How to Choose a Wellness Practitioner

Are you in the market for a new wellness practitioner? That is simultaneously understandable, fantastic, and stressful. Whether you are auditioning a doctor, massage therapist, personal trainer, health coach, or other wellness practitioner, the process I describe below will help stimulate your thinking. When deciding which professionals to invite onto your wellness and health team, a wide variety of factors should be considered. Ideally, this new team member blends well into your existing team, offers something new to you, and fills in missing information or skills which will benefit your overall well-being. They should at best exemplify the wellness philosophy that you want to practice and at worst minimize any conflict while supporting your goals and needs. It can be a challenge to discover the information you want in advance, but some creative research and introspective thinking will smooth your decision making process.

Wellness Knowledge and Experience

Let’s get practical! You’ll want to familiarize yourself with the knowledge base and the experience of the practitioner. What and where did they study for their primary field? What are their specialties? How did they branch out and why? Do not limit your view of them based on any one element of their past. People learn and grow and change all the time. You want your new wellness team member to do the same and for their professional steps to support your wellness!

Bedside Manner

One common way to find your new gynecologist or esthetician is to ask the people who they go to. Word of mouth is a time tested marketing tactic! This can be a great way to identify local and not-so-local practitioners. Once they have passed on the name, the next set of questions should be lobbed right away. Why do they continue to go to that person? What is their best and worst experience with them? What do they love and what do they wish they could change about their interactions? Maybe you too want to choose your physical therapist based on their convenient office hours or how nice their office staff is, but maybe you instead have concerns about feeling at ease, getting your questions answered, and being spoken to like a human not a number.

Who Walks Away and Why?

All wellness practitioners lose clients. The question for your candidate is why? Did someone who’s opinion you respect have a negative experience? Was a devastating mistake made by the practitioner? Did their appointment time get mixed up and frustration resulted? How was the “bad experience” handled by the practitioner and by the client? We have all read an Amazon review or shared your favorite food with a friend and thought “Wow, they didn’t like this but I love it”. Is that the case for this practitioner or are you turned off and questioning including them on your team?

Personality and Compatibility

You know deep in your heart that some people align with your thinking and put you in a good mood and others just don’t. There might be a time and place for the “right person for the job” who is not the best fit for you, however you are likely to minimize your interactions with that practitioner or find the interactions turn sour. You will be more content in the long run if you and your wellness practitioner are compatible and get along well. You are not marrying them, but you do want to establish an honest, trusting, respectful relationship where you feel cared for and important to them.

How Will You Integrate Them Into Your Team?

The last thing to ponder is how this person fits into your wellness team. Maybe your team is just little old you. Maybe you have enough doctors and advisors that you need to use your fingers and toes to count them all! This new practitioner will need to fit into the puzzle with is your caregiver network. How will they fit? What role will you allow them to have? What new wonderful gifts do they have for you and your wellness? This is of course the hardest part of the decision making process!

Should You Work With Zoa?

That is up to you! I have a lot of knowledge and experience to offer you. I specialize in educating you about the body, mind, and their connections. I advocate for wellbeing in all possible arenas for you, me and the Earth. I facilitate self knowledge combined with data and expertise from specialists to create a personalized wellness program that you can follow to encourage both Zen and Vitality in your daily life. My approach is thoughtful, logical, and observation based. I listen to you and offer ideas which you can take or leave without judgement. According to the Myers-Briggs personality types, I am an INTJ which might mean we get along great or you might be looking for someone better suited for you. So that you would get a feel for what I am like before you meet me, I asked my clients to each give me two words. Word #1: What word describes me. Word #2: What word describes how you feel when you work with me, talk to me, or take class from me. Here’s what they said: