
The Health Coach Show
The Health Coach Show by Shivaun Conn and Sharon Curtain is a podcast about the science, tips, tools, and practicalities of changing behaviour. As dietitians and HCANZA accredited health coaches with 50 years of combined experience, they support others in creating healthier lifestyle behaviours and habits. The show discusses coaching skills, what is helpful and surprisingly unhelpful, and shares practical strategies to help clients get motivated, get unstuck, and take action towards living as the healthiest version of themselves.
Episodes
From Invisible to Bookable: Tech & Systems Tips for Health Coaches | Ep. 31
In this episode, we dive into one of the biggest challenges new health coaches face after qualification - running a business.Joined by Carla, founder of the Health Tech Network, we explore how to move from feeling overwhelmed and stuck to becoming visible, confident, and ready to work with clients.If you’ve ever felt unsure where to start with tech, systems, or getting clients, this episode is for
Utilising AI for better client outcomes | Ep. 30
In this episode of the Health Coach Show, we discuss the role of AI powered tools to streamline data collection to save time, reduce admin and create better outcomes for our clients.Shivaun Conn, a HCANZA accredited health and wellness coach and dietitian, is joined by Robbie Clark, dietitian, exercise scientist, and Director and Co-founder of HealthBank.io, an AI-powered digital clinic software.W
Know Your Worth, Clarify Your Niche(s) & Grow Without Burnout | Ep. 29
In this episode of the Health Coach Show, we discuss how to know your worth as a health coach, find and clarify your niche, and grow and scale your practice online without burning out.Shivaun Conn, a HCANZA accredited health and wellness coach and dietitian, is joined by Rebekah Jones, a registered dietitian, private practice business mentor, and creator of the Scalable Practice Framework™. We dis
Self Determination Theory in a Coaching Context with Gordon Spence | Ep. 28
In this episode of the Health Coach Show, we’re discussing Self Determination Theory (SDT), a key theory of motivation that underpins the work health coaches do. Sharon Curtain, dietitian and HCANZA accredited health coach, is joined by Gordon Spence, a coaching psychologist, exercise scientist, educator, researcher, private practitioner and an expert in SDT.We discuss:Why SDT is a robust theory o
Positive Psychology Coaching with Dr Suzy Green | Ep. 27
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, Shivaun Conn, dietitian and accredited health coach, is joined by Dr Suzy Green — a clinical and coaching psychologist, and Founder & CEO of The Positivity Institute.A leader in the complementary fields of Coaching Psychology and Positive Psychology, Suzy has published over twenty academic chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles. She is also the co
What is the role of Health Coaches In GP Clinics in New Zealand? | Ep. 26
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, we explore the forward-thinking role of health coaches and Health Improvement Practitioners (HIPs). This initiative, led by the Ministry of Health, introduces a new model of integrated primary mental health and addiction services (IPMHA) within Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) and general practice teams.Leana Clark shares her journey from nursing to bec
Rewards - Are they useful in behaviour change | Ep. 25
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, we discuss how rewards can be useful to help clients change their behaviours.
The big question is 'Are rewards helpful and do they help with long-term behaviour change?'
How rewards can support behaviour and habit change:
Rewards provide positive reinforcement
Rewards can give us that little motivation boost on days when we don’t feel like it - especia
How Health Coaching Keeps Resolutions on Track | Ep 24
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, we discuss how health coaching can help our clients stick to their New Year Resolutions:
Why our best of intentions fade away
How to co-create plans for lasting change
How mindset plays a key role in success
Key questions to help clients develop systems that result in habit change
To learn more about health coaching or to book one of our upcom
Getting found as a health coach - with Health Hunter | Ep 23
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, Sharon Curtain talks to Brianna Vidal and Sarah Mullens about the creation of a preventive health ecosystem for health coaches, health professionals and those who are looking to manage their health.
Health Hunter is a digital platform that connects people with preventative health practitioners, providers and services. Sarah and Brianna, the co-founders, be
Health Coaching in Practice with Dietitian Ellie Thompson | Ep 22
In this episode, Shivaun Conn talks to Ellie Thompson, an accredited practising dietitian and an accredited health and wellness coach, about health coaching and how it has changed her practice.
Ellie works in the corporate space as a health coach, as well as in private practice for Verde Nutrition Co. where she utilises both her dietetics and health coaching skills to empower clients to create lon
Health data as a motivator for change | Ep 21
In this episode of the Health Coach Show, Sharon Curtain, dietitian and accredited health coach is joined by Liv Brown, health coach and longevity and optimisation program lead at Melbourne Functional Medicine. Liv is going to be sharing her insights into the role that health data plays for clients, and how health coaches can use this data within their scope of practice.
In this episode, we discus
Mindfulness with Dr Elise Bialylew | Ep 20
In this episode of the Health Coach Show, Shivaun Conn, Dietitian and Accredited Health Coach, is joined by Elise Bialylew, a doctor trained in psychiatry, a well-known leader in the field of mindfulness, the Founder of Mindful in May, and author of the mindfulness guidebook, The Happiness Plan.
In this episode, we discuss:
What is mindfulness?
The relationship between mindfulness and meditat
Coaching in Corporate Health and Business Self Care | Ep 19
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, Sharon Curtain, dietitian and accredited health coach is joined by Christine Boucher, a former ICU nurse who discovered health coaching and has not looked back, forging an impressive career in Workplace wellness.
Christine was awarded the Health Coaches Australia New Zealand Association 'Health Coach of the Year' in recognition of her contribution
Group Coaching Programs | Ep 18
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, I'm joined by Jason Stuart.
Jase is a dietitian, personal trainer, and coach with 20 years experience in the healthcare industry. He is the founder of the Better Body Academy, a successful group coaching program with 300 members and a team of 6 coaches, of which he is the lead coach.
Join us, as we unpack how to structure and deliver a successful gro
Helping clients with nutrition goals | Ep 17
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, we take a deep dive into how to navigate nutrition and what Health Coaches can do to support clients in the area of Nutrition.
We discuss our scope of practice as health coaches and answer the question "Do I need to be a nutrition expert be be effective as a Health Coach?"
Clients need health coaches to support them with implementation, not info
Setting Healthy Boundaries | Ep 16
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, I'm joined by Bee Pennington.
Bee is a HCANZA Accredited Health and Wellness Coach and the head coach at Melbourne Functional Medicine. She was awarded Coach of the Year in a healthcare setting by HCANZA, our professional body, which demonstrates just how exceptional she is, and how lucky we are to have her with us, sharing her knowledge.
Join us, as
Setting Goals and New Years Resolutions | Ep 15
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, we take a closer look at goals: what they are, what is their value, and what makes goal setting effective vs ineffective - and therefore achieved or not!
We discuss our role as coaches to help clients set valuable goals that are likely to be achieved and provide our top tips to prevent falling into the vague 'New Year's Resolution goal trap and cre
Is coaching more than just accountability? | Ep 14
In this episode of the Health Coach Show, we look at accountability and tracking and discuss:
What is tracking?
What is it good for?
When is it useful?
When is it not useful?
And how can we put these into practice in our consultations.
People often come to coaches because they say they need accountability and while health coaches can provide accountability, the goal of health coaching i
What to do so you don’t push clients further away from change | Ep 13
In this episode, we are talking about how you can use stages of change to meet your clients, where they are at, and what to do so you don’t inadvertently push clients further away from change.
Health professionals can assume clients are ready to change simply because they booked a consultation, or they are discussing changing. The reality is people can be at varying degrees of readiness for health
Interview with Dr Shami, an integrative GP about health coaching and how it changed her practice | Ep 12
In this episode, Sharon Curtain talks to Dr Shami, an integrative GP who is the Director and co-founder of the MINT clinic, about health coaching and how it changed her practice.
Dr Shami has been a GP for 23 years and has been an integrative GP for 10 years. She has seen first hand how burnout can happen in a system that creates co-dependency when the GP is supposed to provide the answers/fix th
Why silence is where the magic happens and how to tell if there is too much of you in your consultations | Ep 11
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, we discuss the importance of silence in consultations and why clients should be doing most of the talking in conversations and not the health professional and/or coach.
We discuss the concept of "holding the space", allowing clients time to process their thoughts and emotions without us feeling the need to jump in and provide solutions or advice.
Coaching competency of being calm, present and emotionally available | Ep 10
In this episode of The Health Coach Show, Sharon Curtain and Caitlin Cotter talk about the coaching competency of being calm, present and emotionally available.
Caitlin is a health coach and graduate of Accredited Health Coaching Australia, a mental fitness coach, and a weight management practitioner.
When we start our coaching consultations, it’s important that we’ve put our own thoughts and con
Rapport. Are we doing this well as practitioners or are we just making small talk? | Ep 9
In today’s podcast, we’re talking about rapport. Are we doing this well as practitioners or are we just making small talk?
Rapport is the foundation of all therapeutic relationships. It’s the way that we communicate we are listening, connected and interested in our clients and provide a space that is safe for them to open up.
Rapport is defined as a close and harmonious relationship in which th
Precontemplation | Ep 8
In today’s podcast, we talk about precontemplation, and how to manage our clients and ourselves when they are not ready to change.
Clients in precontemplation may not be thinking about changing their behaviour because they don’t think they need to, or may not be considering change because it feels impossible.
Our current approaches may lead to frustration, conflict and the client feeling judged,
Ways we can assess and build confidence | Ep 7
In this episode, Shivaun and Sharon discuss ways we can assess and build confidence.
The confidence ruler is a great way of assessing your client's confidence in changing their behaviour. Asking rating questions helps your client to explore what is helping them feel confident (eg previous success) and what is holding them back. By exploring external and internal barriers, we help clients get c
How to use health coaching within an area of expertise | Ep 6
In today’s podcast, we talk about how to blend expertise and coaching.We explore the concept of switching hats versus integrating approaches and how being client centred means we are always coaching.We assume people are coming to see us for our expertise and feel that giving value means delivering an in-depth education and an action plan.In fact, we are more efficient and effective and provide mor
Excuses | Ep 5
In this episode Sharon and Shivaun, dietitians and HCANZA accredited health coaches, explore common excuses, what we may feel or do when we hear our clients give us 'excuses' for why they haven't made a change.
Excuses are in fact valuable, as they are the client telling us exactly why they are stuck, or feel unable to take action.
What can we do when we do hear excuses? Get curious,
Motivation | Ep 4
In this episode Sharon and Shivaun dig into what motivation is and how we can harness it to achive our goals.
We discuss the role that external and internal (intrinsic) motivators can play on behaviour change,and how we can move along the spectrum from external motivation, to the place where our identity shifts and we become intrinsically motivated.
Sometimes we wait for motivation to hit before
Common roadblocks to effective communication | Ep 3
In this episode Sharon and Shivaun talk about common roadblocks to effective communication.
There are a number of commonly used communication strategies that we think are helpful, however can often do the opposite of the intended action. Thomas Gordon came up with 12 roadblocks that get in the way of effective communication. We'll go through 8 that we find get used a lot in conversations aroun
What is health coaching? | Ep 2
In this episode, Shivan and Sharon discuss what coaching is, what it isn't and what you should be looking for if you want to become a coach or employ a coach!
This episode looks at the toolkit of theories, models and disciplines that a health coach might draw upon, and we discuss they importance of MI as one of these foundational skills. We also look at how Health Coaches Australia New Zealand
Why we got into coaching | Ep 1
Sharon and Shivaun were both working as dietitians, wanting to help clients more effectively and aware that something was missing, In this podcast they talk about what got them into coaching and how it transformed their practice. Topics covered include how changing behaviour is so much more than education and providing information, it’s about harnessing curiosity and helping people to understand t
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