What is a Mental Health Coach? – Mental Health Coaching #3 – Purity 1345
Purity 1345 05/07/2024 Purity 1345 Podcast
Purity 1345 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of wildflower along the shores of the Murphy River Walk on a pleasant spring day comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this delightful scene on social media back on April 22nd, along with a bit of prose from Dickey Betts, which said:
“Walk along the river.
Sweet Lullaby,
It just keeps on flowing,
It don’t worry ’bout where it’s going no no…
According to Fred, Betts wrote this for his Native American wife whose last name was Wabegijig, which means “clear blue sky” and with all of that I can see why that thought was running through Fred’s mind.
Well, It’s Tuesday and while I can’t read people’s minds, I like to think that I can grasp an understanding about how they think when I get to know them and listen to their stories. As a Christian Life Coach, the best way I can help my clients is to understand what their strengths and weaknesses are as much as what goals they want to accomplish so I will have a better idea of what obstacles we may have to overcome to get them unstuck and to see progress and success.
One of my roles as a Christian Life Coach – at least in my practice – will be that as a mental health coach and as we are three episodes deep into our series on Mental Health Coaching, I think it is high time I at least offered a definition for what that is exactly.
One of the best articles I have seen on the topic is 2023 blog post from Matthew Boone on Lyra Health’s website (https://www.lyrahealth.com/blog/what-is-mental-health-coaching/#:~:text=So%2C%20what%20is%20a%20mental,pursue%20specific%20mental%20health%20goals.) and I will be sharing its content, little by little to make sense of a term that is rather obscure in the general vernacular.
I know that until this year, I had never heard of such a thing and it was only after becoming aware of the possibility, that we can have a practice where we assist people with mental health concerns without a license, that I made the decision to step out into the field of Christian Life Coaching. My educational background is in Psychology and Christian Counseling and even though I have the degrees to prove it, my master’s degree is from an unaccredited Christian Bible College and thus unrecognized by the state. I was under the false impression that I couldn’t have a private practice helping others to overcome their negative states of mind without a license. And I can’t – at least not as a counselor. But even without that title or license, I can provide Mental Health Coaching. So let’s share the first portion of Boone’s article to begin to understand what that is. Boone writes:
“What is a Mental Health Coach?
The word “coach” may evoke images of a friendly teacher who ran you through drills during high school soccer practice, a life coach who helps inspire clients to reach their goals, or a career coach focused on work-related challenges. Mental health coaches are also trusted partners who can help you achieve goals, but they focus on emotional health and wellness.
So, what is a mental health coach? They’re specially trained professionals who help people develop greater self-awareness, implement tools to better manage their lives, and pursue specific mental health goals. Coaches can help people with a range of conditions, from stress, burnout, and anxiety to those who need support through life transitions, tough feelings like anger, or relationship issues. Mental health coaching is designed to get you back on track when you’re feeling stuck and help you create a more rewarding life.
Much like therapists, behavioral health coaches listen deeply to their clients to gain an understanding of their personal needs, challenges, and hopes. Based on each client’s particular set of circumstances, mental health coaches also do the following:
- Ask questions that help people see things from a different perspective and open up to changes that’ll improve their lives.
- Introduce new perspectives and skills. Mental wellness coaches help people develop skills to help them overcome obstacles they may be facing. They also provide a fresh perspective to help their clients reframe thinking patterns, better manage emotions, and address problems more effectively.
- Identify personal strengths. People learn to embrace their strengths as well as practice self-compassion and acceptance.
- Improve relationship skills.
- Help clients design actions to facilitate behavior change and hold them accountable for putting them into practice. Clients rarely leave a behavioral health coaching session without establishing a personal practice to complete before their next session. This could mean a journaling exercise to clarify their values and goals, a new technique to try when emotions get the best of them, or another meaningful “homework” assignment designed to propel their transformation.” (Boone, 2023).
After discovering what Mental Health Coaching was and after reading Boone’s article, I recall a line from the movie “The Terminator” and how Mental Health Coaching applies to me. “That’s what he does. That’s all he does!” Just like the Terminator was designed to track find and kill people, I seem to have been programmed by the Lord to help people to discover new perspectives about their situations and about who they are in Christ specifically that can set them free from negative mind states and behavior patterns. Unlike the Terminator who brings death, I am a member of God’s kingdom who only seeks to help people to discover their new life in Christ and to live it to the full, or to have it more abundantly (John 10:10)
I of course and a Christian Life Coach and instead of speaking in the terms of psychological theories, although I could if you need to hear the truth presented that way, I will speak plainly and present things according to the truth of a Christian Biblical World view.
After reading this portion of Boone’s you might be asking: What do you even need a therapist for then? And we will address that specifically tomorrow but until then I would just offer that Mental Health Coaches don’t prescribe medication or diagnosis, and work with clients that are forward thinking and are willing to work and make efforts to make progress. We are “coaches” after all and if you aren’t willing to do what the coach says there is very little likelihood that you will experience victory.
That is one of the sad truths of the mental health industry in general. Many who suffer from mental health concerns are chronic and don’t want to take responsibility for their mental health. The emphasis with this population is placed on care more than improvement, or on maintaining the status quo of baseline functionality rather than developing a plan of action that would result in healing and freedom.
I worked in mental health in limited capacities for years and I know there is a need for medication and skilled workers in that field but for those who have not been absorbed into the mental health system, who are relatively high functioning and willing to be responsible for what they think and do, a mental health coach offers the hope to be trained to become unstuck from their struggles and to improve their quality of life through plans and action.
The Bible tells us to takes us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, so we have to “think about what we are thinking about” and realize that we have a responsibility to monitor and guide our thoughts. A mental health coach can help you with that and a Christian mental health coach will have you focus on the truth of God’s word and help you to develop a relationship with God who has been known to help and transform the lives of those willing to follow Him. Ask me how I know.
Anyway that’s it for today, tune into tomorrow as we will contrast the difference between therapists and mental health coaches to further define and understand what a mental health coach is and how they could possibly help you.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
Today’s Bible verses come to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
( While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )
This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Death and Eternal Life
2 Timothy 4:7-8 (ESV)
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Today’s verses fall under the twenty-fourth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Death and Eternal Life.
24. Every Christian who has fought the good fight of faith will, like Paul, receive the crown of righteousness.
Today’s verses encourage us that our hard-fought fight of faith and the miles we run for God’s kingdom have eternal rewards. We will receive crowns of righteousness in God’s kingdom when we faithfully follow Jesus and we should remember that no matter how bad life on earth can be at times, we are not of this earth, and our hope lies in Jesus and the kingdom He will one day bring from heaven.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own private study and to support his work. This resource is available online for less than $10 at many sites.
MORNING READING: ACTS 16
“Lydia … the Lord opened her heart.” – Acts 16:14
There are three steps to be observed in the experience of Lydia:
An Open Heart. Here was the gradual work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of this woman. Her heart, like the flower, had opened to receive the spiritual dew and she was saved.
An Open Confession. She was baptized. In this act of obedience to her Lord’s command, she openly identified herself with her Master in His death, burial, and resurrection life.
An Open Home. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). But Lydia said, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay” (Acts 16:15). Here was living faith bearing true fruit. Here was true women’s ministry begotten by true love to the Lord and His servants. Here was extravagant mercy!
Open my heart, enlarge it, Lord.[1]
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).
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