PN Sleep, Stress Management & Recovery Coaching Certification

What certified SSR coaches CAN and CAN’T do

This probably won’t come as a surprise: This certification won’t allow you to put an MD, PhD, RD, RN, or CNRP after your name. As a result, once you are certified, you won’t be able to…

❌ diagnose people with sleep problems or stress disorders

❌ prescribe something to directly treat any medical condition or health concern—especially medications or supplements

❌ offer targeted advice that could reasonably be considered part of medical therapy, such as asking someone to “hold off on antidepressants until you try…”

❌ claim to “diagnose,” “treat,” “cure,” or “prescribe” as part of your practice

❌ claim to magically eliminate all human suffering with your wondrous coaching plans

The above aside, however, you’ll still be able to do a heck of a lot. You can still be a part of your clients’ support team and care community. In that role, you can…

✅ make general suggestions about healthy lifestyle practices in most jurisdictions

✅ share healthy lifestyle education using materials from a public or well- known entity such as the American Sleep Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and, of course, PN

✅ actively listen, and empathize with clients’ struggles

✅ help clients’ understand their own situation better, and potentially come up with their own solutions—thus inspiring and empowering them to take action on their own behalf

✅ provide accountability, structure, and support

✅ help clients advocate for themselves with their medical team—for instance, by helping them gather data about what they’re noticing, so the conversation with their health care providers can be as productive and informative as possible

✅ share reputable, evidence-based, and helpful resources for them to discuss with their medical team

✅ help clients implement the plan put forth by their medical team. For instance, medical guidelines can be hard for clients to do consistently in daily life—they may need help with skills like planning, preparation, prioritizing, and breaking tasks down into smaller, more manageable segments. You can help with all of this.

✅ provide complementary, behavior-based coaching to help them develop fundamental nutrition, movement, and lifestyle skills and practices that support health care providers’ medical advice