THE ROADMAP

Your Journey to Becoming a Pain Coach

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HEALTH & WELLNESS COACH TRAINING

The 8-Step Roadmap

Becoming a NBHWC-certified Pain Coach is a journey of learning, practice, and growth. Here’s how it all comes together.

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  • Begin your journey at Pain Coach Academy by enrolling in our foundational Health & Wellness Coach Training course!

    This 17-week foundational training equips you with core health and less coaching skills recognized by the NBHWC, with a specialty in pain coaching.

    Financing options are available!

  • Over the course of 17 weeks, you’ll engage in interactive lessons, live mentoring, and practice sessions. You’ll gain the science, skills, and confidence to support clients through evidence-based coaching.

  • Practice makes confidence. You’ll complete 50 client coaching sessions as part of your training.

    Pain Coach Academy will help you find clients to ensure you gain this hands-on experience!

  • Once you complete your course and coaching hours, apply through the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaches (NBHWC) to sit for the national certification exam.

    https://nbhwc.org/

  • The exam is offered at local testing centers and online testing facilities. Schedule your exam date at your convenience.

  • Celebrate your achievement! Passing the exam earns you the NBHWC credential, the gold standard in the field of health and wellness coaching.

  • You did it! You’re now officially ready to begin your career as a Certified Pain Coach.

    Check out the resources below to see who’s hiring coaches!

  • Continue expanding your expertise with Pain Coach Academy’s Advanced Pain Coach Training.

    To maintain your NBHWC credential, you must complete 36 continuing education credits every 3 years.

Health & Wellness Curriculum Highlights

  • Foundations of Health and Wellness Coaching

    Students will be introduced to core theories of coaching, such as Positive Psychology, the Stages of Change Model, Motivational Interviewing (MI), Nonviolent Communication (NVC), Appreciative Inquiry (AI), while exploring evidence-based approaches to facilitate client growth.

  • Motivational Interviewing Skills

    Students will develop professional communication techniques such as active listening, OARS (open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, summaries), and structured strategies for engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning in coaching conversations.

  • Peer-to-Peer Coaching Practice

    Students will engage in supervised practice sessions with classmates, fostering skill development and confidence in a collaborative learning environment.

  • Mind-Body Connection & Self-Compassion

    Students will investigate the interplay between physical health, emotional well-being, and cognition, practicing tools such as mindfulness, relaxation, and self-compassion to promote lasting behavioral change.

  • Individualized Mentorship

    Each student will receive one-on-one mentoring from highly trained coaching professionals, ensuring personalized feedback, professional modeling, and individualized academic support.

  • Understanding Pain & The Brain

    Students will examine how the brain processes and maintains pain, with a focus on neuroplasticity and its role in recovery and resilience.

  • Applied Assessments

    Students will complete open-book reading exams designed to reinforce comprehension, provide practice with Q&A style questions, and confirm mastery of key curriculum content.

  • Coaching Session Design & Structure

    Students will learn how to design and conduct professional coaching sessions — including flow, structure, and progression — to ensure they enter the field with clarity, confidence, and readiness for practice.

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Advanced Training Curriculum Highlights

  • Intensive Training

    This program will dive deep into what it means to be a pain coach. It’s an intensive 12 week program that is a mix of education and practical application of chronic pain that meets twice a week. You will benefit by having instructors who are also coaches and work with pain clients every day. Development of skills will include how to effectively coach one on one with a pain client and how to lead groups of pain clients with plenty of role play and mentor feedback.

  • NBHWC CE's & Designation

    Upon completing the course, you will receive a certificate of completion with 36 NBHWC board approved CEU’s. If you are already an NBC-HWC, you will also receive a Certified Pain Management Coach (CPMC) certificate from Pain Coach Academy.

  • Coursework & Practicum

    Coursework, reading, homework, mentoring, and practice coaching people in chronic pain prepare the student to be a competent, confident pain management coach who understands chronic pain and the tools necessary to help clients get back to living life. 

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