Becoming a NBHWC board certified health + wellness coach!

Updated: September 2021

This year I became board certified by the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching.

This board certification was a big achievement for me, and something I’ve received a number of questions on so today I’m sharing all about my process: why I chose to pursue this board certification, how I became eligible to sit for the exam, and how I studied for the test.

If you’re a health or wellness coach, this post is for you!

If not, some of it may be interesting for you to read to understand what this new certification means and what you might want to look for if you’re considering investing in a coach.

Why I chose to pursue board certification

I graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition’s (IIN) Health Coach Training Program over 5 years ago. This program (which is the world’s largest health coaching and nutrition school) provided me with the certificate I needed to start health coaching and start my health coaching business.

Since then, the health coaching world and the broader wellness world have exploded. There are hundreds of programs out there to learn how to became a health, wellness, fitness or nutrition coach.

On one hand, this is incredible - I do believe the world needs more people with the health coach knowledge and skill set, and it’s great that people have options with their education path.

On the other hand, it’s kind of scary - since the industry is still so new, there’s not much regulation in what people can put out there as far as training programs.

When I did a quick Google search “become a health coach online” I found many programs promoting certification in a few weeks, one in as little as ONE week. YIKES.

When I graduated from IIN, the only board certification I was presented with was what I’d call a “rubber stamp” certification. At the time, it cost $800 to register to become a board certified health coach through this organization, and that seemed silly to me. Why pay so much money for something that truly meant nothing?

So I didn’t. And I didn’t think twice about my decision to forego board certification until I received an email from IIN in the second half of 2019 with the invitation to join a webinar about a NEW board certification for health coaches.

I joined said webinar with a healthy dose of skepticism, but from what I heard on the call, I was impressed with the newly reorganized National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC), and what they were trying to do for the coaching industry.

After a little more research and thought, I chose to move forward with the certification process through the NBHWC.

What is the NBHWC?

NBHWC stands for the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching.

Incorporated in 2017, NBHWC is an independent, not-for-profit organization that supports the worldwide advancement of the field of health and wellness coaching by implementing a standard supported by a certification examination and research.

The objective of the current Health & Wellness Coach Certifying Examination is to provide a measure of foundational knowledge, skills, tasks, and abilities essential to the practice of health and wellness coaching.

This exam is a joint program of the NBHWC and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME).

Benefits of becoming NBHWC board certified include:

For legitimacy (over 100 health and wellness coach programs out there)
Uptick in job availability for national board certified coaches (often in health care)
Inclusion in NBHWC national directory and use of NBHWC logo for website, business cards and other marketing materials
Internal benefits: quarterly webinars with industry experts, continuing education and other networking opportunities

For more on the history and formation of the NBHWC, head here.

Who is eligible to sit for the NBHWC exam?

There are several requirements you must meet in order to even be eligible to sit for the NBHWC board exam. I’ll outline them below, and also note some specifics to pay attention to for my fellow IIN grads.

Requirements to sit for the NBHWC exam:

EDUCATION

Documentation of an Associates degree or higher in any field (or 4,000 hours of work experience in any field, for those who do not have a degree)
A certificate of completion from an approved training program - for the full list, head here: https://nbhwc.org/approved-programs/ *

*Many training programs (including IIN) require additional training for an applicant to be eligible to sit for the NBHWC board exam. I’ve linked the additional training for IIN grads (the Coaching Intensive Practicum) in the resources at the end of this post.

EXPERIENCE

A written log of 50 health and wellness coaching sessions - There are more specific requirements for these sessions, please see the NBHWC website for details.

I completed my additional training and the NBHWC application in the fall of 2019 and was approved to sit for the exam during the February 2020 testing window.

What is the structure of the exam?

The exam covers a range of topics (see more on that below) relevant to the role of a health and wellness coach. While these categories are helpful in the study process, the test itself is not broken out into sections by topic.

The structure of the 4 1/2 hour exam is as follows:

15 minute tutorial
Section 1: 75 multiple choice questions (1 hour and 52 minutes allotted)
15 minute break (you can skip this)
Section 2: 75 multiple choice questions (1 hour and 52 minutes allotted)
15 minute post- test survey

The exam is held at a standardized Prometric testing center. You are required to arrive early for your exam for check in, and can take nothing into the exam room with you, except your government issued ID and the note sheet provided by the testing center.

While most of your time should be focused on preparing for the exam itself, I also think it’s important to familiarize yourself with the test structure and environment so that there are no big “Wait, I have to do what??” on testing day.

To learn more about preparing for test day, head here: https://www.prometric.com/prepare-for-test-day

How I studied for the exam

Since I did end up passing the exam (!!), I’ll share my study process and the resources that were most helpful for me along the way.

While this board certification is still on the newer side, there are a few dedicated study programs out there. Most of these cost at least a few hundred dollars and take place over 6-12 weeks.

I did not do one of these programs mostly because my schedule didn’t allow for it (ie I didn’t plan to study that far in advance), but if you’re not confident in your ability to create your own program and stick to it, this type of program might be a good fit for you!

As I mentioned above, as an IIN grad I was required to take an additional training to be eligible from an education perspective to sit for the exam. I do not count this as “study time” and, in fact, IIN is very clear that this additional training is not an exam prep course, but I did use many of the materials and information from that training in my study process.

Okay let’s get to my study plan…

Study timeline:

I set aside 3 full weeks to study. During this time I saw my regular coaching clients, but committed to almost nothing else so I could focus most of my energy on studying. The first two weeks I studied for about 2-3 hours per day, 5 days per week. The last week, I probably averaged 4 hours per day, but was doing some work every day of the week.

If I had to do it again, I would give myself more time (maybe 5 or 6 weeks) so that I could have made it through a little more material, but at a slower pace.

Study materials:

The most challenging thing about studying was that I had to make my own plan. I’ve taken some big standardized tests in the past (from the SATs and AP exams to the CPA exam), but with these I had a very clear set of materials to study from.

Since I did not go the route of joining a study program, the first thing I did was organize all the materials I had from the NBHWC (mainly the content outline). I ordered three of the books included in the content outline (which are noted in the Helpful Resources below) based on research I did online.

Per the content outline, the exam covers the following:

Coaching Structure 17-23%
Coaching Process (Relationship/Communication/Techniques) 47-53%
Health & Wellness 17-23%
Ethics/Legal 7-13%

Based on the %s above, I broke down the first half of my study time by category - spending the most time with the Coaching Process as it’s the largest % of the exam - and started going through the content outline in detail. I created my own study guide by using the web links provided in the content outline, my materials from the IIN Advanced Coaching Practicum course, and the additional books I had ordered.

I then made flash cards with some of the most important concepts, including the health & wellness statistics I needed to know for the exam.

Practice questions:

In addition to going through the concepts listed in the content outline to create my study guide, I did some practice test questions every day.

There are 15 questions on the NBHWC website (which I do think is quite low given that the exam itself is 150 questions!!), but there are other resources for practice test questions, which I’ve included in the Helpful Resources below.

I started by doing 10 practice questions each day. The last week I was up to doing 25-50 questions each day. I found the practice questions really helped me hone in on the areas I needed to study in more depth, in addition to boosting my comfort and confidence in the actual test taking process.

Helpful resources:

All in one place, the most helpful resources in my study process!

The Institute for Integrative Nutrition:

The Institute for Integrative Nutrition’s Health Coach Training Program - The program I went through (and still recommend) for anyone aspiring to become a health coach. I’ve shared quite a bit about this program here on my blog. Read more about my experience with the program here.

Coaching Intensive Practicum - For Institute for Integrative Nutrition Health Coach Training Program grads, this is the required additional training to be completed before you are eligible to sit for the exam.

NBHWC.org:

Become An NBC-HWC - Hub for all the information you’ll need for becoming an NBC-HWC: eligibility, application and examination logistics and support.

Exam Prep - Where you’ll find the exam content outline, which includes concepts you’ll need to know and recommended books to study from (I’ve included the ones I found were the most helpful below).

Practice Exam - The 15 question practice exam put out by NBHWC. This test is helpful as it’s set up like the exam is set up, so you can get a feel for how you’ll see the questions and answers on the actual exam.

Practice Questions:

Health & Wellness Coaching Exam Test Prep Facebook Group - I was referred to this group by another coach taking the exam and it was one of the most helpful resources as the group creator and leader posts a new practice test question every day (with breaks in between testing periods).

NBC-HWC Practice Test Course - I also ended up purchasing this mini course for additional practice questions and test taking tips. This program also provides you with a PDF of (supposedly) all the #s and statistics you need to know for the exam (yes, there are #s and statistics you need to know!).

**Note: both of these resources are created by an individual with no official affiliation to the NBHWC (besides being board certified herself!). Although they were infinitely helpful for me, I think it’s important to note that there’s no guarantee that the practice test questions shared will be a reflection of actual test questions in any given year.

Books:

Coaching Psychology Manual - A great reference guide for any coach, this manual covers many of the key concepts you need to know for the exam. I used the content outline references for where to focus my attention, but will definitely come back to this in the future because 1) I’m a psychology nerd and 2) it provides both theoretical and practice information.

Changing to Thrive - This book covers the Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change), which is an important topic within the content outline. I didn’t read the whole book, but got through as much as I could with the time I had and it was really helpful in understanding this theory and how to put it into practice in a coaching setting.

Motivational Interviewing - I actually didn’t purchase this book, I just downloaded the Kindle sample onto my computer and that was enough for me! What I read was super fascinating, so if you have the time and $$, it may be worth the actual investment.

Reflecting on the process

Beyond being proud of myself for setting and achieving the goal of becoming a board certified health coach, I’m glad that I went through this process.

I learned so much through my studying and I know that I am a better coach because of my experience.

I believe in the power of coaching and the importance of this work, I’m excited to see how this industry continues to evolve and honored to be a part of it.

I hope this provided you with a little more insight into the NBHWC board certification process, and maybe even inspired you to pursue it for yourself!
I truly do believe there is a need for more regulation in the health and wellness coaching industry, and, while this exam isn’t “perfect,” it’s a great step forward in creating more legitimacy in this industry.
I’d love to hear from you: are you a health and wellness coach? Have you become board certified or are you thinking about pursuing the certification?
Leave a comment below and let me know!