Should Your Treatment Menu Include A Wellness Coach?

Are external skin services enough to treat clients’ concerns? Katie Lowndes explains why you may want to dig deeper.

As someone who has spent 20 years in the spa and clinic space, I am passionate about wellness and taking the holistic approach with clients. As trained practitioners you know how both diet and what a client uses externally in their beauty routine can affect their skin. A client will always get better results if they work both internally and externally and that includes the mind, too!

If we continue with the skin example, consuming the right nutrition on a regular basis and also creating new habits with a consistent skincare routine can be quite daunting to some who are new to this. To change old habits takes time, consistency, mindset tools and in some instances a referral to a doctor or dietician. I know I have been through lots of habit changes and I know that I am successful with these changes now as I know how to do it in a way that is steady and leads to success rather than the old Katie that was probably more of a YoYo.

Ask questions

In coaching I use two questionnaires, one being a thorough wellbeing questionnaire, and in addition I also use my PINK FLAMINGO quiz. These questions are based on the wellness wheel which is a great representation of what dimensions in your life can affect your overall wellness. It’s amazing how someone can start a coaching session talking about having low energy and leave with a vision which includes them starting a whole new career! In a nutshell, they hated their job, they weren’t sleeping, felt anxious, were snacking on the wrong foods and therefore had low energy. How might they present to you? Skin breakouts, dark circles under their eyes and muscle tension.

How great would it be if a client could come to a spa or clinic and create a vision for their life with a coach? Set long term and short-term goals and then work with different practitioners to put some of those goals into action! This can truly be life changing and one of the biggest keys to success with change is changing from within, having the confidence to do it and also the support around you. The key is to have the client coming out up with the solutions and aligning their head and heart in the right direction so that when they create their vision, they feel goosebumps.

More than skin deep

As a spa or clinic you become that support and community that helps someone change their life and become the happiest and healthiest version of themselves so that they have a spring in their step and glint in their eye.

2020 was a very interesting time and as a coach I have consistently seen clients who are awakening. They have had more time on their hands to think and reflect on their lives. With anxiety levels through the roof globally, people are now searching for wellness tools to help the monkey mind calm the nerves. Now more than ever people are open to change, they want to learn more and now that they have had time to reflect on their life pre-COVID, some are noticing that they were doing lots of ‘things’ that may not serve them anymore. They are now rethinking the future and where they want to go. Now is time to start drafting up their new life. Curating their new vision of who they want to be and how they want to feel on a daily basis.

I currently work as a coach from my home in Fitzroy Melbourne but also offer my services at Botanica Day Spa in Melbourne and Willow Urban Retreat in Armadale. Even in these times of lockdown we have been able to work with clients through social media and zoom to educate and support them with coaching, skincare advice and in Willow’s case nutrition consultations with their Nutritionist Stephanie Gobbo. This support has helped patients think about their new life after COVID.

So, in summary, if you would like to create lasting change for clients and embrace the holistic approach then coaching in your business is essential. Let’s also not forget that you cannot fill someone’s cup from an empty one! Your coach can also support your employees and yourself too.

It’s important to know that if someone is suffering from depression or anxiety a coach will always make sure that the client has sought advice from a medical professional. They do not offer Psychology or counselling. Coaches help someone unravel their true desires and decide where they want to go and how to get there.

Katie Lowndes is a Wellness Coach and author of ‘7 Simple Steps To A Healthier Happier You’

This article originally appeared in SPA + CLINIC Volume 83. Click here to subscribe to future issues and read the latest below:

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