Surviving and thriving during tough times takes affirmative vision, compassion, and support.
I can help.
Integrative Health and Wellness Coaching
How do you survive and grow when the world around you feels challenging?
Integrative coaching can help you work through that.
Where do you find yourself on the spectrum between “barely surviving” and “totally thriving?” Do you want to move forwards along that path? A good coaching partnership can nurture and support you when you feel challenged or stuck.
I provide experienced, compassionate and effective coaching to help foster resilience and growth even when the challenges of the external world seem daunting.
Resilience is a skill set that can be learned and nurtured! Adverse situations at home, work, or in societal crises can leave even the strongest of us feeling unsteady, stressed, burned out, or vulnerable. Regaining a sense of optimism and control is essential to sustainable growth and health. I can help you move from “surviving” to “thriving” in the goals that matter most to you.
I supply a listening ear, powerful questions, supportive reflections, and safe and unwavering affirmation to empower your innate sense of vitality, control, and purpose in life. Navigating obstacles becomes easier, as you begin to untangle your thoughts and clarify your goals, leveraging your own unique authentic strengths and abilities. Small, cumulative changes will move you closer to your vision of complete health.
At times this may include reaching inwards for physical or emotional renewal, like a tree that extends its tap root to draw energy from the soil. That energy creates and nourishes a more expansive vision of your future, like the upwards growth of branches, leaves and flowers.
I use forward thinking, humor, growth mindset, positive psychology, and years of training specific to health, resilience, and the science of empowered change, to help you navigate this path in a way true to your authentic needs.
Throughout the process, the focus remains on you, allowing you to set the agenda.
I offer hope, accountability, and encouragement to clients who want support in stressful times to maintain health and strive to reach their full potential.
“Dr. Vivian has a way of hearing what is left unsaid in conversations.”
-Chris L., engineer and automotive industry executive
I bring decades of professional experience to help you reexamine, rebalance, and achieve your goals.
“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.” ― Gloria Steinem
Albert Einstein wrote, “I’m more interested in the future than the past, because the future is where I intend to live.” Sometimes we get so stuck in the problems we are facing at the moment that we forget to look ahead and envision where we want to end up!. Whether your dream is a more fit and strong body, more satisfying relationships, or reaching for a emotionally and spiritually more satisfying life, the first step is the same - taking the time to dream and vision in order to clarify your goals. Coaching begins here, and can return to this step throughout the process.
“Self-care is, fundamentally, about continually bringing balance back to a life that has grown skewed; perhaps by too many responsibilities, perhaps by too little attention.” - Dr. Robyn Gobin
A sense of “balance” - both physical and metaphorical - is key to optimizing our well-being. Yet balance is elusive, hard to achieve, and even harder to maintain! In the lyrics of John Mellencamp, “I know there’s a balance, I see it when I swing past.” A coach or partner can help you maintain that balance by reminding you to narrow the wideness of your swinging, or offering you a balancing touchpoint to avoid falling off the edge when your path feels too narrow.
I believe that transformational change towards your vision of whole person health is possible.
FAQs
Is coaching right for me?
Coaching may be a great fit for you! Coaching can be powerful if you:
find yourself trying to figure out what you want or need, what goals are truly important to you, and then how to make it happen
know you want to make changes in your life, but feel “stuck” and need help overcoming barriers like anxiety, ambivalence, or simple inertia
need help identifying and breaking free from patterns and beliefs that aren’t serving you so you can move into the freedom and fullness of your best life
are seeking better life balance between “multitasking”/chores and self-care/growth
are ready to step out of your comfort zone and take an active part in improving your well-being, and to learn more about self-care, self-compassion, and self-respect along the way
want a sounding board—someone to help you process your feelings and thoughts and find your truths in a safe, confidential, and affirmative/nonjudgmental space—and a mirror—someone to reflect what you are saying and doing so you can truly see yourself
are trying to make a major life decision and need help sorting through information and options, deciphering what those options mean to you
want supportive partnership—someone to accompany you as you work through challenge or transition, to support you and share the journey
want someone to help inspire you to do things beyond what you thought you could do, help hold you accountable in your steps towards your goals, and to celebrate your progress along the way
want to go beyond talking and start doing—staying activated, taking measurable action after each session, fostering truly meaningful and sustainable changes in your life.
What does a coaching session look like?
It depends!
My approach is to begin by working with you to clarify your own vision of ideal wellness so that we can move in that direction. This process looks different if you enter the process with a specific problem that is bothering you, or if you are seeking to broadly enhance an overall feeling of improved whole person (holistic) health. I may send you some online tools to explore before our first session to help you define your own starting point.
In our 50 minute sessions, I create a safe, confidential, sacred place for you to be able to speak your truths authentically and be heard. Further questioning serves to identify and build on the strengths and resources you already have, looking both at past successes and potential obstacles as we journey together.
Each session generally ends by collaborating to develop “action steps” or “homework”; small, measurable goals that YOU create to move forward. These steps are a critical part of the power of coaching compared to other forms of “therapy.” Action steps serve to forward your learning even if you don’t “succeed” in achieving them that week! Each achievable step helps build your self-knowledge and confidence, empowering your optimism that you can make the long term changes you seek.
Currently, due to the constraints of the pandemic, I am meeting with clients virtually through Zoom, by phone, or occasionally outdoors in a private setting. I am not currently maintaining an indoor office space; as the pandemic concerns wane, this will change again!
Does insurance cover coaching?
At this time, integrative health coaching is not covered by insurance; you are responsible for payment at the time of service, or by purchasing a group of sessions before beginning. Some Health Savings Accounts may cover coaching as a reimbursable expense; check with your HSA to clarity your individual policy’s coverage.
The advantage of not going through an insurance company is that there is no risk of your confidential records being audited or exported to insurance groups, avoiding any risk of breaches of confidentiality. It also ensures that I can keep the focus on what you want to cover in our sessions, rather than “wrestling” our conversations to justify a formal “check box” or “diagnostic code.” You don’t need to have an “illness” or diagnosis to benefit from health coaching!
Will Dr. Fischer be my medical doctor?
In short…. no.
As a family physician for over two decades, I’ve cared for patients of diverse ages, cultural backgrounds and needs. I bring that broad experience, knowledge and commitment to my coaching. I love the privilege of taking the time to bring my clients the gifts of listening and valuing their individual narrative, allowing them to make their own educated choices. Doctors are generally “prescriptive” in telling you their advice of what they think you should do; a coach should elicit your voice instead. It is important that I do not mix the two roles in my coaching practice.
In my scope of practice as an integrative coach I am NOT practicing medicine, offering specific medical advice, prescribing medications, or establishing a relationship as my clients’ physician.
Because of my unique background, I do particular coaching of clients facing illness or medical crisis in their life or their families. I can help clients to better understand their own physicians’ advice, or to mindfully navigate through complex treatment decision-making when faced with illness, by helping them sort through and seek information and ensure their choices align with their values.
I am happy to refer you to an appropriate medical professional if those needs arise during coaching.
I commit to offering a safe space for you, and look forward to partnering with you through your journey.
Take the first step.
Reach out today if you would like to set up a FREE initial consultation; see if coaching with me is a good match for you.