Health Coach vs Life Coach: What Is the Difference?

A health coach helps people change health behaviors such as eating, movement, sleep and stress habits, usually alongside their medical care. A life coach helps people work toward personal or professional goals such as a career change, relationships or confidence. Both use the same core coaching skills. The differences are the focus, the training and the credentials. Health coaches can sit a national board exam run by the NBHWC, while life coaches usually earn credentials from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) [S01][S03].

The short version

Neither title is a medical license. Both credentials are voluntary and are issued by professional bodies, not by a state board.

What a health coach does

The National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) defines the work as engaging people in "evidence-based, client-centered processes" that help them develop and achieve self-determined health and wellness goals [S01]. In practice, a health coach helps a client:

• Decide which health habit to work on first, such as walking after dinner, cooking at home more often or keeping a regular bedtime.
• Turn a broad goal into small, specific action steps.
• Notice what gets in the way and plan around it.
• Track progress and stay accountable between sessions.

NBHWC describes the coach as "an accountability partner, not director" [S01]. The client sets the goals and the coach helps them get there.

Research reviews describe health and wellness coaching in similar terms. A systematic review of 284 articles found that most of the literature described coaching as fully or partly patient-centered (86%), with patient-determined goals (71%), accountability for behaviors (86%) and some education alongside the coaching (91%) [S02]. The review also found that 78% of articles described an ongoing relationship with a coach trained in behavior change, communication and motivational skills [S02].

What a health coach does not do

NBHWC's scope of practice is specific. On their own, health coaches do not diagnose, interpret medical data, prescribe or de-prescribe, recommend supplements, create meal plans, prescribe exercise, or provide psychological therapy [S01]. A coach who also holds a separate license, such as a registered dietitian or nurse, can work within that license, but has to make the dual role clear to the client from the start [S01].

This is the main line between a health coach and the clinicians around them. The coach supports the behavior change. The doctor, dietitian or therapist handles diagnosis and treatment. For a fuller picture of a health coach's day-to-day work, see what a health coach does.

What a life coach does

ICF, a global professional body for coaches, defines coaching as "partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential" [S03]. That definition is broad on purpose. A life coach might help a client:

• Get clear on what they want from work or a career change.
• Make a hard decision and commit to a plan.
• Build habits around time, focus or confidence.
• Work through a life transition such as a move, a new role or an empty nest.

Life coaches use many of the same tools as health coaches: open questions, reflective listening, goal setting and accountability. The difference is the subject matter. A life coach is not trained to work with health conditions or to coordinate with a medical team.

Training and credentials compared

This is where the two paths differ most.

Health coach: NBHWC board certification

To sit the NBHWC board exam and earn the NBC-HWC credential, a candidate needs to [S04]:

1. Complete an NBHWC-approved training program. NBHWC lists more than 138 approved programs, from certificates to master's degrees.
2. Log 50 coaching sessions that meet NBHWC's coaching log requirements.
3. Hold an associate's degree or higher in any field, or document 4,000 hours of work experience instead.
4. Pass the board exam. The exam fee is $400 and the application fee is $100.

For a full list of approved programs, see our guide to NBHWC-approved programs. For the difference between a program certificate and the board credential, see certification vs board certification.

Life coach: ICF credentials

ICF offers three levels of credential. The core requirements are [S05][S06]:

All three levels also require passing an ICF exam [S07]. ICF credentials are not specific to life coaching. Executive coaches, career coaches and some health coaches hold them too.

Which one do you need?

Start with the problem you want help with.

Choose a health coach if your goal is about your body or your daily health habits: losing weight, sleeping better, being more active, managing stress, or following a plan your doctor has given you. A board-certified health coach has been trained to work inside a health context and to know when to send you back to your clinician [S01].

Choose a life coach if your goal is about direction rather than health: a career move, a business, a relationship pattern, or a decision you keep putting off.

Choose neither if you need diagnosis, treatment or therapy. Coaches in both fields are trained to refer out. NBHWC's scope specifically excludes psychological therapeutic interventions such as CBT or EMDR [S01].

Some goals overlap. Burnout, for example, can touch sleep, stress, work and relationships at once. In that case, ask each coach how they would handle the parts of the problem outside their focus.

Questions to ask before you hire either one

• What credential do you hold, and who issued it? (Look for NBC-HWC, or ICF ACC, PCC or MCC.)
• Where did you train, and how many hours of coach-specific education did it include?
• How many clients have you coached on goals like mine?
• What will you not help with, and when would you refer me elsewhere?
• How long is a session, how often do we meet, and what does it cost?

You can check an NBC-HWC credential in NBHWC's public directory and an ICF credential in ICF's credentialed coach finder.

If you are deciding which career to train for

The same comparison works in reverse. If you want to work in clinics, employer wellness programs or alongside doctors, health coach training and NBHWC board certification fit that setting best. If you want to coach people on career, leadership or personal goals, an ICF-accredited program and an ICF credential are the usual route.

Some coaches do both and hold a credential from each body. Our guides to becoming a health coach and health coach vs nutrition coach cover the health side in more detail, and the certifications directory lets you compare programs.