From Social Work to Well being Teaching: An AFPA Graduate Story

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 every thing really was. Stress, hormones, digestion, power, 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 stunned her concerning the AFPA program, and what she’d inform anybody who’s fascinated by making the same leap.

What had 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 faculties, non-profits, and residential remedy services, typically supporting folks experiencing trauma and high-stress conditions. The work was fast-paced but additionally extremely rewarding.

Over time, although, I began to really feel the results of persistent stress and overwhelm, not solely mentally, however bodily as nicely, 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 change into extra involved in prevention and sustainable wellness.

Why well being teaching particularly? What drew you to it over different paths you could possibly have taken from social work?

I appreciated how well being teaching particularly centered on well being from a holistic perspective. It supplied a proactive and sustainable method to creating life-style adjustments. Via 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 every day habits, routines, and stress-management practices that assist long-term wellbeing.

Whereas social work typically focuses on evaluation, analysis, emotional processing, and therapeutic, well being teaching felt extra aligned with my want to assist folks reconnect with themselves, create more healthy patterns, and making life-style adjustments based mostly on what motivates them.

Well being teaching allowed me to mix my background in human habits with my ardour for vitamin, train, and holistic wellness in a manner that felt significant to me.

What stunned you most concerning the AFPA program?

What stunned me most concerning the AFPA program was how in-depth and complete it was. I anticipated it to construct on my present background in social work, particularly round motivational interviewing, however I used to be stunned by how a lot it expanded my understanding of it. Working towards 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 the right way to interpret primary physiological and life-style information in a manner 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 method to well being teaching.

What does your teaching apply seem like 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 persistent 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 every day habits that assist stability and forestall burnout.

What would you inform a social employee who’s inquisitive about well being teaching however on the fence?

I believe it is dependent upon the best way you wish to present up in a serving to career. For me, well being teaching has felt like a pure shift right into a extra unbiased, 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, nevertheless it’s additionally been very rewarding. I’ve particularly loved making use of my background in motivational interviewing and habits change in a extra prevention-focused manner. 

From my expertise, well being teaching additionally requires clearly speaking your scope and method, because it’s a more recent 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 assist folks shifting ahead.

Is there something you would like you’d recognized earlier than beginning—both about this system or about making the transition?

I believe the principle factor I want I had recognized earlier is that making an attempt one thing new doesn’t imply you’ve failed at what you had 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 realized is that it’s okay to outgrow paths and shift into one thing that aligns extra deeply with who you might be and the way you wish to work. I’ve discovered a path that matches me higher, and I see it now as a part of an ongoing strategy of studying and development, altering path 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 present profession in well being and wellness, this program meets you the place you might be.