The Challenge

Many people are drawn to re-training as a coach, nutritionist or therapist out of their own experience of a health issue or challenge. It's a common myth that once qualified, you'll pick a snazzy name and logo for your practice, and your diary will be filled with clients in no time!

The reality is that initial training as a coach, nutritionist or therapist is foundational and VERY general. In order to be a truly effective practitioner, you will need further specialist training so you have a niche, stand out from others and can offer real, transformational change to a specific client type with a specific health challenge.

This can often result in suffering from YAT Syndrome - Yet Another Training! A workshop here, a half or full day there, a low cost, self-paced online program from Udemy... but none of these bite-size programs add up to specialisation or being able to charge higher fees!

Our Solution

One of the most common issues across the board is emotional/binge eating. When clients have gut issues, anxiety, low mood, or are struggling with infertility, diabetes, thyroid or inflammation - the most common underlying or co-occurring issue will be emotional or binge eating. See also Challenge #3 for current stats on the prevalence of binge eating. The point is, this is a significant problem for millions of adults worldwide, that is currently significantly under-served by correctly trained experts.

It has taken me 15 years to get to where I am now - that's over 12 years in practice myself, 7 years of training other practitioners, and 6 years of running Eating Freely. It doesn't happen overnight, and sepaking of YAT's - any 'train with us and fast track your way to a 6-figure practice!' pitch is a flat out lie, unless you happen to have come from a strong marketing background prior to retraining.

The one true way to steadily and consistently build a successful practice is to niche down, specialise and become a trusted authority in a specific area. Having done it myself, and with many of our licensed practitioners following in my footsteps, we give you the highest quality training, short cuts to practice growth and the clinical skills you need to bring about transformational change to clients.

The Challenge

As a coach, therapist or nutritionist, we are generally taught to let the client lead the process. This means many practitioners work from session to session, allowing the work each week to be led by whatever the client comes in with. Let me tell you, as a veteran practitioner of 15 years - this is NOT what your clients want! They want you to take control of the process, they want to feel safe in the knowledge that you know what you are doing, and they will get relief from what's been impacting them - often for years.

Our Solution

This is why specialising is so critical to having a successful, busy practice. If you are 'just another generalist' posting generic, vague health advice and inspirational quotes on your website and social media, you will be lost in the noise of all the other generalist practictioners doing exactly the same thing!

It's not just enough to be a specialist either, you also have to get very clear on who you serve. I know you hear this regularly, but if you try to speak to everyone, you end up speaking to no-one. Being clear on WHAT you do, and WHO you do it for cuts out wasted time and energy - because your message is clear for those who need to hear it.

Better yet, having a structured methodology or framework, and offering a time limited program that focuses specifically on that key problem for that client is the best solution for both you and them.

- Your clients commit to a program by paying up front or in installments, your sessions are scheduled regularly and everyone knows where they stand both from a time and money perspective.

- You have a structured program to work through with all the tools and resources you need at hand.

- Your clients are assured from the start that you are a professional who knows what they are doing!

This is the optimal foundation for a successful client/practitioner relationship.

The Challenge

What we call 'emotional eating' is very often Binge Eating Disorder, which is a defined Eating Disorder in the DSM V. So it really is important to have training in this area in order to be confident you are working within your scope of practice. But is it worth taking specialist training?

- 30% of adults seeking weight loss support meet the criteria for Binge Eating Disorder.

- 38% of Type 2 Diabetes patients meet the criteria for Binge Eating Disorder.

- Up to 60% of bariatric patients meet the criteria for Binge Eating Disorder. Up to 80% of bariatric patients had at least one adverse childhood experience (trauma), which is the key trigger for a lifetime of emotonal eating.

- Binge Eating Disorder impacts men almost as much as women - 40% of sufferers are male.

- Binge Eating Disorder is estimated to impact 1 in 20 adults, or 5% of the population. And just to be clear, that is not just the white, female 'western' population - it's present in EVERY culture, creed and skin colour. Disordered eating support is disgracefully lacking in diversity and inclusivity, and this is something we're very committed to changing.

Our Solution

Emotional Eating and Binge Eating Disorder is a significantly misunderstood, under-diagnosed and under-served area. It is hidden in plain sight in every area of health, and the millions of adults it affects are very poorly supported, if at all, by the current healthcare system. There's little to NO specialist support baked into any medical or healthcare services for T2D, bariatric surgery or even weight management services.

Ditto for mental health services, with issues like anxiety, low mood, childhood trauma, grief and relationship difficulties, emotional and binge eating are very often hidden issues that clients rarely disclose unless directly asked!

We're on a mission to ensure that anyone, anywhere, regardless of means CAN get the support they need to finally resolve an often decades long experience of being misunderstood, judged, shamed and not supported, all because they learned how to eat to self-soothe in response to a childhood or early adulthood adverse or traumatic experience.

You can be part of our mission and movement - and best of all, this WILL set you apart and give you a significant advantage in growing your practice as a specialist in this huge, under-served niche. Any practitioner currently offering weight loss as a service, NEEDS to do our training, and it will be a complete game changer for both you and your clients!

The Challenge

I am going to be real here - what you are taught and what you actually do in practice are often VERY different! What we are generally taught are theoretical constructs and guidelines based on research studies. That information is hard to apply to Mary or John sitting in front of you, with a busy family, demanding job, several mysterious ailments that seem unconnected and a growing disillusionment in their doctor's or therapist's ability to help them feel better.

Equally, whilst the theory of coaching and therapy is to allow the work to be client led - the reality is your client is in pain, they are struggling and they want practical, actionable support so they can feel better, function better and get on with their life with more energy and mojo!

Our Solution

Our training is the ultimate in practical, applicable support. And after training hundreds of practitioners from many discplines from health coaches to medical doctors, we KNOW our tools, supports and interventions WORK for clients, and for you!

We teach you a lot of underlying theory and understanding of the roots of emotional and binge eating - your practice with this client group MUST be trauma informed for a start. Crucially, we also give you a structured framework and methodology, with all the tools and resources you need to confidently deliver that learning in a practical progam format to clients.

Just this week, one of our licensed practitioners messaged me on our Slack channel. She'd had a discovery call with a potential new client. The client emailed her after the session and said "Thank you so much (name), I already feel better having taken this step. You made me feel so seen."

That's what happens when you have a specialist program, for a specific type of client, with a particular challenge or struggle. You speak their language, it resonates, and they believe in you as the person to help them finally solve their long standing issue.

The Challenge

Most health coaching, therapy or nutrition training programs leave out the most important aspect of all - the 'how' of setting up, establishing and running a practice! It is the single most common complaint we hear from practitioners - that there was little to no guidance on setting up a practice - from the legal and financial aspects to ongoing marketing, SELLING (such a block for so many practitioners!) and how to grow your business so it pays you a salary and covers all its own expenses.

So when you've walked away from a secure salary (or you really want to), pay a LOT of money for a credentialed training, and do the additional work to then pass the Boards or become accredited ... it's a shock to realise that clients don't line up and fill your diary automatically! On every masterclass we run, we have attendees who left a job, retrained, couldn't get a practice going, and ended up going backwards to taking a low paying contract with a digital therapy or telehealth service, or worse, going back to what they used to do.

That is NOT what you envisage or imagine for yourself when you put in the hard work to become a health coach, nutritionist or therapist, and it genuinely makes me sad to hear this particular practitioner story - their disappointment, disillusionment and sometimes even feelings of failure, when they did NOTHING wrong.

Our Solution

Training to specialise in a niche area is the first step to differentiating yourself from all the other practitioners like you. There is a LOT of noise on social media, lots of health coaches, nutitritionists, therapists and doctors - all offering advice on health and wellbeing. That can be very overwhelming for potential clients who are seeking specialist support for a specific issue!

When you are clear about what you do, what area you specialise in and who you help, your message immediately becomes clearer, and resonates with that client who needs YOU.

We give all our practitioners additional guidance around how to market themselves, how to speak to their 'ideal client', and make the marketing part a bit easier. We've been doing this stuff for a long time, and we've picked up a few tips and tricks along the way!

The most important thing to do however, is to be clear about what you do, and who you do it for. Once you start sharing that message clearly and consistently (both online and offline), you make it a LOT easier for your 'ideal client' to find you.