Recently there was a new program offered by the Health Promotion office and Rec Sports here on campus, and this “Wellness Coaching” program is free and open to all currently enrolled students. I signed up for it and received my first 1.5-hour coaching session last week. I know that many people have questions about what this is and how much we can really benefit from it, so here I want to share my experience with this new program.
 
This is, first of all, not a work out, nutrition, or mental health-only program. It’s also not professional/certified counseling. The first thing you will be told while getting into the session, is that this coaching program takes a holistic approach, and is really designed to work with each student’s individual needs. I met with a wellness coach one-on-one via Zoom, and we started by talking about my current condition, or state of mind, in terms of physical and mental health. Depend on your needs, you can also talk to the coach about financial wellness, social or relationship wellness, or any other factor that you think you need help with, or any aspect you believe you can improve.
 
Because the coaches are not medical professionals, you do not have to share your personal health background, although you can, if that helps the coach to better understand your concerns. I was trying to focus on my work out/moving routine, and my meal prep/food in-take questions. We spent some time talking about how to make realistic, measurable, and accountability plans in these aspects, and we wrote it down together. Then we set some short and long term goals, which really made me feel more confident and comfortable of making some positive changes in my life.
 
Again, these wellness coaches will not be giving you professional medical or psychological/counseling advises. They can refer you to available resources and services on campus. This program will be helpful if you have some ideas in mind, but really need the confirmation and motivation to make changes. If you’re interested in paying more attention to your holistic wellbeing, this program is definitely a great opportunity to take the first step and get started. They work with your schedule, so time is not a problem. Registration is at tx.ag/wellnesscoaching, and you can also email your questions to wellnesscoaching@tamu.edu.



---Mingqian Liu
Mingqian is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Architecture