Understanding Health Coaching Scope of Practice at Lifestyle Prescriptions® University

At Lifestyle Prescriptions® University (LPU), we emphasize a foundational principle across all our programs: every practitioner must understand and operate within their scope of practice. This means that your professional actions — what you can do, say, and offer — are guided by your credentials and by local, state, and federal laws. 

Because regulations vary significantly between U.S. states and across countries, each practitioner is responsible for staying informed about their local requirements.

Why NBHWC Board-Certification Matters

One of the key advantages of becoming board-certified by the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) — which you can achieve through LPU’s Lifestyle Prescriptions® Health Coach (LPHC) training — is clarity and credibility. The NBHWC has clearly defined core competencies and a scope of practice for health coaches, outlining what professional health coaches are qualified to do.

At LPU, we not only teach these NBHWC competencies but also go further. We integrate root-cause analysis (stress management), helping students connect stressors, emotions, thoughts, and lifestyle patterns with physical and emotional well-being. This skillset enhances conscious questioning and helps coaches guide clients toward deeper self-awareness and sustainable behavior change.

However, applying these insights must always align with your scope of practice. to ensure that, as a health coach, you do NOT diagnose, treat, or write medical prescriptions, and most importantly, use health coaching language and skills.

Evidence-Based and Globally Recognized

Our degree programs are designed to elevate your professional standing by combining evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine with advanced Health Coaching skills. Graduates gain respected credentials that position them as leaders — both locally and globally — in the field of integrative and lifestyle health.

We encourage all students to discuss any scope-of-practice questions with their faculty mentors or advisors to ensure clarity and confidence in professional practice.

NBHWC Scope of Practice: What Coaches Can and Cannot Do

NBHWC provides clear guidance on what’s appropriate within a health coach’s professional role.

Allowed Topics and Discussions:

• Exploring past experiences only as they relate to current or future goals.

• Asking reflective questions such as:

  • “What have you tried in the past that worked well for you?”

  • “When you were successful before, what was different?”

  • “How did you feel about that experience?”

• Discussing physical symptoms only in the context of behavior, lifestyle, or self-awareness — not for diagnosis or treatment.

What Health Coaches Can Do
Health coaches — especially those certified by the NBHWC — are trained to help clients develop self-awareness, resilience, and behavioral strategies to manage stress and improve overall well-being. Within that role, it’s appropriate to:

• Explore emotions, beliefs, and stressors that influence lifestyle habits.

• Help clients recognize patterns between their thoughts, feelings, and health behaviors.

• Use reflective questioning to support insight and motivation (e.g., “What tends to trigger stress for you?” or “How do your beliefs about work affect your stress levels?”).

• Teach and co-create evidence-based stress management techniques, such as mindfulness, relaxation, or time management.

These discussions are valid and powerful as long as they serve a coaching purpose — supporting clients’ current goals, awareness, and action steps for better self-care.

Not Allowed:

• Processing trauma, grief, or unresolved emotional wounds.

• Providing therapy, psychoanalysis, or medical treatment.

• Attempting to diagnose or “heal” psychological or physical conditions.

The NBHWC stance is clear: coaches remain future- and action-oriented, using insights from the past only to empower forward movement and sustainable change.

Why IBLM Board-Certification Matters

In addition to being an NBHW-approved school, LPU also aligns with the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine and follows its core competencies and scope of practice and offers the Lifestyle Medicine WORKS™ Certification Training.

The International Board of Lifestyle Medicine (IBLM) defines lifestyle medicine as the use of evidence-based therapeutic lifestyle interventions, as a primary modality — such as nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connection — to prevent, treat, and often reverse chronic diseases. Its scope of practice emphasizes whole-person, preventive care delivered within the professional’s licensure, integrating "lifestyle prescriptions” alongside conventional treatment. IBLM-certified clinicians are trained to assess lifestyle risks, prescribe targeted interventions, monitor outcomes, and advocate for healthy environments — while modeling the same behaviors they promote.

IBLM’s core competencies span ten domains that form the foundation for certification and practice. These include health behavior change, clinical processes, practitioner self-care, and the six key pillars of lifestyle medicine — nutrition, physical activity, emotional well-being, sleep, avoidance of harmful substances, and social connectedness. Nutrition and exercise carry the most weight, underscoring their importance in chronic disease reversal. 

Collectively, these competencies provide a structured, evidence-based framework distinguishing lifestyle medicine from general “wellness” approaches—ensuring that practice is measurable, credible, and integrated within modern healthcare systems.

In Summary

LPU’s programs uphold NBHWC and IBLM standards while enriching them with our signature root-cause methodology. Our goal is to empower clinicians, practitioners, and health coaches to coach with integrity, clarity, and evidence-based skills — staying within their professional scope while helping clients achieve meaningful, lasting health transformations.

To summarize it in one sentence: All healthcare professionals need to follow their professional scope of practice in addition to local, state, and federal laws!

If questions arise, please contact us at www.lifestyleprescription.tv.