A number of the most significant profession pivots don’t come from ambition alone. They arrive from lived expertise. For Rae, a former social employee and AFPA Licensed Grasp Well being and Wellness Coach, the shift into well being teaching grew out of one thing deeply private: the conclusion that sustainable wellness begins lengthy earlier than a disaster level.
After years of supporting others via trauma and high-stress environments, Rae discovered herself navigating her personal well being challenges and noticing how interconnected all the pieces really was. Stress, hormones, digestion, vitality, mindset. None of it existed in isolation. That perception grew to become the muse of her teaching philosophy and her apply, Rae of Daylight, the place she helps professionals, particularly caregivers and social employees, construct actual, sustainable habits that shield in opposition to burnout earlier than it takes maintain.
We sat down with Rae to speak about her journey from social work to well being teaching, what shocked her in regards to the AFPA program, and what she’d inform anybody who’s fascinated by making an identical leap.
What have been you doing earlier than well being teaching, and what made you begin fascinated by a change?
Earlier than coming to well being teaching, I labored in colleges, non-profits, and residential remedy services, usually supporting folks experiencing trauma and high-stress conditions. The work was fast-paced but in addition extremely rewarding.
Over time, although, I began to really feel the consequences of power stress and overwhelm, not solely mentally, however bodily as effectively, forcing me to take a step again. I spotted that a lot of the work I used to be doing, each professionally and personally, occurred after already reaching a disaster level. That led me to develop into extra occupied with prevention and sustainable wellness.
Why well being teaching particularly? What drew you to it over different paths you might have taken from social work?
I preferred how well being teaching particularly targeted on well being from a holistic perspective. It provided a proactive and sustainable strategy to creating life-style adjustments. By means of my background in social work, I developed a deep appreciation for supporting folks via troublesome experiences and previous trauma. However I additionally realized I used to be particularly drawn to serving to folks construct day by day habits, routines, and stress-management practices that help long-term wellbeing.
Whereas social work usually focuses on evaluation, analysis, emotional processing, and therapeutic, well being teaching felt extra aligned with my need to help folks reconnect with themselves, create more healthy patterns, and making life-style adjustments primarily based on what motivates them.
Well being teaching allowed me to mix my background in human conduct with my ardour for vitamin, train, and holistic wellness in a means that felt significant to me.
What shocked you most in regards to the AFPA program?
What shocked me most in regards to the AFPA program was how in-depth and complete it was. I anticipated it to construct on my current background in social work, particularly round motivational interviewing, however I used to be shocked by how a lot it expanded my understanding of it. Training and specializing in intrinsic motivation actually deepened my understanding of it and helped me begin recognizing it extra naturally in conversations.
I additionally gained a a lot deeper understanding of well being metrics and easy methods to interpret fundamental physiological and life-style knowledge in a means that’s sensible and helpful in on a regular basis life. General, this system helped me join my social work basis with a extra structured and utilized strategy to well being teaching.
What does your teaching apply appear to be proper now, and who’re you hoping to work with?
Proper now, my teaching apply is targeted on working with people who’re navigating excessive ranges of power stress and overwhelm, significantly for professionals. My expertise in social work has given me a deep understanding of caregiver fatigue and the way simply burnout can develop.
I’m particularly enthusiastic about working with social employees, educators, and different care-giving professionals as a result of I perceive each the emotional calls for of the work and the tendency to push private wellbeing apart. My aim is to assist shoppers construct sensible, sustainable instruments for stress administration and design day by day habits that help steadiness and stop burnout.
What would you inform a social employee who’s interested by well being teaching however on the fence?
I believe it is determined by the way in which you wish to present up in a serving to occupation. For me, well being teaching has felt like a pure shift right into a extra impartial, self-directed house the place I’m constructing my very own apply that includes different areas of well being, equivalent to vitamin and train, that I’m enthusiastic about.
Forging my very own path into well being teaching has required extra self-discipline, but it surely’s additionally been very rewarding. I’ve particularly loved making use of my background in motivational interviewing and conduct change in a extra prevention-focused means.
From my expertise, well being teaching additionally requires clearly speaking your scope and strategy, because it’s a more moderen and a much less understood discipline in comparison with social work. For me, that has really helped me construct readability and confidence in what I provide.
General, it appears like a significant shift that aligns with how I wish to help folks transferring ahead.
Is there something you want you’d recognized earlier than beginning—both about this system or about making the transition?
I believe the primary factor I want I had recognized earlier is that making an attempt one thing new doesn’t imply you’ve failed at what you have been doing earlier than. At one level, I felt like stepping away from conventional social work meant I had failed in it, and that merely wasn’t true.
What I’ve discovered is that it’s okay to outgrow paths and shift into one thing that aligns extra deeply with who you’re and the way you wish to work. I’ve discovered a route that matches me higher, and I see it now as a part of an ongoing technique of studying and development, altering route when wanted.
Discover Rae on-line on her web site and Substack.
Able to construct a apply rooted in whole-person wellness?
AFPA’s Licensed Grasp Well being and Wellness Coach program offers you the instruments, credentials, and confidence to information shoppers towards lasting change. Whether or not you’re beginning contemporary or deepening an current profession in well being and wellness, this program meets you the place you’re.
