional Medicine
  • Identifying and Building on Your Strengths
  • Getting Started with Meditation/Mindfulness
  • Guide to a Toxin-Free Home and Workplace
Various handout examples representing client support handouts
For Your Business:

Success Pack: 30+ forms, templates, and resources

Everything you need for getting your practice up and running—quickly and affordably. Examples include:

  • New client intake forms
  • Cancellation and late policy
  • Confidentiality agreement
  • Informed consent template
  • Email templates
  • Technology, software, and hardware recommendations
Various handout examples representing business support handouts

Check Out This Virtual Campus Tour Video to See What Our Program Looks Like

Meet Our Faculty

Chris Kresser MS, LAc

Creator and Executive Director

Chris is the co-director of the California Center for Functional Medicine, founder of Kresser Institute, creator of ChrisKresser.com, and the New York Times best-selling author of The Paleo Cure and Unconventional Medicine. He is one of the most respected clinicians and educators in the fields of Functional Medicine and ancestral health and has trained over 1,500 clinicians and health coaches in his unique approach. Chris was named one of the 100 most influential people in health and fitness by Greatist.com and has appeared as a featured guest on Dr. Oz, Fox & Friends, and other national media outlets.

Chris Kresser
Robert Biswas-Diener

Robert Biswas-Diener, PhD

Robert is the foremost authority on positive psychology coaching and has consulted with a wide range of international organizations on performance management and talent development.

He conducts training on coaching, strengths, positivity, courage, and appreciative inquiry with organizations and businesses around the world and through his coaching school, Positive Acorn. Robert has trained professionals in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, and the Middle East. He has a doctorate in social psychology and a master’s degree in clinical psychology and is an ICF Professional Certified Coach. He is the author of Practicing Positive Psychology Coaching, The Courage Quotient, and The Upside of Your Dark Side, among other books.

John Kinyon

John Kinyon, MS

John is on a mission to help people learn communication and conflict resolution skills that create empathy, compassion, and collaboration. For more than two decades, John has mediated conflicts in a wide range of contexts, including families, businesses, and organizations.

A certified trainer of the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) since 2000, he’s the co-creator of the international Mediate Your Life (MYL) training program, which draws on the international work of Compassionate Communication (Nonviolent Communication/NVC) with mindfulness and a mediation framework.

A seasoned speaker, trainer, and coach, he’s the author of several books, including When Your Mind Sabotages Your Dreams: Turning Your Critical Internal Voices into Collaborative Allies. He studied clinical psychology at Penn State University, and during his five years of doctoral study, he worked as a psychotherapist with individuals and groups and as a research assistant at the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Institute. John lives with his wife and children in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Forest Fein

Forest Fein, MA

Forest is the Founder and Executive Director of Wise Up: Greater Wisdom + Wellbeing for All, offering innovative mindfulness-based, science-backed coaching and training to organizations and corporations. He is also the Head of Youth Mindfulness Programs at UCSF Hospital Osher Center for Integrative Medicine.

Through community partnerships, Forest designs and teaches mindfulness-based wellness programs that incorporate yoga, social and emotional intelligence, and positive psychology to support at-risk and homeless youth to experience greater resiliency, health, and well-being. As of 2020, his programs have touched the lives of over 4,500 underserved youth. All his work is rooted in teachings and practices that support compassionate awareness of and care for oneself, one another, and the earth. Forest has been practicing mindfulness since 1999.

Kerry Evers, PhD

Kerry Evers, PhD

Kerry is Co-President and CEO of Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc., a research and development company on a mission to disseminate evidence-based behavior change solutions to maximize health and well-being.

In July 2011, Kerry was named one of Rhode Island’s top businesspeople in the annual “40 Under Forty” feature in Providence Business News based on her career success and community involvement. She has close to 40 publications and has been invited to speak at close to 100 meetings and conferences in the United States and around the world.

She obtained Pro-Change’s first SBIR funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1998 and has been integral in the awarding and implementation of many of Pro-Change’s corporate contracts. She is currently the Principal Investigator on $2.5 million of SBIR contracts with the NIH. She received her PhD from the University of Rhode Island, where she is now adjunct faculty. She is actively involved in a variety of professional societies and several boards of local nonprofits.

Ken Kraybill

Ken Kraybill, MSW

Ken has worked in health, behavioral health, and homelessness/housing for over 30 years. He is a Senior Trainer at C4 Innovations. Formerly the Center for Social Innovation (C4) and the T3 Training Institute, C4 Innovations provides innovative training, technical assistance, and consulting with the goal of improving the lives of marginalized people and communities.

Drawing on his direct service and supervisory experience, Ken has developed various curricula in best practices. He provides onsite and online training nationally on motivational interviewing, supervision, outreach and engagement, tenancy support, trauma-informed care, and renewal for care providers. Ken earned his master’s degree at the University of Washington in Seattle and his undergraduate degree from Goshen College in Indiana.

Keith Rhys

Keith Rhys

For more than 30 years, Keith has helped natural health and wellness companies and entrepreneurs find their unique message, attract their passionate audience, and create lasting authority, impact, and income.

As a former health products marketing VP, content marketing expert, and strategic advisor, Keith has helped health practitioners, wellness authors, supplement formulators, and some of the biggest alternative wellness companies in the world break through the noise and get noticed.

Keith has shown his clients how to go from nonexistent to #1 on Google for meaningful keywords in under six months and grow their lists from 5,000 to 100,000 in under a year. In addition to producing multiple New York Times best-selling health authors, he has helped health practitioners launch digital products that produce 200 percent more income annually than they make from seeing patients.

Keith now works exclusively with current and future thought leaders in health and wellness through private consulting and via his online guided course, Evergreen Authority. He teaches you how to build an audience and attract clients, patients, and followers without becoming a full-time marketer, without putting your practice on the back burner, and without sacrificing your purpose and authenticity.

Mary Beth McGavran

Mary Beth McGavran, PhD

Mary Beth is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Kentucky and serves as the Associate Director of Clinical Training.

Her work focuses on clinical training with graduate students in clinical psychology, and she also enjoys working on an interprofessional team to facilitate service learning with medical and allied health students. Since 2014, she has been a mental health specialist doing pro bono work with refugees at the Survivors of Torture Recovery Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Mary Beth graduated from Grinnell College with Phi Beta Kappa honors and earned her PhD at the University of Kentucky in 1999. She grew up in Illinois.

ADAPT Health Coach Student - Danika Charity
“This is the most comprehensive health coach training program that I could have wished for. The program has far exceeded my expectations.” Danika CharityStudio City, California

Do you qualify?

(Find out quickly and easily!)

The ADAPT Health Coach Training Program was designed for anyone with:

A professional license, certification, or associate’s degree or higher in any healthcare or wellness-related field
- OR -
At least two years of full-time work experience in a healthcare or wellness-related field

If you do not fall into any of the above categories you can still be eligible. Find out by taking our eligibility quiz.

Find out if you’re eligible

Want to Learn More About Our Program? View a More Detailed Overview of our Program or Download Our Info Packet

Get a 41-page PDF document that describes the program in detail. See program pricing on pages 6 and 35.

Get My Free Info Packet

Committing to a New Career Can Feel Like Jumping off a Cliff. You Need a Parachute That Will Open and Land You Unharmed.

The ADAPT Health Coach Training Program offers more hours of support and mentorship than any other health coach training program we are aware of.

  • Hands-on training, supervision, and plenty of opportunities for feedback, Q&A with the instructors, and small-group coaching
  • Three development sessions with our highly trained mentor coaches to further develop and refine your coaching skills
  • Health Coach Alumni Forum: Allows students to maintain connections and conversations with fellow classmates after the course has ended
  • Health Coach Job Board: Private listing of job opportunities for our health coach graduates
Man jumping off a cliff with a parachute

The Health Coach Industry Is Growing

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Mayo Clinic, and the Cleveland Clinic are speaking out in favor of, and employing, health coaches.
  • According to one global survey, 66 percent of people said they were aware of health coaching as a profession, and 31 percent said they’d undergone coaching personally.
  • Health coaching is potentially a $6 billion industry.
  • The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the industry is expected to grow by 11 percent by 2028, much faster than average.
Health coach speaking to a group of people

An Online Program That Feels Like an In-Person Experience

  • Attend live regular discussions and Q&A sessions.
  • Receive feedback and supervision.
  • Access 35+ practice sessions and plenty of structured independent skills practice.
  • Attemd weekly practicum and pre-practicum webinars.
  • Practice with real-life clients.
Woman watching a video on her computer

Join the Interest List Today

Be the first to get details and special pricing for the Spring 2022 enrollment.