Among 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 belief that sustainable wellness begins lengthy earlier than a disaster level.
After years of supporting others by way of trauma and high-stress environments, Rae discovered herself navigating her personal well being challenges and noticing how interconnected every thing actually was. Stress, hormones, digestion, vitality, mindset. None of it existed in isolation. That perception turned the muse of her teaching philosophy and her follow, 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 eager about making an identical leap.
What have been you doing earlier than well being teaching, and what made you begin eager about a change?
Earlier than coming to well being teaching, I labored in colleges, non-profits, and residential therapy amenities, typically supporting individuals 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 results of persistent stress and overwhelm, not solely mentally, however bodily as properly, forcing me to take a step again. I noticed 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 turn out to be extra focused on 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 centered on well being from a holistic perspective. It provided a proactive and sustainable method to creating life-style adjustments. By way of my background in social work, I developed a deep appreciation for supporting individuals by way of tough experiences and previous trauma. However I additionally realized I used to be particularly drawn to serving to individuals construct each day habits, routines, and stress-management practices that help long-term wellbeing.
Whereas social work typically focuses on evaluation, prognosis, emotional processing, and therapeutic, well being teaching felt extra aligned with my want to help individuals 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 conduct with my ardour for vitamin, train, and holistic wellness in a means 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 current 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 how one can interpret fundamental physiological and life-style knowledge in a means that’s sensible and helpful in on a regular basis life. Total, this system helped me join my social work basis with a extra structured and utilized method to well being teaching.
What does your teaching follow appear like proper now, and who’re you hoping to work with?
Proper now, my teaching follow 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 keen 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 purpose is to assist purchasers construct sensible, sustainable instruments for stress administration and design each day habits that help 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 relies on the way in which you need to present up in a serving to career. 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 follow that includes different areas of well being, corresponding to vitamin and train, that I’m keen 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 method, because it’s a more moderen and a much less understood area in comparison with social work. For me, that has truly helped me construct readability and confidence in what I supply.
Total, it looks like a significant shift that aligns with how I need to help individuals shifting ahead.
Is there something you want you’d identified earlier than beginning—both about this system or about making the transition?
I believe the principle factor I want I had identified earlier is that attempting 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 need to work. I’ve discovered a path that matches me higher, and I see it now as a part of an ongoing technique of studying and progress, altering path when wanted.
Discover Rae on-line on her web site and Substack.
Able to construct a follow rooted in whole-person wellness?
AFPA’s Licensed Grasp Well being and Wellness Coach program offers you the instruments, credentials, and confidence to information purchasers 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.
